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ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

"Is All Our Company Here?": Community-Building, Hierarchy, and Translation in Shakespeare Companies

Loehr, David
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1717169325969523

Abstract Details

2024, Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, Theatre.
This dissertation focuses on twenty-first century American approaches to producing Shakespeare beyond the well-known festivals and companies. The dissertation looks at the following: work done by "small-scale" Shakespeare companies to bring Shakespeare's plays to communities, the potential advantages and disadvantages of a company model that de-centers the role of the director, and the ways in which “translation” can give marginalized groups a voice in Shakespeare production. I argue that the work of small-scale Shakespeare companies, the actor-directed model, and the process of interrogating Shakespeare’s work through translation, are all powerful tools for making Shakespeare more accessible and making the practice of theatre more egalitarian. Chapter One discusses Steel City Shakespeare Center, an example of what I call a “small-scale” Shakespeare company. I argue that the work done by companies such as Steel City is of just as much value as the work done by larger, fully professional companies because small-scale companies bring Shakespeare’s work to specific communities and provide artistic opportunities for people who are not following an elite professional path. Chapter Two focuses on the actor-manager model that the American Shakespeare Center (ASC) adopted in 2021 and explores decentering directors as a way of making theatre a safer working environment for actors. Chapter Three discusses Play On Shakespeare, which began as a project, sponsored by Oregon Shakespeare Festival, that commissioned playwrights to “translate” Shakespeare’s play into modern English. I discuss Play On as an opportunity to create a more inclusive vision of Shakespeare performance, and I examine the extent to which translation makes Shakespeare more accessible and the ways in which these translations allow a wider variety of voices in Shakespeare. The study explores the ways in which these three companies increase Shakespeare’s accessibility and uses the companies to discuss the issues of community-building, hierarchy, and translation.
Angela Ahlgren, Ph.D (Committee Chair)
Mary Natvig, Ph.D (Other)
Jonathan Chambers, Ph.D (Committee Member)
Heidi Nees, Ph.D (Committee Member)
147 p.
Theater
Shakespeare; Translation; Steel City; American Shakespeare Center; Play On;

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Loehr, D. (2024). "Is All Our Company Here?": Community-Building, Hierarchy, and Translation in Shakespeare Companies [Doctoral dissertation, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1717169325969523

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Loehr, David. "Is All Our Company Here?": Community-Building, Hierarchy, and Translation in Shakespeare Companies. 2024. Bowling Green State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1717169325969523.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Loehr, David. ""Is All Our Company Here?": Community-Building, Hierarchy, and Translation in Shakespeare Companies." Doctoral dissertation, Bowling Green State University, 2024. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1717169325969523

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

bgsu1717169325969523
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© 2024, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Bowling Green State University and OhioLINK.