Abstract

In a time where the majority of our news sources and justice movements are received, hashtagged, mobilized, and scrutinized through technology and social media, this thesis embarks to resurrect a once short lived concept of introducing theatre as an informative and educational news source. ?The Hashtag Play ?will be an experiment to create a modern living newspaper play that will utilize techniques and approaches found in Augusto Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed Pedagogy to devise meaningful and impactful art determined to educate, inform, and challenge artists and audiences while fostering a sense of community. For the purpose of this thesis, I will be focusing on the issues of sexual violence in America, investigating such cases as People of the State of California v. Brock Allen Turner, ?and the prosecutions of Harvey Weinstein and David Daniels. These cases, among many, have ignited the movements of #MeToo, #TimesUp, and #Let's Be Clear, which have affected men and women within local communities across the U.S. The goal of the project is to create a piece that improves upon the original Federal Theatre Project's Living Newspaper while creating an impactful tool to be utilized in the field of theatre for social change. The play will explore both sides of each trial to expand audience perspective, while attempting to define the blurred lines that surround the complexities and narratives of sexual assault, harassment, and consent. The project implores the questioning of rape culture, how it is defined and if it truly exists in our social climate. The process ventures to identify systematic flaws and social contributors while seeking solutions for social and justice change. It will scrutinize over the presence and purpose of sexual violence within art, while questioning if it is viable to separate art from the artist, or forgive the art and condemn its creator. It will grapple with the challenge of remaining neutral for the sake of education and news delivery. Most importantly, it will be inclusive to all voices, challenging us to use passion and discussion, instead of argument and aggression. To effect a change, the work must first set to identify, clarify, and challenge our former notions to create improved ones that encourage thoughtful and proactive actions.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2019

Semester

Fall

Advisor

Boyd, Belinda

Degree

Master of Arts (M.A.)

College

College of Arts and Humanities

Department

Theatre

Degree Program

Theatre

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0007795

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0007795

Language

English

Release Date

December 2019

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Masters Thesis (Open Access)

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