Theatre electronic theses and dissertations (MU)
The items in this collection are the theses and dissertations written by students of the Department of Theatre. Some items may be viewed only by members of the University of Missouri System and/or University of Missouri-Columbia. Click on one of the browse buttons above for a complete listing of the works.
Items in MOspace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.
Recent Submissions
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Killing "woman" : gender and violence in selected plays by Sheila Callaghan and Marisa Wegrzyn
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2019)One of the most popular manifestations of spectacle in the theatre is violence. Frequently, violence on the stage manifests in the form of violence towards women at the hands of men. As a woman violence and intimacy designer, ... -
Harmonizing with the cosmos : a critical analysis of cosmic symbolism in musical theatre
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2018)Humankind has long possessed a fascination with the cosmos and the cosmic bodies they can see from their earthly home. Overtime humans began to associate deities with the cosmic bodies, and religions developed to explain ... -
Do my eyes deceive me?: “Acts of Sight” in Naomi Iizuka’s Polaroid Stories, Concerning Strange Devices From the Distant West, War of the Worlds, and Good Kids
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2018)[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] Do My Eyes Deceive Me?: Acts of Sight in Naomi Iizuka's Polaroid Stories, Concerning Strange Devices from the Distant West, War of the Worlds, and Good ... -
The influence of gender on the careers of women theatre faculty in higher education : a qualitative investigation
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2018)[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] Researchers have long documented issues with gender equity in higher education, especially in STEM fields, but less attention has been directed to ... -
Where have all the mothers gone? : The liminalities of child loss in contemporary drama
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2018)[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] My dissertation, "Where Have All the Mothers Gone?: The Liminalities of Child Loss in Contemporary Drama," focuses on the liminal states in which female ... -
The recovery project : three dramatic works concerning alcoholism and recovery
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2018)This dissertation explores the transformative nature of storytelling in alcoholism recovery. I created a trilogy of dramatic works titled The Recovery Project, which address the underrepresented narrative of recovery through ... -
Birds and backs : a scholarly exploration of writing, performance, and body image
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2017)Diet culture is an intricate part of the current society in the United States, affecting countless women and girls, and men and boys. The health problems associated with dieting are major concerns, especially given the ... -
"If the wizard is a wizard who will serve" : the movical and shifting receptions of the St. Louis Municipal Opera and Royal Shakespeare Company's stage adaptations of MGM's "The Wizard of Oz"
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2016)[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] L. Frank Baum's The Wizard of Oz has been seen in many forms throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. One ilmof the most recognizable forms is the 1939 ... -
Figure of fun : gender, performance, and popular entertainment in the theatrical career of Trixie Friganza, 1889-1940
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2016)[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] This study examines Friganza's many performances of gender over the course of her career, from her first appearance as a young, nubile chorus girl in ... -
Developing a sustainable business model for theatres : a case study of Kansas City's Starlight Theatre
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2016)The business of theatre is a profitable yet volatile industry. Typically, organizations are considered successful or unsuccessful, with the latter organizations theatres frequently going out of business. This study adapts ... -
Cover (a play about trafficking) the power of creating performative auto/ethnographies in a theatre community
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2015)The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist. This idea that the devil (or depravity) is sly enough to make us believe it doesn't exist comes rushing forward up to this moment. I connect ... -
No crown without the cross : the formation, existence, and disappearance of the Catholic Stage Guild of Ireland
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2015)[ACCCSS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] In December 1948, an article by Seamus Brady in The Manitoba Ensign claimed, "[The Catholic Stage Guild of Ireland] has branches in every city in ... -
Coriolanus versus the warrior women : a dramaturgical analysis of an adaptation of Shakespeare's play
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2014)[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] Coriolanus by William Shakespeare has a respectable performance history, although it has never been as popular as Hamlet, Macbeth or Romeo and Juliet. ... -
Devising and collective organization in the San Francisco mime troupe's history
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2015)The evolution of the collective structure and use of devising in the San Francisco Mime Troupe's history are intertwined with one another. In order to understand this relationship, and discover what it might contribute to ... -
Bodily difference, interdependence, and toxic half-lives : representations of disability in D.W. Gregorys Dirty Pictures, The Good Daughter, and Radium Girls
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2015)People with disabilities have been a part of theatre for thousands of years. But typically they are represented as metaphors, where blindness or a limp symbolizes something about their character and has nothing to do with ... -
From Stonewall to millennium : Lesbian representation in three representative Late 20th-century plays by American women.
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2015)From Stonewall to Millennium: Lesbian Representation in Three Late 20th-Century Plays by American Women explores the relationship between the lived experiences of LGBT people (especially lesbians and bisexual women) and ... -
Kiss today goodbye, and point me toward tomorrow : reviving the time-bound musical, 1968-1975
([University of Missouri--Columbia], 2014)As musical theatre scholars Stacy Wolf, Sheldon Patinkin, and John Bush Jones have argued, American musicals are among our country's most valuable social documents as they depict the dominant discourses and reigning values ... -
In her own words : Connie Regan-Blake, the foremother of the festival-based American storytelling revival
([University of Missouri--Columbia], 2014)This ethnographic and historiographic study is grounded in archival interviews with Connie Regan-Blake (b. 1947), the foremother of the festival-based American storytelling revival, found in the Cotsen Storytelling Project ... -
Becoming a feminist director in the academy
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2013)In this dissertation, I investigate the creation of my performance of a feminist director. I examine how I became a feminist, what led me to directing, and what choices I made when I intentionally attempted to embody ... -
Women of the northern stage : gender, nationality and identity and the work of Canadian women stage directors
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2013)Studies in 1982 and 2006 conducted by the Canadian government and Canadian professional theatre organizations, respectively, revealed that Canadian women directors have been and continue to be underrepresented in relation ...