Keywords

Theatre, directing, sound design, multidisciplinary, musicality, the baltimore waltz, doubt: a parable, and then came tango

Abstract

In classrooms and textbooks the “Director's Vision” is often identified as the unifying concept for the production, and my goal in returning to graduate school was to explore my own vision as a director. In my own practice as a director, I tend to “hear” the play in my head before visualizing it. From my interpretation of the text, to the staging of the performers, to my collaboration with design team, my approach to the production of theatre stems from a place of musicality. Seeking a Vision, Finding a Voice explores my creative journey as multi-disciplinary theatre artist through a series of case studies detailing my practice as a Director/ Sound Designer. It examines my evolving process, which often utilizes audio collage to shape the dramatic arc of a piece or scene, experiments with using music to inform character, emotion, and movement, and values the impulses of the cast and creative team as important collaborative resources. By detailing my process on three productions (as Director/ Sound Designer of the University of Central Florida's Theatre for Young Audience's Tour, Emily Freeman's And Then Came Tango, as the Assistant Director/ Dramaturg/ Sound Designer for UCF's production of Paula Vogel's The Baltimore Waltz, and as the Director/ Sound Designer of John Patrick Shanley's Doubt: A Parable, for Titusville Playhouse, Inc.), my process as director/designer is critically analyzed and reflected upon. Through my analysis, I explore the benefits and challenges of being a Director-who-Designs and a Designer-who-Directs, utilizing aural dramaturgy, collaboration, rhythm and emotion as essential tools in practicing theatre production. Seeking a Vision, Finding a Voice reflects on my practice through the lens of David Roesner's Musicality as a Paradigm for the Theatre: A Kind of Manifesto, analyzing the ways in which the 'notion of musicality' was exemplified in the preparation, performance, and perception of my work. This thesis examines the benefits and challenges of multidisciplinary artistry, pondering the merits and pitfalls of taking on multiple roles in each of my processes. It further explores the impact applying musicality to theatre practice can have on both actors and audiences and cherishes sound design as a valuable tool capable of enriching theatrical storytelling.

Notes

If this is your thesis or dissertation, and want to learn how to access it or for more information about readership statistics, contact us at STARS@ucf.edu

Graduation Date

2015

Semester

Spring

Advisor

Weaver, Earl

Degree

Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.)

College

College of Arts and Humanities

Department

Theatre

Degree Program

Theatre; Theatre for Young Audiences

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0005642

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0005642

Language

English

Release Date

May 2016

Length of Campus-only Access

1 year

Access Status

Masters Thesis (Open Access)

Download

Share

COinS