The recent growth in popularity among college students of dramatic interpretation in forensic competition justifies an examination of textual considerations and resultant criteria important to the evaluation of dramatic literature. The first considerations of the student contemplating the dramatic interpretation event are the selection of material…

From the director's point of view, a "memorable monologue" is one in which the actor exhibits imagination and invention in role-playing. Memorable audition monologues require a measured degree of "risk taking" and uninhibited abandon--the first task is to select monologues that suit the type of script and the role being cast.…

Presents a rhetorical perspective for examining Shakespearean dramatic texts and an instructional framework for translating that perspective into the teaching of solo performance of Shakespearean dramatic literature. Describes techniques for implementing classroom performance that will develop and demonstrate student understanding of the text.…

That a play has one central action which is its formal cause is the most influential interpretative idea to emerge among theatre writers since the old model of situation/incident/complication/climax/denouement. Unfortunately, the action concept has been insufficiently developed, excessive hopes have been pinned on it, and it has become a reductive…

Presents the text of an interview with John Hodgson, British proponent of educational theater. His use of improvisation as a teaching technique and contrasts between the American and British systems of educational theater are discussed. (JMF)

It is a surprising fact that a student of speech can compete in prose, poetry, drama, and program oral interpretation without ever needing to develop two characters, without ever needing to establish two separate focal points in the same piece, and without ever learning to adapt to a new style of writing. This can be done if the student simply…

This anthology of literature contains selections that can be performed in classrooms, workshops, and speech and theater conventions as reader's theater, defined as a dramatic approach to literature. Divided into six categories--comedy, mystery/suspense, Christmas specials, folklore, children's classics, and the human spirit--the anthology features…

Argues that by acting out, rather than only reading Shakespeare's plays, they can be better interpreted and appreciated. (SRT)

Teachers, researchers, and performers in the field of Performance Studies often find themselves defining what it is that they do. Boundaries are often hard to draw, however. Is the work they are doing "art?" The distinction is important to funding agencies, tenure committees, and university administration. One definition of art…

This book contains papers presented at an "Interactive Research Conference" held in June 1996 at the University of Central England. The conference focused on the pioneering work of Professor Dorothy Heathcote in the field of drama in education. Twenty-three different countries were represented at the conference. The book has three…

Describes a method of re-directing the components of external rhetorical analysis to the intrinsic boundaries of a play and discusses the benefits of such a method as a critical tool in the oral interpretation of dramatic literature. (MH)

Details a case study of using narrative theater to engage with a wider variety of subject matter. Defines narrative theater as a group performance that features narrative as the primary expressive vehicle. Outlines the process of writing and directing a student performance of Tim O'Brien's novel "The Things They Carried," which deals with the…

If dramatic characters are to be rendered "three dimensional" in performance, both the dramatist and the actor/interpreter must create them with proper attention to the physical, sociological, and psychological aspects of character. If oral interpreters understand these dimensions of a particular character, they can analyze such elements as…

Examines the current practices and possibilities of using the teaching-in-role strategy (where the teacher takes on a fictional role for educational purposes) through a survey of professional youth theaters. Finds that, of 38 programs that responded, all indicated having an educational program with several characteristics compatible with…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 18 titles are as follows: (1) Physical and Oral Behaviors of the Solo Interpretive Performer; (2) Music in English Children's Drama; (3) Playwriting in the Maritime Provinces: 1845-1903; (4) Dance in Denver's Pioneer Theatres:…