Master of Arts, Miami University, 2019, Theatre

This thesis expands the field of violence theory by way of adapting Dostoevsky's Notes from a Dead House. I propose a new dramaturgically driven analysis of the text by creating a system of contexts to assess the scene allowing for an adaptation that is both sensitive to the goal of the text as perceived by the adapting artist and the audience's response. This system of contexts is the best approach to adapting a given scene rather than considering the piece as a whole. Dostoevsky's text is also notorious for its abstract use of time, and the layering of fiction and reality as Dostoevsky was forced to distance himself from his narrative by the Russian state. Since violence is a major element of Dostoevsky's novel, I also propose a meaning-making system to analyze acts to determine first how the scene is socially coded. With this information, the adapting playwright can then decide how they can best be embodied and displayed on stage in a way that both holds to the original elements of the source and avoids undue stress on the audience.

Committee: Ann Armstrong Dr. (Committee Chair); Christiana Harkulich Dr. (Advisor); Stephen Norris Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Literature; Russian History; Theater; Theater Studies