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ABSTRACT ENGAGING AND EDUCATING AMERICAN CULTURE THROUGH PERFORMANCE, ART, AND COMMUNITY OUTREACH IN THE STAGE PRODUCTION OF MICHAEL CRISTOFER’S THE SHADOW BOX by Bianca Alechia Siplin Community theatre is designed to adhere to social issues that may affect the way people think and live. In the production of The Shadow Box, a play about terminally ill patients and their loved ones, the idea was to provide a space where multi-perspectives of living with dying could meet on common ground, and perhaps engage in dialogue. This thesis is a combined analysis of Cristofer’s writing style, The Shadow Box’s production history, development of hospice, efficient rehearsal methods of the Viewpoints and Stanislavski system, and community outreach. When put into praxis, these aspects become an evaluation of how the directing process and performance brought the discussion of living with dying to audiences. ENGAGING AND EDUCATING AMERICAN CULTURE THROUGH PERFORMANCE, ART, AND COMMUNITY OUTREACH IN THE STAGE PRODUCTION OF MICHAEL CRISTOFER’S THE SHADOW BOX A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Miami University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Department of Theatre by Bianca Alechia Siplin Miami University Oxford, Ohio 2007 Advisor__________________________ Ann Elizabeth Armstrong Reader___________________________ Gwendolyn Etter-Lewis Reader___________________________ Paul K. Jackson Reader___________________________ William Doan TABLE OF CONTENTS Dedication.......................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements............................................................................................................ iv Introduction..........................................................................................................................1 Chapter 1: Text Interpretation: A Discussion of Michael Cristofer’s Writing Style, Themes, and Characters.......................................................................................................3 Chapter 2: The American Critic and The Social Issue of Death: A Timeline of The Shadow Box and Hospice...................................................................................................24 Chapter 3: The Rehearsal Process: Creating and Recreating Through Viewpoints and Stanislavski ........................................................................................................................39 Chapter 4: Balancing Roles: From Dramaturg to Director to Spectator............................57 Bibliography ......................................................................................................................76 Appendix I: Program Guide...............................................................................................79 Appendix II: Production Photos.........................................................................................95 ii DEDICATION To my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for his guidance, and giving me courage, wisdom, patience, and the opportunity to share my creative vision with other theatre artists and scholars. To Lamar for always believing in me. To my mothers, Leisha and Grace, for supporting me in everything I do. To my brothers, D’Andre and Marcus, for inspiring me to be a great role-model. To my late grandmother who told me to “Go for it, baby!” iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thank you Ann Elizabeth Armstrong for seeing so much potential in me, and helping me to see the potential in myself to accomplish great tasks. I am very fortunate to have such a great advisor who opened my eyes to better ways of thinking, writing, and expressing myself. Thank you Dr. Paul Jackson for your support and encouraging words: “Keep your eyes on the prize.” Thank you Bill Doan for introducing me to academic writing and the world of George Bernard Shaw. Thank you Gwen Etter-Lewis for the knowledge and teachings of African American feminists of the past and present. I thank each of you for the growth and information I have retained ! iv INTRODUCTION The following paper provides a creative research and reflection to support my directing thesis and the directorial process for Michael Cristofer’s The Shadow Box. Directing a play encompasses many aspects of the production such as research, design, rehearsal, performance, community, and especially, culture and art. As I overtly express throughout this paper, theatre is more than entertainment to me; it is a way of expressing the human experiences in a social environment that exposes a group of people to new ideas or a different way of thinking. Shakespeare once wrote: "We know what we are, but know not what we may be" (Hamlet IV: 5). I believe a play has the power to bring about individual and social awareness, and a theatrical experience can last a lifetime. With that said, as a director, I define myself as a mediator between the playwright and the audience. My duty is to tell the playwright’s story to my utmost ability. In The Shadow Box, this task was a little difficult because the play deals with issues of living with dying, the terminally ill, and family grief. This makes it hard to prepare for different audience perspectives because each person has his or her own way of dealing with death. My way of handling this issue was by incorporating community outreach and art because I felt that the audience should be invited rather than forced into the subject of living with dying. Therefore, my paper reflects my directing process of The Shadow Box in four chapters. In Chapter 1, my approach to The Shadow Box begins with research on Michael Cristofer. First, who is Cristofer? What is his theatrical background? Does he have a specific writing pattern? What are the historical moments that influence Cristofer’s work? Cristofer has an extensive background in the theatre and film industry, in front and behind the scenes. He is an actor, writer, and director, who is not widely known for all his works. Although Cristofer has written several plays, he is mostly recognized by one, The Shadow Box. Many people have never heard of his other plays. In this chapter, I compare the writing techniques of Cristofer through three plays: The Shadow Box (1975), Black Angel (1978), Breaking Up (1997). Here, I discover the patterns of rhythm, interrupted scenes, audience confrontation, character choices, and thematical issues driven by its particular view of social problems. These patterns encouraged me to research the different historical and social events of America within the 1960s and 1970s. During this time several movements were occurring such as the Civil Right’s Movement and the Women’s Rights Movement, to name a few. Unfortunately, Cristofer didn’t incorporate any of the historical movements in his plays. This was mainly seen in Cristofer’s characters that were 1 dominated by the male figures. This means that Cristofer avoids some political issues in his plays, and only focuses on certain social aspects of the play. Lastly in this chapter, I analyze the characterizations and structure of The Shadow Box. In Chapter 2, I analyze how America felt towards the issue of living with dying in three different decades of The Shadow Box, the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. This helped me to understand how an audience in 2007 would react to living with dying. Also, in this chapter, I explain Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’ five stages of dying and the history and development of hospice. Linking The Shadow Box with the five stage of death and development of hospice, explains how America understood The Shadow Box better throughout its production history as hospice developed. The problem arose when America anticipated the story of The Shadow Box. They wanted to see people die or deal with death, not living with dying, because the discussion about dying had shifted. In Chapter 3, I discuss my rehearsal approach. I apply two rehearsal methods, the Viewpoints and Stanislavski system. These methods helped me communicate effective ways of playing physicality and emotions to young actors. Also, the two methods helped the actors build as an ensemble and distinguish the characters’ relationships. In Chapter 4, I incorporate the role design played in creating the characters’ environments. Next, I discuss how community and art serves as an aesthetic for the audience. Finally, I evaluate The Shadow Box from various audience perspectives: students, an adjudicator, and myself. 2 CHAPTER 1 TEXT INTERPRETATION: A DISCUSSION OF MICHAEL CRISTOFER’S WRITING STYLE, THEMES, AND CHARACTERS Playwrights have always been a popular voice in the theatre. They write plays to express ideas, address issues, and to share their creative imagination. One such playwright is Michael Cristofer, who is also an actor, screenwriter, stage, TV, and film director as well as a playwright. As an actor, Cristofer has appeared in several films including, Die Hard: With a Vengeance (1995), The Little Drummer Girl (1984), and An Enemy of the People (1978). As an actor, he has won a Theater World Award for his portrayal of Trofimov in the Lincoln Square production of The Cherry Orchard and an Obie Award for his performance in Chinchilla at the Phoenix Theater. But his most acknowledged works are The Shadow Box, Gia, and The Witches of Eastwick. In 1977, The Shadow Box won Cristofer a Pulitzer Prize and Tony award for best play. His debut as a film director in the HBO movie, Gia, which earned six Emmy nominations, won him a Director’s Guild of America Award and