Responding
Understanding and evaluating how the arts convey meaning
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A large part of my degree at the University of Vermont included Theatre History and Criticism. In these courses I learned to understand the connection between playwrights, theatre artists, and the historical moments in which they were writing. Here I showcase my work in two of those courses, and demonstrate my ability to analyze the historical, political, and societal factors that shape the pieces of theatre in question. In these papers I respond not only with historical context, but with my own analysis on the plays, the playwrights, and how their work is structured dramaturgically to have an impact on the audiences they were writing for.
Lope de Vega, Spanish Renaissance Theatre, the "Black Legend," and English Prejudice Against Spanish Culture
Lope de Vega, Spanish Renaissance Theatre, the "Black Legend," and English Prejudice Against Spanish Culture
LOPE DE VEGA.pdfThis example is my final paper in THE 150: Theatre History I at the University of Vermont with Dr. Lynne Greeley. In this paper I detail the history of Spanish Renaissance playwright Lope de Vega and how common styles of performance at the time were highlighted specifically in his play Fuente Ovejuna. The main convention Lope de Vega explored in his plays was the idea of everyman's honor in Spanish society, and how the goodness of the common people outweighed the greed and corruption of those in the higher caste of society. His plays reflected the divide between the haves and the have-nots at the time, and show how performance was used to subvert ideas of who was the "protagonist" of society. I explain this history as well as the physical conventions of Spanish Renaissance theatre in this paper. I also explore why theatrical work from the Spanish Renaissance goes unnoticed in a lot of academic and performance circles due to a prejudice developed against Spanish culture by other countries in Europe known as "La leyenda negra" (The Black Legend).
Playing With Femininity
Playing With Femininity
In THE 251: Playing With Femininity, also taught by Dr. Lynne Greeley, we explored plays and performance art written and created by women, and analyzed how these theatre artist used/broke theatrical conventions to tell stories of femininity that fit their historical moments. We learned about the history of the feminist movement and how these plays fit into that history. These examples prove my ability to analyze and critique scripts based on theatrical conventions used by playwright/performers, as well as how to set plays within a historical context to provide better understanding and critique of the concepts explored in them.
Susan Glaspell.pdfMy analysis of Susan Glaspell's plays Trifles and The Verge.
Bobbi Ausubel and Martha Boesing.pdfMy analysis and comparison of Bobbi Ausubel's How to Make a Woman, and Martha Boesing's The Web and Antigone, Too.
Holly Hughes.pdfMy analysis of lesbian performance artist Holly Hughes' work.
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