Off-campus UMass Amherst users: To download campus access theses, please use the following link to log into our proxy server with your UMass Amherst user name and password.
Non-UMass Amherst users: Please talk to your librarian about requesting this thesis through interlibrary loan.
Theses that have an embargo placed on them will not be available to anyone until the embargo expires.
Access Type
Open Access
Document Type
thesis
Degree Program
Theater
Degree Type
Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.)
Year Degree Awarded
2011
Month Degree Awarded
May
Keywords
Theatre, Directing, Lorca, Bernarda Alba, Viewpoints and Composition
Abstract
In this thesis, I take the reader through the process and particular challenges of directing The House of Bernarda Alba, from choosing a translation, to casting from a pool of mostly undergraduate actors, to staging a show in-the-round. More particularly, I compare my previous work with adaptation to this process of treating the script as a fixed entity.
I also offer a detailed explanation of the exploratory work I did with the actors in building the physicality of the play-world and exploring the relationships of the characters. For this, I drew heavily on Anne Bogart’s composition exercises, found in The Viewpoints Book. In this thesis, I transcribe and analyze some of the material generated through these exercises.
Finally, I endeavor to prove that a certain freedom can be found through structure, and that the challenge of this production - which was assigned to me rather than a personal choice - helped me develop a more subtle creative voice than I had previously possessed.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.7275/1937957
First Advisor
Gina Kaufmann