Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2016, Theatre

Shakespeare's plays are often a staple of the secondary school curriculum, and, more and more, theatre artists and educators are introducing young people to his works through performance. While these performances offer an engaging way for students to access these complex texts, they also often bring up topics and themes that might be challenging to discuss with young people. To give just a few examples, The Taming of the Shrew contains blatant sexism and gender violence; The Merchant of Venice features a multitude of anti-Semitic slurs; Othello shows characters displaying overtly racist attitudes towards its title character; and Henry V has several scenes of wartime violence. These themes are important, timely, and crucial to discuss with young people, but how can directors, actors, and teachers use Shakespeare's work as a springboard to begin these conversations? In this research project, I explore twenty-first century productions of the four plays mentioned above. All of the productions studied were done in the United States by professional or university companies, either for young audiences or with young people as performers. I look at the various ways that practitioners have adapted these plays, from abridgments that retain basic plot points but reduce running time, to versions incorporating significant audience participation, to reimaginings created by or with student performers. I also examine programming that occurs alongside productions, such as pre or post-show workshops and post-show discussions. I conclude by offering a collection of best practices, gleaned both from my study of these individual productions and from research in fields like applied theatre and educational theory.

Committee: Lesley Ferris (Advisor); Jennifer Schlueter (Committee Member); Shilarna Stokes (Committee Member); Robin Post (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Theater

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2005, Spanish and Portuguese

In my project, I analyze the star text of Maria Felix (1914-2002). In spite of her prolific film career of 47 films and her memorable image in the media, the scholarly treatment of her films and larger star text has been limited. As vintage film magazines and Mexican melodramatic comics attest, Felix was very visible and her personal life was scrutinized as her “real-life” self played out characteristics from her mala mujer film persona—her multiple husbands and lovers, her relationship with her son, and even her wardrobe choices. I analyze many of her films and her image in other forms of media such as fotonovelas, trade magazines, and her biographical sources in the following chapters. Her star image is powerful and far-reaching and presents an alternative model of Mexican womanhood from the beginning of her film career in the 1940s through (and even beyond) her last film in 1970. The star text of Maria Felix is a site that registered tensions between modernity and the traditional at a particular moment in Mexican history. The Mexican Revolution of 1910 brought many changes to society as warfare destabilized the family and disrupted the region. After the war, the Revolution became institutionalized as the government attempted to put into practice the goals of the Revolution. From the 1940s and throughout 1950s and 1960s it was a time of increased industrialization and urbanization as people migrated to the cities to find employment, as it became increasingly difficult to support a family through farming. These social tensions registered in her films and star text are in relation to women's changing roles as Mexican women gained more political freedoms, including national suffrage in 1953,and began working outside the home as the nation became more industrialized and urbanized throughout the 1940s and subsequent decades.

Committee: Laura Podalsky (Advisor) Subjects:

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2013, English/Literature

Shakespearean adaptation is not just about Shakespeare. Rather, Shakespearean adaptation tells us as much about the cultures that adapt the plays as it does about Shakespeare. My particular focus in this thesis is film adaptations of The Taming of the Shrew and the messages that these adaptations send about cultural responses to feminism. The staging of the play--and the nature of Kate and Petruchio's relationship--acts as a barometer of sorts, measuring cultural attitudes about women's proper societal position. Film adaptations of The Taming of the Shrew are especially notable for the ways they speak to cultural anxieties about women's sexual and psychological autonomy. Their increased production during certain decades points to heightened cultural concern about the role of women at that time. I examine four different adaptations of The Taming of the Shrew, produced during four different cultural moments, and analyze how each adaptation reveals societal reactions to feminism. I look at the ways in which each adaptation speaks to its culture and reifies--or resists--the cultural ideologies of the time. By examining four different adaptations from four distinct cultural moments, I thus trace the trajectory of cultural responses to feminism from the early 1900s to the present moment. As I map out society's reaction to feminism through my analysis of these four adaptations, I demonstrate the advances that feminism has made and the work that still remains to be done for feminists in the 21st century.

Committee: Kimberly Coates (Advisor); Stephannie Gearhart (Committee Member) Subjects: Literature; Womens Studies