Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2024, Theatre

This dissertation project uses a phenomenological approach to better understand the aural experience of audiences in theatrical productions and to advance the study of the art of sound design beyond the level of technical manuals. The arrangement of the audience within the theatre space is an often-overlooked variable that affects how the audience listens to and contextualizes the performance. In addition to aural framing, this dissertation explores the concepts of noise, silence, aural intimacy, mediatization, immersive audio, audience reception, and the communal experience of listening in thrust, arena, proscenium, and immersive stages.

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2022, Theatre

Bud Coleman and Judith A. Sebesta in Women in American Musicals: Essays on Composers…. (2008) and Michelle Parke in Queer in the Choir: Essays on Gender and Sexuality in Glee (2014), all contend that “Musical theatre is arguably the most popular form of theatre in the United States” (Coleman and Sebesta, 6). Since the Nigerian tour of the Broadway musical Fela! in 2011, the form has generated a renewed excitement in that country's theatre culture, which was on the verge of extinction. A central contributor to this interest in musical theatre in Nigeria is producer Bolanle Austen-Peters (a.k.a., BAP). Inspired by Fela!, Austen-Peters has produced five Broadway-style musical theatre performances in the last decade, staged in Nigeria and abroad. In this study, I analyze three key works from Austen-Peters's still-in-process career while also providing documentation for this new art form to ensure its preservation and inspire prospects of future research. By using Ruth Little's, Cathy Turner's, and Synne Behrndt's definitions of dramaturgy, I critically evaluate and attend to how contemporary musical theatre in Nigeria functions. In addition, employing Marvin Carlson's concept of theatrical interculturalism, I endeavor to understand how traditional Nigerian performance elements are making their way into this reimagined art form. Following the introduction which lays out the topic and methodologies, chapter two is a critical exploration of Austen-Peters's first musical script, Saro, The Musical (2013). Specifically, I explore how she is modifying and modernizing traditional Nigerian performance practices to create a musical theatre production unique to Nigeria. My focus in chapter three is an analysis of a video recording of Austen-Peters's second work, Wakaa, The Musical (2015), which debuted in Nigeria before transferring to London in 2016 for a limited run. Building on the work done in chapter two, in this chapter I investigate how this performance combines el (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2020, Theatre

The historical narrative of actor training has thus far been limited to the history of Eurocentric actor training. Put another way, it has been predominantly white. While the history of actor training has been understudied in general, the history of training for actors of color has been almost non-existent. Yet scholars including Alison Hodge and Mark Evans have made direct links between actor training and both the evolution of theatre and the development of personal, artistic, and socio-political worldviews. Since the recorded history of actor training focuses almost exclusively on white practitioners, however, this history privileges the experiences and perspectives of white practitioners over those of color. Rooted in the argument that a history of actor training based so exclusively on whiteness is incomplete and inaccurate, this dissertation explores the history of actor training for Latinx actors, especially those who participated in and came out of the Chicanx Theatre Movement of the 1960s and 1970s, and who went on to engage in other training programs afterwards. Relying primarily on original archival research, I document multifaceted attempts to train Latinx actors in the United States in the mid- to late twentieth century. In five chapters, I examine the beginnings of Latinx actor training in the United States; the Theatre of the Sphere training system devised by Luis Valdez and the El Teatro Campesino ensemble in the 1960s and 1970s; the various training opportunities offered by TENAZ (Teatro Nacional de Aztlan), a national network of Chicano theatres that operated from the late 1960s into the early 1990s; the efforts of the Old Globe Theatre's Teatro Meta program in the 1980s; and the short-lived MFA program in Hispanic-American Theatre established by Jorge Huerta at the University of California, San Diego in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In examining these efforts, I argue that theatre artists and practitioners of color have historically engaged in (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2020, Theatre

This MA Thesis examines how community-engaged performance within jails creates space for incarcerated individuals to develop or re-develop performances of positive identity, or affirming expressions of self, that otherwise are not supported by the typical conditions of incarceration. Acknowledging the possibility that incarcerated individuals might be returning to or reinterpreting past performances of positive identities that were stifled, or might be performing positive identities for the first time in their lives, I use the term "re/develop" to describe how they might approach formations of affirming expressions of self. How these re/developed performances are supported, what forms they take, and what the social impact of these performances is are the central questions of this research. In addition to critical engagement with existing literature by other researchers and practitioners of community-engaged performance practice and performance in correctional facilities, I primarily explore my research questions through the lens of practice-as-research, drawing from field notes, facilitation plans, artifacts, surveys, interviews, and video recordings compiled during my summer 2019 community-engaged performance project with incarcerated women at the Bartholomew County Jail in Columbus, Indiana. Based on this research, I argue that the practices and social environment of community-engaged jail performance create conditions for incarcerated individuals to engage with their complexities as human beings through re/developed performances of personal identity, social community identity, and civic identity.

Master of Fine Arts, The Ohio State University, 2011, Theatre

Aida, with music by Elton John and lyrics by Tim Rice, was a theatrical production presented during the fall quarter of 2010 at The Ohio State University, produced by the Department of Theatre in collaboration with the Columbus Association of the Performing Arts at the Southern Theatre in downtown Columbus. This thesis is a documentation of the lighting design process for Aida. The first chapter is an examination of the Southern Theatre and the producing situation. The second and third chapters address the design ideas for the production, including the director's concept, script analysis, and collaborative efforts. The final two chapters explore the lighting design process from beginning to end, including a self-evaluation of the final design. The concept for the production was to blend the aesthetics of the ancient Egyptian world with modern-day styling, creating a world that feels both current and timeless. The production was conceived and designed to be as grand in scope as possible within the limitations of the space, so that it could effectively convey the epic nature of the story to the audience and draw them into the lush world of the characters. Also, in response to the music, which is largely rock-and-roll-inspired, the lighting for certain scenes reflected a rock aesthetic. A wide variety of modern technology was used in order to achieve this aesthetic and keep the lighting vibrant and interesting throughout the production.

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2013, Theatre and Film

For decades, theatre history textbooks and other influential studies on theatre history have positioned Ubu Roi, Alfred Jarry's 1896 avant-garde “classic,” as the beginning or originator of the historical avant-garde and precursor to the playwrights considered as part of Martin Esslin's “Theatre of the Absurd.” Much of this reputation is built on inaccurate accounts of the premiere production, put down by those involved or in attendance, who had particular aims in reporting the event in the ways they did. Those accounts would end up being put to use as the base on which various scholars would establish the premiere of Ubu Roi as the ignition of the historical avant-garde. This dissertation is a poststructuralist historiographical study in which I analyze the various statements made, first by participants and witnesses to the premiere production, and then by scholars and critics who take those accounts as factual, that place Ubu Roi on a path to legitimization and inclusion in the Western canon. In my research, I examine initial accounts of the premiere production, early post mortem accounts of Jarry's life, the proliferation of the character Ubu in early twentieth century French society, French and English critical and biographical studies of Jarry and Ubu Roi, anthologies and edited collections of Ubu Roi, and reviews and other related materials of several key French revivals and over fifteen English-language revivals of the play. I mark the emergence of three specific strategies that grew out of tactics Jarry employed at the premiere. I demonstrate how the conflation of Jarry with his character Ubu, made possible by his extraordinary performance of self at the premiere, the notion of the production's innate ability to produce scandal, and the idea of Jarry's implementation of a “revolutionary” dramaturgy, are all used to make Ubu Roi the example par excellence of avant-garde drama. I unite these three strategies under the title “U-Effect” to describe the subjec (open full item for complete abstract)

Ed.D., Antioch University, 2025, Education

Devised theatre offers a unique artistic and pedagogical approach that challenges conventional hierarchies of storytelling by centering collaboration, personal narratives, and collective authorship. This dissertation explores the role of devised theatre in identity formation and social resistance, particularly for students from historically and currently marginalized backgrounds. Through a qualitative inquiry rooted in interviews and a podcast-based research methodology, this study investigates how devised theatre creates spaces for self-exploration, fosters community-building, and serves as a means of resisting dominant cultural narratives. This study finds that devised theatre functions as both an artistic and political practice, allowing participants to reclaim agency over their own narratives while challenging systems of oppression. Themes emerging from the research include the role of devised theatre in fostering identity affirmation, the importance of vulnerability and collaboration, and the necessity of centering process over product. Additionally, the study highlights innovative pedagogical strategies and ethical considerations for educators and facilitators working with devised theatre in educational and community settings. By employing a podcast as a primary mode of dissemination, this dissertation models an alternative approach to academic research, prioritizing accessibility and public engagement. The findings suggest that devised theatre not only holds pedagogical value but also serves as a vital tool for fostering social awareness and activism. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA (https://aura.antioch.edu) and OhioLINK ETD Center (https://etd.ohiolink.edu).

Master of Fine Arts, The Ohio State University, 2024, Theatre

The subconscious mind gathers a lot about a person based on visuals alone. In the world of live theatre, this initial impression is highly controlled by the costume designer. Each element of live theatre combines to create a story that captures the attention of the audience; the actor walks onto the stage, their mind and heart completely in their performance, surrounded by an involved environment and adorned with skillfully detailed garments. Together with my professors and associates at The Ohio State University, we produced a surreal yet modern telling of Blood Wedding by early 20th century playwright Federico Garcia Lorca. We dove into the text, found our balance between poetry and realism, and created a world of bittersweet love. This thesis documents the costume design process from that production. The five chapters will discuss the producing situation, concept and design scheme, character analyses, production, and self-evaluation of the project.

Bachelor of Music, Capital University, 2022, Music

Theatre is an art form with the capacity to enact real change in our communities. Because of the wide array of topics theatre explores, it can help us to hold up a mirror to real life, critique and comment on proceedings within it, hold space for human emotion and therefore catharsis, and get viewers invested in a good story. This begs a responsibility for theatrical professionals to tie in aspects of community outreach to create a more enriching show, and harness the true power of this art form. In this project, I will be producing and directing Indecent, as well as creating opportunities for community outreach through talkbacks, service projects, and campus engagement opportunities. I will be creating a directorial concept, choosing actors, designing a rehearsal plan, finding costumes, set design elements, lighting, sound, and anything else needed to produce the show, all while organizing the opportunities for community engagement, complementary to the show's themes of LGBTQ+ rights and the history of Yiddish theatre. I have received permission also to conduct interviews and surveys of audience members directly after the show as well as check-ins to measure how the themes resonated with them, and later, how they have noticed them appear in their lives since, or any changes they have made. In the final paper in the execution semester, I will then explore these effects through the findings of this production and outreach components to demonstrate that theatre has the ability, and therefore responsibility to benefit others.

Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA), Ohio University, 2018, Theater

This paper explores Theatre for Development (TfD) as a research and development tool through a case study conducted in the Mathare slum of Nairobi, Kenya. Mathare is densely populated, with over half-a-million people in one square kilometer. Sanitation and water systems are poorly constructed and often controlled by cartels. This leads to health and security issues that disproportionately affect women. Development initiatives that aim to address these issues often ignore the role that community members play in development. TfD, as I modify it for this project, is an adaptation of Augusto Boal's forum theatre that generates community-led solutions to specific development issues. Using TfD, I rely on stakeholder participation to pursue a holistic research methodology that informs initiatives aimed at improving sanitation challenges. My research seeks to answer two questions: What information surfaces as a result of creating a TfD workshop in Mathare? And how does TfD succeed and fail as a methodology applied in Mathare? I present the data collected through the process of developing the workshop, conducting the workshop, and participant feedback. The data show that the practice of TfD in Mathare generates nuanced information on limitations to sanitation, and illustrates how gendered limitations restrict women's ability to make choices about their own sanitation. The data also show that TfD is useful in empowering participants to guide community dialogue around issues and ways of addressing them, and clarifying areas of misinterpretation. However, challenges can arise with budgeting time and negotiating a language barrier. Overall, I will show that TfD is a research and development tool that empowers stakeholders in the process of information collection, and allows them to invest directly and specifically in the desired outcomes.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2003, Theatre

This dissertation provides a history of Shared Experience Theatre, a fringe theatre company based in London, England. The members of Shared Experience have earned international acclaim for their commitment to physically innovative approaches to novel adaptations for the stage. Although they are one of the few living fringe companies remaining since the 1970s, this is the first official investigation of the company that revitalized storytelling techniques for the contemporary British stage. The focus of this study is on the creative processes and survival techniques of the artistic leadership over the past twenty-seven years, beginning with Mike Alfreds in 1975, and continuing with Nancy Meckler and Polly Teale since 1987. It was Shared Experience's work in the 1970s that sparked the contemporary British interest in stage adaptations of literature, with their landmark productions of Arabian Nights and Dicken's Bleak House. Under the artistic leadership of Mike Alfreds, the actors employed the narrative of the novel as a wellspring of theatrical possibility, physically transforming themselves through the slightest gesture. From the late 1980s, under Meckler and Teale, the approach to novel adaptation continues to be physical and innovative, yet takes a significantly different path. The style is distinctly and powerfully physical and ‘expressionistic'; their rehearsals are an exploration of what the story ‘feels like' rather than what it looks like in reality. The use of ritualized gestures, visual images, split characters, and the physicalization of characters' fantasies and dreams have all become hallmarks of the Shared Experience ‘approach'. With these tools, Meckler and Teale have cracked open the secrets ‘hidden inside' the heart of the novel for the British stage. This dissertation also examines the economic and administrative context that supports the continued existence of Shared Experience Theatre. As such, this study brings contemporary British theatre schola (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2011, Theatre

This creative thesis functions as a two-part exploration of locating the intersection of theory and practice as it relates to the overlapping of theatre, performance, and African American studies. This thesis was accompanied with Miami University's 2010 production of A Song for Coretta. With a specific focus on playwright Pearl Cleage and her play, A Song for Coretta, this thesis examines how African American history, culture, and experiences become an integral part of the total theatre process; be it playwriting, performing, researching, or directing.

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2011, Theatre and Film

This study aims to counter the claims that Artaud was a practical failure and his theoretical writings had little value for theatre practice during his time. I instead argue that Artaud's body of work shows his dedication to creating a theatre style that would differ drastically from the styles dominating French theatre. I use Artaud's original texts to determine his Theatre of Cruelty aesthetics and to highlight how much of his work holds practical as well as theoretical value. By doing this, I argue that Artaud's practical capabilities in theatre should be properly acknowledged and his theoretical contributions be viewed for their applicability to production. This study continues the work of Artaud scholars such as Kimberly Jannarone who have challenged previous portrayals of Artaud by earlier scholars as a failed theatre artist whose theoretical writings are more emblematic of his mental illness than of any practical sensibilities. This study addresses and challenges many of the widely held notions about Artaud concerning his practical works as well as his essays on the plague, cruelty, and non-Western ritual. I argue that while these writings may seem to be disconnected writings, they may be directly connected to practical theatrical concerns. To make these claims, I examine Artaud's work at the Alfred Jarry Theatre to demonstrate the ways in which aspects of his developing theatre aesthetic are foreshadowed in his practical work while there. I then look at the ways that Artaud's Theatre of Cruelty manifestos can be seen at work in his production of Les Cenci, the only full-length play that he wrote. I connect his writings on “plague” and “cruelty” to established performance tropes and show how Artaud used both of these terms to describe the functionality of his new theatre. Finally, I compare the Balinese dance dramas Artaud witnessed at the 1931 Paris Colonial Exposition to his Manifestos on Cruelty to show how Artaud's arguably unstageable theories had, as (open full item for complete abstract)

Ed.D., Antioch University, 2025, Education

This study uses autoethnography to examine the role gender plays in Los Angeles social justice theatre storytelling. Chronicling my autoethnography as a queer, nonbinary artist and social justice theatre practitioner, I will examine gender through the context of my social justice theatre company, Artists Rise Up Los Angeles (ARULA), by analyzing selections of its original, politically focused, professional stage plays performed from 2017 to 2019, utilizing ARULA's emerging themes of gender expression and inclusion. ARULA was born out of a determination to create original social justice theatre storytelling to understand and transform reality by bringing theatrical expression to the environment in which we were living, in response to the 2016 United States presidential election. The study itself deconstructs how complex issues of gendered storytelling and gender performativity by transgender and nonbinary individuals have been openly performed within ARULA and how the production of those gender stories aimed to create social change as a way to combat anti-gender ideology and anti-transgender liberation in modern culture. Through autoethnographic research, I include myself as research-participant- storyteller and use queer theory as a framework in which to discover how gender in theatre may allow for complex issues to apply toward cultural and social justice. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA (https://aura.antioch.edu) and OhioLINK ETD Center (https://etd.ohiolink.edu).

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2025, Theatre and Film

This dissertation analyzes objects' expressivity in artwork by Allan Kaprow, Claes Oldenburg, and Tadeusz Kantor, focusing on happenings they created between the late 1960s and the early 1970s. Through the framework of art history, performance studies, and theatre history, this dissertation examines the artists' respective approaches to using or recreating ordinary objects in symbolic ways and as vehicles for calling attention to overlooked aspects of everyday life. The analysis finds that the everyday objects used in Kaprow's, Oldenburg's, and Kantor's work became expressive vehicles with multidimensional meaning involving subjects such as eroticism, human psychology, historical trauma, consumer society, the environment, and a host of social developments. Additionally, as a theatre artist, I discuss the theatre events I created between 2005 and 2020, considering the use of expressive objects in relation to visual dramaturgy and tracing influences from the three artists' use of everyday objects in their work. Investigating expressive objects in Kaprow's, Oldenburg's, and Kantor's happenings, environments, and assemblages, I argue that the everyday objects in their happenings are integral to artists' reflections on their society. For instance, the ordinary objects in Kaprow's work illuminate alternative possibilities for the social meaning and function of everyday experiences, and communication. Likewise, Oldenburg's practice with ordinary objects in his happenings and installations not only corresponds to the critical language of “visual theatre” in twenty-first-century theatre and performance but also shows Oldenburg's humor about and critique of American consumerism and other cultural phenomenon during the postwar period in the United States. In a different cultural context, Kantor's objects express his lived experience in the war-torn society of Poland following World War II. These three artists' evolving art practice offered a new view of performing art's pote (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2024, Theatre

This reflective practitioner research study explores the potentials for the reimplementation of effective university theatre outreach programming for K-12 schools in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, as both populations navigate shifting education cultures. Through this study, the researcher asks the questions: How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected and continues to affect our respective learning communities? What factors are influencing the specific needs and preferences from theatre education programs? What are the challenges of creating a program that addresses the needs of two distinct education sectors? How do critical and creative pedagogies in theatre education inform a way forward that empowers all individuals involved? Utilizing the 2023 Ohio State University Theatre Performance and Education Outreach School Tour as a case study, this inquiry investigates the ways in which the tour structure may provide a space for students and teachers to participate in critical pedagogies and dialogical practices within the classroom structure. Through examination of historical archive review, teacher interviews, and observational reflection, this study concludes with recommendations for practical strategies that encourage our respective educational communities to lean on each other's expertise nd to center the voices of and lived experiences of multi-generational students within the creative practice.

Master of Fine Arts, Miami University, 2024, Art

The goal of this research was to develop a pathway for improving audience experience within playable theatre by defining and intentionally sequencing audience interactions within this genre of interactive and immersive performance. With the performing arts industry facing a crisis marked by dwindling ticket sales post-pandemic, theatre artists have an opportunity to attract new audiences by producing playable theatre productions that offer audience experiences that are as engaging of the senses and mind as popular immersive entertainment today. The development of the Audience Interaction Taxonomy for Playable Theatre, which defines and describes specific audience interaction modes, allows for the strategic design of the audience experience for game-based performance through sequencing and pacing of such interactions, ensuring heightened psychological engagement and narrative comprehension. Centered around the production of I Wish: A Theatrical Escape Room, an audience interaction model is developed on the foundation of the new taxonomy, designed to reduce cognitive load by limiting concurrent audience interaction modes to two. The study employed a pragmatic qualitative approach, utilizing observations, surveys, and interviews to understand participant experiences and behaviors in this context to refine and build upon the taxonomy and the sequencing of audience interactions. Understanding and defining audience interactions and experience within a playable theatre context is the first step in developing evaluation and design tools so that theatre artists feel empowered to confidently create immersive and interactive performance that delivers the intended audience experience.

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2022, Theatre and Film

In my dissertation, “‘What a Man': The Crisis of Masculinity on the Broadway Musical Stage,” I examine masculinity represented within new, popular, and award-winning Broadway musical productions as a telling example of contemporary culture in the United States. I explore how masculinity is specifically constructed in five productions and how these representations potentially subvert the societal expectations for masculine performance. Through archival research, close reading of the texts and performances, and qualitative interviews with seventeen members of the original productions, I argue that these musicals specifically and intentionally offer alternative views of masculinity that potentially pave the way to end the binary rigidity captured in what masculinity scholars have deemed the “crisis of masculinity.” This crisis addresses the current sociopolitical moment in which men in Western society that are expected to perform their gender in line with one of two binary archetypes: the hypermasculine strong man or the non-masculine effeminate, in actuality, do not fall into either category. The productions I consider, in order of their openings, are Spring Awakening by Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater; The Book of Mormon by Trey Parker, Robert Lopez, and Matt Stone; Kinky Boots by Cyndi Lauper and Harvey Fierstein; Hamilton: An American Musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda; and Dear Evan Hansen by Benj Pasek, Justin Paul, and Steven Levenson. I draw on theoretical insights from scholars including Fintan Walsh, Michael Kimmel, Judith Butler, Stacy Wolf, and Barbara Herrnstein Smith to ground my work in current disciplinary conversations about gender, performativity, and musical theatre. My chapters explore how traditional qualities of masculinity are performed through these musicals in ways that nevertheless actively grapple with the crisis and challenge representations found in their predecessors. Overall, my aim is to provide insight into how musical theatre has, in recent y (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2021, Theatre

While the past decade has seen a rapid increase in media visibility for transgender celebrities, it has not necessarily led to greater inclusion of transgender people within the United States' major performing arts institutions. The resulting increased awareness among the general public has reinforced the prevailing cultural narrative that the transgender community is a newly emerging population. The theatre has contributed to this perception, framing trans narratives as novel and “trending,” which perpetuates what ethnographer Andre Calvacante calls the ideology of transgender impossibility. This dissertation challenges the theatre industry's ideology of transgender impossibility by tracing the artistic and political origins of contemporary transgender performance and by illuminating the ways in which such an ideology obscures the history and distinct aesthetics of trans artists. Using interviews and what LGBTQ theatre historian Sean F. Edgecomb terms lateral historiography, this project locates transgender performance and aesthetic practices within communities practicing queer solo performance, the theatrical jazz aesthetic, and spoken word poetry. Building upon these varied queer legacies, transgender performers have developed a particular set of aesthetic practices and dramaturgical strategies based in embodied experience, queer time/transtemporality, disidentification, and community-building. The exploration of trans aesthetics here examines performance strategies which trouble the actor-spectator relationship through the lenses of Rebecca Schneider's explicit body performance, Jack Halberstam's transgender gaze, and accountable audience participation. The project closes with an illustration of how the ideology of transgender impossibility—as a function of the cis white gaze—operates within theatrical spaces, perpetuating a cycle of marginalization and delegitimization of trans aesthetics, histories, voices, and experiences.

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2021, Theatre

White American Theatre has a long history of practicing exclusion. In the summer of 2020, a new collective named We See You White American Theatre formed to create the “BIPOC List of Demands for White American Theatre” and to push for more equitable practice in the American theatre industry. Their 31-page initiative calls for widespread reform in the American theatre community including codified cultural competency, BIPOC recruitment and retention both onstage and off, and greater transparency in funding and hiring. This thesis studies the practice of what I call inward- facing theatre activism— that is, theatre activism that critiques and redresses issues within the industry itself, rather than use theatre as a medium for other modes of social or political activism. I employ a mixed methodology including historical analysis, digital and traditional ethnography, and qualitative interviews, framing my research through the context of political scientist Cathy Cohen's theory of marginalization. Using Cohen's framework, I investigate inward-facing theatre activism as it is situated along a continuum of theatre activism, as it resonates throughout community-specific theatre organizing, and— using We See You White American Theatre as a case study— as it exists within and attempts to disrupt the dialectical relationship between marginalization and resistance in the American theatre. My thesis breaks ground in the study of inward- facing theatre activism in three ways: first, by providing a foundational analysis of marginalization and resistance that will benefit future scholars seeking to study integrative and secondary marginalization processes and the American theatre industry as a microcosm of American politics; second, by connecting Cohen's framework to the study of activism in the American theatre industry to explore how current and future scholars and activists alike might utilize this framework to achieve industrial equity; and third, by developing nascent scholarsh (open full item for complete abstract)