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ORCID

0000-0003-3848-9502

Access Type

Open Access Thesis

Document Type

thesis

Degree Program

Theater

Degree Type

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

Year Degree Awarded

2020

Month Degree Awarded

September

Abstract

This written thesis documents how I, accompanied by a team of talented colleagues, conceived of, planned, and began the process of staging Exodus, a museum of between. I begin with an introduction to the theory and influences that shaped the work in its earliest stages. I go on to discuss the major themes of the work, chiefly an excavation of the idea of belonging, and posit a model of theater making modeled on a kaleidoscope, a model that aims to serve as a device through which to see one of our oldest stories with new eyes. I discuss the three lenses through which Exodus will examine the topic of belonging: a museum exhibition comprised of artifacts of mass migration, the first-hand oral testimony of those whose lives have been immediately effected by events of mass migration and a staging of Monteverdi’s opera L’Orfeo I also discuss the role that chance procedure would have played in establishing the tempo and narrative. I then reflect on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic that derailed the production of Exodus and suggest alterations to the project that I would make in the event that production should be recommenced in a post pandemic future. While it is difficult to include much assessment of a project that was still in its early stages when aborted, I finish with a critique of the work that had been accomplished and offer a few thoughts on how I view the work now, in light of the work done and global developments.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.7275/17754361

First Advisor

Harley Erdman

Second Advisor

Gilber McCauley

Third Advisor

Megan Lewis

Fourth Advisor

Jake Meginsky

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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