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- All Subjects: Music
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- Member of: Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection
Description
Only in the world of acting can an individual be denied a job simply on the basis of their appearance, and in my thesis, I sought to explore alternatives to this through the concept of nontraditional casting and casting against "type", which included the presentation of a full-length production of the musical "Once on this Island" which I attempted to cast based on vocal quality and skill alone rather than taking physical characteristics into account. I researched the history and implementation of nontraditional casting, both in regards to race and other factors such as gender, socio-economic status, and disability. I also considered the legal and intellectual property challenges that nontraditional casting can pose. I concluded from this research that while nontraditional casting is only one solution to the problem, it still has a great deal of potential to create diversity in theater. For my own show, I held the initial auditions via audio recording, though the callback auditions were held in person so that I and my crew could appraise dance and acting ability. Though there were many challenges with our cast after this initial round of auditions, we were able to solidify our cast and continue through the rehearsal process. All things said, the show was very successful. It is my hope that those who were a part of the show, either as part of the production or the audience, are inspired to challenge the concept of typecasting in contemporary theater.
ContributorsBriggs, Timothy James (Author) / Yatso, Toby (Thesis director) / Dreyfoos, Dale (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Music (Contributor)
Created2014-12
Description
The Alien Play, as posted here, is a placeholder name for this working draft of a full-length stage play that functions as part-science-fiction adventure, part-spiritual-parable. As the process of playwriting is a complex array of research, outlining, drafting, revising and editing, the play is preceded by a craft essay detailing the playwright's inspiration, research, and narrative design. In order to complete this project, the playwright conducted research in the field of religious studies, focusing specifically on the phenomena of paranormal experiences through the lenses of psychology, sociology, and philosophy, asking questions such as: How and why do new religions arise? In what ways (narrative, content, structure, etc.) do these new religions reflect the spiritualist mythologies or religious institutions of the past? What do these similarities or differences say about the social, economic, or political atmospheres that give rise to such movements?
More specifically, this play works within the cross-section of religion/spirituality, mental illness, and UFO and other extra-terrestrial related anomalies to ask such questions as: What does it mean to be Human? What does it mean to be "alien" or Other? How do we internally and externally construct a binary between Humanness and Otherness, between Self and Other? How do we construct reality? In what ways does this anthropomorphize our conceptions of the Human or the Other? In what ways, specifically, may this affect our understanding or manifestation of mental illness, in ourself and others?
The play you see here is a final draft for the thesis, but is still in development elsewhere. Here is a brief log line (i.e. a short description of the general plot and conflict of a script) for the piece: Four sisters from a broken home must deal with the sudden discovery of their late father's communication with an extra-terrestrial race bearing a message of Love-and-Peace. When they, too, begin to communicate with the E.T.'s, they must juggle issues of mental illness, memory, and trauma all while outrunning a shadow government that will stop at nothing to uncover their secret.
More specifically, this play works within the cross-section of religion/spirituality, mental illness, and UFO and other extra-terrestrial related anomalies to ask such questions as: What does it mean to be Human? What does it mean to be "alien" or Other? How do we internally and externally construct a binary between Humanness and Otherness, between Self and Other? How do we construct reality? In what ways does this anthropomorphize our conceptions of the Human or the Other? In what ways, specifically, may this affect our understanding or manifestation of mental illness, in ourself and others?
The play you see here is a final draft for the thesis, but is still in development elsewhere. Here is a brief log line (i.e. a short description of the general plot and conflict of a script) for the piece: Four sisters from a broken home must deal with the sudden discovery of their late father's communication with an extra-terrestrial race bearing a message of Love-and-Peace. When they, too, begin to communicate with the E.T.'s, they must juggle issues of mental illness, memory, and trauma all while outrunning a shadow government that will stop at nothing to uncover their secret.
ContributorsFields, Savannah (Author) / Sterling, Pamela (Thesis director) / Reyes, Guillermo (Committee member) / Department of English (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-12
Description
A collection of comedy rap songs.
ContributorsBenson, Nathan (Author) / Espinosa, Micha (Thesis director) / Reyes, Guillermo (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor)
Created2022-05
Description
A collection of comedy rap songs.
ContributorsBenson, Nathan (Author) / Espinosa, Micha (Thesis director) / Reyes, Guillermo (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor)
Created2022-05
Description
A collection of comedy rap songs.
ContributorsBenson, Nathan (Author) / Espinosa, Micha (Thesis director) / Reyes, Guillermo (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor)
Created2022-05
Description
For my honors thesis, I decided to do a creative project in the form of an extended comedy act. With this performance, I wanted to make jokes about my identity and experiences in my life while synthesizing the skills I had acquired over my college career. I decided I wanted to do this project because it felt like the best way to combine my passion (comedy) with my major (communication) in the form of a comedic performance study. And while I thought the performance would be the most informative aspect of my project, the workshop process ended up being far more enlightening. Through the workshop process, I was able to better understand the challenges that come with developing a comedic autoethnographic performance, and to discover the true purpose behind the art I was creating.
ContributorsMale, Kathryn Margaret (Author) / de la Garza, Amira (Thesis director) / Reyes, Guillermo (Committee member) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Hugh Downs School of Human Communication (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
A collection of comedy rap songs
ContributorsBenson, Nathan (Author) / Espinosa, Micha (Thesis director) / Reyes, Guillermo (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor)
Created2022-05
Description
A collection of comedy rap songs.
ContributorsBenson, Nathan (Author) / Espinosa, Micha (Thesis director) / Reyes, Guillermo (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor)
Created2022-05
Description
A collection of comedy rap songs.
ContributorsBenson, Nathan (Author) / Espinosa, Micha (Thesis director) / Reyes, Guillermo (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor)
Created2022-05