ORCID

0009-0008-9136-0082

Keywords

Directing, Collaboration, Embodied Analysis, Ensemble-Based Pedagogy, Relational Leadership, Mentorship

Abstract

This thesis examines collaborative directing as an adaptive, relational practice that exists between rigid hierarchical authorship and fully collectivized creation. Challenging dominant binaries in directing discourse that frame leadership as either singular or egalitarian, this study argues for a “middle space” in which authority, authorship, and responsibility are continually negotiated in response to institutional structures, pedagogical contexts, and interpersonal dynamics. Directing is framed not as a fixed methodology or ideological position, but as a responsive practice shaped by context. Grounded in a practice-as-research (PaR) methodology, the thesis analyzes four productions: Rhinoceros (Theatre UCF, 2024), The Tricks of Scapin (Freedom High School, 2024), The Last Firefly (Theatre UCF, 2025), and The River Bride (Theatre UCF, 2025). Through embedded participation as director, co-director, and associate director, these case studies trace a continuum of collaborative configurations, including mentorship within institutional hierarchy, horizontal collaboration in youth-centered pedagogy, peer-based co-direction, and hybrid mentor–colleague partnerships. Reflective analysis of rehearsal processes, embodied experimentation, and process documentation reveals how collaborative agency emerges, contracts, or shifts under differing structural conditions. Drawing on directing theory, performance pedagogy, youth theatre scholarship, and organizational theory, this study articulates a framework of adaptive collaboration supported by ensemble-based and embodied practices, including the author’s adaptation of Synth-Analysis. Ultimately, the thesis argues that collaborative directing is best understood as an ethical and artistic practice of continual negotiation—one that demands relational fluency, pedagogical awareness, and attentiveness to the movement of power within the rehearsal room.

Completion Date

2026

Semester

Spring

Committee Chair

Dr. Chloë Rae Edmonson

Degree

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

College

College of Arts and Humanities

Department

Theatre

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Identifier

DP0053132

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