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Research in three acts : approaches to developing reserarch-based theatre

University of British Columbia

This thesis explores the artistic development of three research-based theatre productions at The University of British Columbia faculty in 2009. Each was developed using one of the three approaches to research-based theatre identified in the literature: collective, combined:collective/playwright, and playwright-centered. The experience of working in each of the three approaches is closely examined in this descriptive / exploratory case study (Winston, 2006, p. 49) based primarily on my critical reflections. The discussions of the projects are stylistically independent; however, each is guided by two central questions (1) how meanings are constructed in each approach and (2) how each approach may create and inhibit meaning-making. In the first chapter, I propose research-based theatre as an umbrella term for the use of theatre in research. I also identify three approaches to developing research-based theatre and situate them in using examples from both scholars and theatre artists. The discussion of Drama as an Additional Language in chapter two attempts to weave research-based theatre with a/r/tography. Chapter three focuses on Naming the Shadows, exploring the complexities of adding additional artists in the playwright-centered approach. The development of Centering the Human Subject is used in chapter four to develop a scribe–artist continuum upon which the development of productions using the combined:collective/playwright may be better understood. The final chapter weaves script and prose to theatrically explore issues which cut across the three discussions and offer suggestions for further research and inquiry. 

Text

2010-08-11

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/27279

Language and Literacy Education

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/