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

Looking at the intersection of applied theatre practice and matters of rural and intragroup stigma, this dissertation argues that by sharing stories rural youth co-create social and cultural capital. Such capital, in turn, supplements existing long-term efforts to address stigma and to a certain extent offsets the limited opportunity structures that impact rural young people. Drawing on three case studies conducted over the 2019-2020 academic year, I detail the influence of rural and intragroup stigma on the social and cultural capital of the young rural participants, as well as the subsequent impacts of applied theatre practice. While all three case studies prioritize participant experience, they otherwise vary: from an in-school residency facilitated in rural Wisconsin to an after-school program observed in Nelsonville, Ohio to a touring youth ensemble formally based in Baraboo, Wisconsin. Although not broadly generalizable, the variety of case studies provides a breadth of examples intended to spark future applied theatre practice and research with rural young people.

Committee: Ana Puga PhD (Advisor); Beth Kattelman PhD (Committee Member); Katherine Borland PhD (Committee Member); Christine Morris PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Theater

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.

Committee: Ana Elena Puga (Advisor); Nadine George-Graves (Committee Member); Moriah Flagler (Committee Member) Subjects: Performing Arts; Theater; Theater Studies

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.

Committee: Edna Wangui Dr. (Advisor) Subjects: African Studies; Environmental Studies; Gender; Theater

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2015, Theatre

This creative thesis in applied theatre is from a participant research perspective focused on building community in Miami University's theatre department. Borrowing from Zygmunt Bauman's theory of liquid modern communities, I argue that America's big business corporatized public higher education system has changed as community has changed overtime. This change reveals community from being defined synonymously with society to individualization. `Liquid moderns' now use community as a commodity to meet their individualistic needs as a means of happiness and yet still find themselves truly alone. Though affecting all academic departments, this framework goes against the inherent community building discipline of theatre. Borrowing from Friends Provident, Michael Rohd, and Dale Savidge, I use applied theatre techniques to create spaces for conversation, empowerment, relationships, and transformation through performance, asset-based community building methods, civic practice, and spiritual and personal healing. According to Hans Georg Gadamar, Anthony P. Cohen, and Zygmunt Bauman, community in academia is through continuous deep engagement, interpretation, and conversation. In three different workshop groups, I engage liquid moderns in conversation through creative spaces for the purpose of empowering them in the direction of true community.

Committee: Ann Elizabeth Armstrong PhD (Advisor); Julia Guichard MFA (Committee Member); Kate Rousmaniere PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Higher Education; Personal Relationships; Theater

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2013, Theatre

This thesis uses practice-based research to explore possible interventions into the traumatic impact of illness upon breast cancer survivors' voices and the role of neoliberal pink ribbon culture in compounding their silencing. The interdisciplinary research pulls from the fields of applied theatre, critical pedagogy, materialist feminism, narrative analysis, social movement theory, medical sociology, and dialogue, disability and performance studies. Reflecting upon process and praxis relating to a regional tour of Susan Miller's My Left Breast as a means to engage a community of survivors, advocates and the general public, this thesis asks: Can a community-based theatre event focused on exploring breast cancer counternarratives provide both a therapeutic space for survivors to tell their stories as well as encourage the audience to think more critically about how culture works to influence narratives emerging from breast cancer culture?

Committee: Ann Elizabeth Armstrong (Advisor); Paul Jackson (Committee Member); Ann Fuehrer (Committee Member) Subjects: Fine Arts; Medical Ethics; Pedagogy; Performing Arts; Theater; Theater Studies; Womens Studies

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2015, Leadership and Change

This study addresses the research question “How Do I Inspire Personal and Social Change Through My Theater Practice?” I implement the theory and practice of H.E.A.T., a fusion theater system, combining use of theater arts as healing practice, educational asset, activist tool, and an art form. I research different ways that theater can affect change, focusing specifically on the use of history in performance. I dramatically interpret a period of history where performance and poetry contributed to change. I utilize qualitative methods including performance ethnography, auto ethnography, arts-based research, and historical research. I describe the fieldwork in conflict zones in the Middle East, which led to the scripting of a full-length play, and the presentation of the play, which included discussion groups and audience participation through post-show events. The dissertation is a bricolage, combining scholarly chapters, performative writing, and scripted theater. The work explores ways of employing theater as a change agent by using history as an inspiration. In the city of Cordoba, Spain, in the 10th and 11th century Muslims and Jews lived in a state of relative peace. Looking at medieval Cordoba I explore the Judeo-Arabic poetry of the time, asking: Can what happened in Cordoba be a model for performance and peacebuilding? Based on historical research, the Judeo-Arabic poetry of ancient Al-Andalusia, and the theory of performative peacebuilding, the dramatically scripted section of the dissertation will take place in two realms: Present-day conflict zones in the Middle East; and medieval Cordoba where two ancient characters convey a story of coexistence through poetic expression. In three decades of working as a theater artist, I have come to believe that my work must be dedicated to facilitating change. The sacred and ancient art of theater needs to be meaningful to 21st-century life so that we can use it to awaken, heal, educate and repair the world. This disser (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Carolyn Kenny Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Elizabeth Holloway Ph.D. (Committee Member); D. Soyini Madison Ph.D. (Committee Member); Dara Culhane Ph.D. (Committee Member); Magdelena Kazubowski-Houston Ph.D. (Other) Subjects: Aesthetics; Islamic Studies; Judaic Studies; Medieval History; Medieval Literature; Middle Eastern History; Middle Eastern Literature; Middle Eastern Studies; Performing Arts; Psychology; Psychotherapy; Theater; Theater Studies