Dramaturgy is an art form that is still, after decades of existence in the American theater, misunderstood, and often feared, by many theater artists. From quasi-realistic portrayals of TV Shows such as SMASH, to the pulpy B-movie depiction of Law and Order: Criminal Intent, dramaturgs are often portrayed with at least a sense of distrust, if not outright antagonism. Why is this?

In this thesis, I will draw connections between contemporary dramaturgical practices and theory, with analysis nineteenth century medicine, chiefly Michel Foucault’s idea of the “medical gaze,” the revolutionary way of seeing a diseased body that helped facilitate the creation of modern medicine in the 19th century. Inspired by this concept, I put forward a theory of the dramaturgical gaze, a tool for consolidating and illuminating the process by which a dramaturg engages with a script, and the larger process of rehearsal.

I will also examine Derrida’s analysis of the Pharmakos and Pharmakon, a pair of words that can mean either Poison or medicine. Examining this spectrum, I explore the corrupted nature of dramatic texts, and the ways that the dramaturg helps to recognize and treat the corruption. I also engage in an analysis of the Apollonian and Dionysian ways of approaching the role of the dramaturg. Into all of this, I insert an analysis about my work as a dramaturg on two recent productions, California Shakespeare Theater’s production of Charles Ludlam’s The Mystery of Irma Vep, and Gerald Casel’s dance piece Splinters in Our Ankles.

The Whispers behind the Battle Line, by the prominent Iranian playwright Alireza Naderi in 1993, is one of the most important plays about the Iran–Iraq war. This highly acclaimed play which has never been translated, is valuable for English-reading scholars and artists because deals with one of the most important events in contemporary Iranian history. Also, its production history shows the relationship of theatre to the state and the process and effect of censorship in theater in Iran.

In this thesis, I exploreed the social and political context in which the play was written, the role of censorship in Iranian theatre-making process. I finally concluded with an assessment of the current state of Iranian dramaturgy as it pertains to this history.

The following thesis maps the evolution of my dramaturgy for the UCSC production of Machinal, written by Sophie Treadwell and directed by Kirsten Brandt, in three sections. It serves to detail my process through evidence, analysis, interpretation and reflection. The first section I refer to as my "monster essay," which places Treadwell's work beneath the microscope, to be viewed through the lens of Jeffrey Jerome Cohen's Seven Theses of Monster Theory. My essay exposes the fears and desires of 1920's America through objective analysis and informed interpretation. This essay served to inform my work as a dramaturg, using Monster Theory as an empirical method of cultural and historical investigation. The second section is a direct reflection of my dramaturgy for the 2014 production of Machinal. It begins with an assessment of how Monster Theory influenced my process, followed by a linear evaluation of my role as a dramaturg. It functions to provide an account of the objective successes of this production's dramaturgy in addition to exposing moments where further dramaturgy could have enriched the depth of the performance. Each of these documents is then supported by the evidence present within the third section, my dramaturgical casebook, which is separate to this file.

The casebook's contents reflect a portion of my research, providing a glimpse at the socio-political and cultural elements of history that were relevant to both the historical moment of Treadwell's writing in addition to how it has been interpreted since its debut in 1928 to the present. Furthermore, it documents historical evidence of the Snyder-Gray trial which was heavily influential to Treadwell's work as being exemplary of the fears and desires present not only within the individual, but within the larger social sphere of the late 1920's in America. Newspaper articles, essays, and other resources retrieved both online as well as from physical documents provide concrete evidence that exposes the world of Machinal, both in its written form and as it was set in Brandt's production. In addition, this casebook reveals evidence of my dramaturgy that directly influenced the production. In particular, this is seen through the actor's packet, program notes, production journal and the external lobby display. Finally, it documents the designer and artist research, renderings and statements as well as production stills in order to historicize our production.

Auratic Interpreter

Lauren Benzaquen

Abstract

The Auratic Interpreter is an interactive multi-media video installation. Part divination, part polygraph technology, the Interpreter reads the aura of inanimate objects and translates it to a visual record. Viewers can participate by choosing an object from a collection and placing it on a divination device. Visually, the machine responds in two ways: a video representing an extraction of memory from that object, and a scrolling print-out of electrical activity signalling a successful reading. A story develops as different objects give clues through coded imagery, and much like a psychic reading, broad strokes allow for a viewer to make their own connections.

Aura is a word laden with meanings, especially arousing the aesthetics of the paranormal experience. Encountering the Interpreter is like encountering a psychic booth at a carnival, yet is countered by the look of a mad scientist laboratory. The divination machine is connected to a mechanical chart recorder that continuously prints a measurement of auratic metrics. The technician is myself, the artist, wearing a lab coat and taking notes on the study. Several dispositions are implied: that of alchemical traditions or early technology meant to measure the invisible; the sense of surveillance and paranoia reflecting the return gaze of possessions upon their owners; and a disposition of irrevocable distance between people and things, one that requires a radical mediation in order to experience a pure intimacy with the material world.

A Nation at Risk, published in 1983, led to a number of reformations to the United States education system with the goal of increasing the ranking of US education on a global level. These reformations have led to a test-based “banking” model of education which does not adequately support underrepresented and non-normative students. Moreover, it fails to support all students by encouraging rote memorization without supporting comprehension or practical skill-building.

Using Paulo Freire’s critique of traditional education systems, and the pedagogically focused theatrical tools of Augusto Boal, I examine the efficacy of integrating arts-based learning practices into US high school classrooms with the objective to provide more diverse learning tools and improve the quality of education for disadvantaged students. I student-taught in a Monterey Bay area high school and found that many of the obstacles I faced in implementing such a program were systemic in nature and supported Freire’s critiques.

The integration of digital media into traditional theatre is at once inevitable and impossible. The convergence of film and theatre is quickly becoming commonplace in live performance; vast new possibilities are opened up by extending – through increasingly cost-efficient projections – nearly every element on stage, including scenery, costumes, props, and even performers. However, I hypothesize that the projected and performed aspects of digitally-integrated theatre are structurally incompatible. When isolated, both mediums operate similarly, using signs to represent reality without ever asserting itself as real. However, the presence of projected media in live theatre appears not as referential, like the actor’s representation of a character, but as self-reflexive, like the director’s statement, read before curtain is given the chance to rise. While this opens limitless possibilities of what can be delivered to the audience’s perception, its reliance on photorealism can bypass the dramatic process; projected media is both gilded and gelded by the real. This manifesto will pull from prior research in the fields of theatre, film, and projected media, and synthesize these arguments to investigate the divergence of film and theatre on the basis of structural differences, including semiosis, deixis, and liminality. However, through the exploration of aesthetic strategies used in seven personal case studies, this manifesto will also propose five tenets of media design aimed at the successful integration of the projected and the performed in live theatre.

Restorative Justice is a process that brings together victims and offenders of crime in dialogue to create consensus around what happened and how it can be made right. Based on the framework of restorative justice and the model for achieving it, two prison theatre programs (Carceral Shakespeare and the New Jersey Prison Theater Cooperative) achieve some aspects of restorative justice for both offenders and the community. I use two criteria to demonstrate this: (1) Does sharing their story through this play, performance, or arts program have a restorative effect for the offender or victim? (2) Does this play, performance, or arts program have a pedagogical or empowering effect for the audience?Both projects at least partially fulfill these criteria; Carceral Shakespeare satisfies both and a play by the Theater Cooperative partially satisfies the second. The projects take very different approaches and positive lessons can be gleamed from both. I conclude that, for a theatre project pursuing restorative justice to be successful, it must acknowledge systemic problems that lead to crime, provide opportunities for an offender to reflect on their crime, and present an audience with these elements as well as alternative approaches to justice.

This thesis examines the practical contributions of the dramaturg during the collaborative process as well as the working relationships between the dramaturg and the other members of the cast and technical crew. A major aim of the work is to determine the role of a dramaturg in political drama, while also looking at the purpose of such theater in a politically hegemonic area.

Partially a reflection on personal practice and experience working on heavily politicized theater, it will also analyze the changing requirements of the dramaturg based on the aims of the theatrical piece. Additionally, this thesis will look at the use of historical research in political drama as a method of informing decisions and adaptations as well as enforcing or eliminating political bias.

Abstract

Show me What Democracy Looks Like: Brechtian Dramaturgy and the Modern Protest Theater

by Victoria Gardiner, MA

This thesis explores the disjunction between the impact of UC Santa Cruz’s 2017 production of Bertolt Brecht’s The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui on the production’s cast and on its audience. Specifically, this thesis examines the impact of the decision to conclude the production not with the final lines of Brecht’s text, but to add a theatrically staged protest. This protest stepped outside the play’s use of parable and directly engaged with the discourses of the 2016 presidential election.

While the cast of Arturo Ui reported an experience which was both artistically fulfilling and theatrically empowering, our audiences responded with resistance to elements of the production's message. While we did produce a work which celebrated the ability of the students to engage in political resistance, by adding the staged protest we positioned ourselves as ideologues from the perspective of our audience. As we positioned ourselves as a source of ideological authority right after completing a text about resisting sources of ideological authority we were, of course, resisted.

In this thesis, I analyse the differing perspectives of the actors and the audience through the lens of Augusto Boal’s “Theater of the Oppressed.” Specifically, I use Boal’s theories of a dialectic aesthetic space to talk about the practice of instructive theater as protest theater. Additionally, I discuss the viability of ultimately didactic theater models in what must necessarily be a dialectic space.

Through an examination of the UCSC production of Birth of Stars, this thesis investigates the potential of performing arts as a pedagogical tool, the relationship between art and science, and the potential they hold if utilized together to gain a better understanding of the human condition and the universe around us. The project consists of two parts: a dramaturgical casebook for the UCSC production of Birth of Stars and a thesis that documents my process working on the show as a dramaturg. The show joins a repertoire of productions confirming the importance of performing arts disciplines as viable approaches towards a greater understanding of the human condition and the world we inhabit. It also illustrates how artistic performance can have pedagogical success, making difficult content an audience may not be familiar with easier to understand and learn about. This thesis has found that art is a necessary, yet underutilized, exploration for knowledge and learning that is just as influential and crucial to one’s education as are the sciences.