Addresses issues of power and diversity, and describes how the production team for Houston's play about Amerasian experience wrestled with the problem of "what is represented and who is authorized to represent it." Explains the reasons for the close attention to detail, and cites examples in which authenticity had to be sacrificed for…

Argues that the further theatre studies moves away from its roots in the art and the business, the less valuable it is as an academic subject. Proposes that it is precisely in the historic tension between theatre departments and universities that theatre departments can best clarify their existence and goals. (PM)

Notes that in rehearsals and performances, a jumble of silences are encountered. Discusses silence in the following situations: as frustration; as imposition; as invisibility; as power; as pleasure; as safety; as humility; as necessity; and as potential. Contends that when dramaturgs enter into conversation and break silence, they must carefully…

Contends that parody is the direct result of an attempt to make room for oneself within an airtight, closed, or exclusive social, cultural, or theatrical construct. Provides examples from the author's work, such as an all-women production of "Hamlet" as well as a parody of "The Glass Menagerie." (PM)

States that performance activity is itself an experiential learning method which can contribute to other disciplines. Argues that "creative drama for social change" may not be a contradiction in terms. Chronicles the process through which the author and her coleader expanded a leadership "practicum" into an experiment by…

Describes the development of an introductory theater course which encourages students to fashion well-informed views of plays. Notes that the skills fostered in this course could start students on the road to becoming active, critically informed practitioners in whatever role they chose to take on in production. Explains that the course…

Explores the successes and failures of the author's "Searching for Osun," a performance ethnography which charted a subjective and selective meditation on Nigeria. Explains important concepts of performance ethnography, such as: an idea of question which constitutes the context; the accountability of the ethnographer; subjectivity;…

Discusses some of the problems the author encountered in staging a production of Marsha Norman's "'night, Mother" in Moscow. States that the area of largest concern was cultural variables, and whether a Russian audience would be able to understand some of the references. Concludes that, despite cultural differences, the audience was…

Considers the relevance of a semester length curriculum in Performance for Art and Theatre students. Contends that art majors in performance classes learn to value more ephemeral content, to work with time, and to think explicitly about audience, while theatre majors have an opportunity to engage with original, personally expressive content and to…