BA, Kent State University, 2018, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of English

"Rubber Meets Road" is a 60-minute play collaboratively written, directed, and produced by Kent State University senior English major and Writing minor Kelly Gallagher and KSU English and Political Science double major Gabrielle Seed. It sheds light on emotional abuse in heterosexual romantic relationships and what happens if and when it remains invisible to the people directly and indirectly involved. It suggests that sometimes relationships that appear most loving and stable are the ones that contain the most turmoil and dependence. It explores the complexities of female friendships and how abusive romantic relationships negatively affect them. It examines the impact of poor mental health on both abusers and the abused. Finally, Rubber Meets Road considers abusive relationships and affected relationships (such as, in this case, friendship) from several perspectives, challenging the audience to determine who is “right” and who is “wrong” and to pay attention and again be challenged when those roles may actually begin to switch. This thesis—the play itself as well as the descriptive and analytical account of its creation—is the result of roughly three semesters' work. We spent Summer 2017 researching, planning, and otherwise preparing to draft the play. We spent Fall 2017 actually writing the play. And we spent Spring of 2018 finding a performance space, casting the characters, building a production team, producing the play itself, and writing the present account. The following details the planning and thought that went into the final script and production of Rubber Meets Road and how both were influenced and guided by reading, research, specific classes, workshops, and the analysis of other productions. It concludes with a discussion of the most important lessons this process taught us.

Committee: Don-John Dugas (Advisor); Elizabeth Howard (Committee Member); Suzy D'Enbeau (Committee Member); Manfred van Dulmen (Committee Member) Subjects: Performing Arts; Theater

Master of Arts, University of Akron, 2006, Theatre Arts

The thesis documents the author's process of developing an educational live wildlife show. Three main aspects of the process are examined in three of the five chapters: writing the show script; the actor's performance process; and the tasks of training and handling live animals in a show. The first chapter introduces the thesis by describing how many wildlife shows and spectacles in twentieth century America have evolved from mere human entertainment to tools used to educate the public about ecological natural history. Finally, Chapter Five summarizes the previous four chapters and makes a case for the important role that educational wildlife shows play in the field of environmental conservation.

Committee: James Slowiak (Advisor) Subjects: