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ORCID

N/A

Access Type

Open Access Thesis

Document Type

thesis

Degree Program

Theater

Degree Type

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

Year Degree Awarded

2018

Month Degree Awarded

September

Abstract

This master’s thesis documents the dramaturgical exploration of the spring 2018 University of Massachusetts Amherst Department of Theater’s production of gender non-conforming performance artist Taylor Mac’s The Lily’s Revenge. The thesis is separated into two parts. The first half focuses on my dramaturgical analysis of Mac’s play and its exploration of queer temporality and queer embodiment, asserting the importance of queer aesthetics in American drama and its vital role in shaping the future of LGBTQIA+ politics in the United States. The second half includes reflections on rehearsal processes and performances, giving readers and fellow artists examples of the potential of queer dramaturgical practices that are products of LGBTQIA+ theater and politics in the United States. These reflections show the application of research to rehearsal processes into theatrical performances as directed, designed, and performed by graduate and undergraduate students at UMass Amherst Department of Theater, located in Amherst, Massachusetts, thus giving a trajectory of how the queer and feminist theories written into the play are manifested into a full production through collaborative design, movement, staging, and performance. Drawn from my discoveries while working on The Lily’s Revenge as production dramaturg, I have shaped my own style of collaborative “queer dramaturgy” with the director and designers, hopefully, opening new entry points of future explorations for queer dramaturgs to synthesize theory and practice onto the stage with collaborators from all disciplines and identities.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.7275/12713020

First Advisor

Priscilla Page

Second Advisor

Harley Erdman

Third Advisor

Daniel Sack

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