Abstract
My research is focused on developing a new Living Newspaper format. By comparing and contrasting Federal Theatre Project plays to the writing and devising techniques from a longstanding contemporary theatre company and the model of a devised play created in a prison context, I warrive at a new hybrid approach to creating political theatre. My dissertation considers the following question: How can the Living Newspaper be resurrected into a contemporary model that is able to stimulate political discourse on current socio-political issues? My dissertation begins with the comprehensive analysis of plays and the historical elements surrounding the Federal Theatre Project’s Living Newspaper form. I then compare the FTP’s approach with the updated newspaper-style playwriting of the later San Francisco Mime Troupe, with the specific devising method used to create the play, The Crossroads: A Prison Cabaret (by William Head on Stage). Through these analyses I gather new techniques and strategies for the creation of a contemporary Living Newspaper play. I then create my own newspaper play and production; its goal is to examine, confront, and expose how society treats women of all races and sexualities. The scenes address contemporary issues faced by straight, gay, and transgender women of all races. Living Newspaper plays and performances are key educational tools that can be used both in a classroom setting as well as on a national stage as their use of historical and current events educate people on important social issues of our times.
Details
Presentation Type
Theme
KEYWORDS
LIVING NEWSPAPER; POLITICAL THEATRE; CREATIVE COLLABORATION; SCRIPTED AND DEVISED; EDUCATIONAL
