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Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9” black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMl directly to order. Bell & Howell Information and Leaming 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Artror, Ml 48106-1346 USA 800-521-0600 UMl' RE-STAGING PERSUASION FEMINIST TKEATRIC.UL PERFORMANCE AND/AS RHETORIC DISSERTATION Presented in Panial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University Bv Sandee Kav McGiaun. B A . M .A The Ohio State University Dissertation Committee Professor Nan Johnson, .Advisor -Approved by Professor Brenda Brueagemann Ak,.' yry'V -Advisor Professor Esther Beth Sullivan Department of English UMl Number: 9994908 Copyright 2000 by McGlaun, Sandee Kay All rights reserved. UMl UMl Microform 9994908 Copyright 2001 by Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Bell & Howell Information and Leaming Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Copyright by Sandee Kay McGlaun 2000 ABSTRACT Early feminist theatre theory and practice adopted and quickly dismissed rhetoric as a framework for analysis. My examination of the long-standing historical and theoretical connections between rhetoric and theatre demonstrates this pairing to be productive. Understanding feminist theatre as rhetoric proffers new insights into feminist theatrical performance and the practice of a feminist rhetoric that "beyonds” traditional patriarchal notions of rhetoric as persuasion and domination. To “beyond persuasion” is to acknowledge its inherent presence in communication while reaching further to a consideration of multiple points of view. The end of such a rhetoric is the opening up of conversation rather than the closure of consensus. A rhetoric that beyonds persuasion may be most fully realized in the rhetorical situation of theatrical performance, in which performers, unbounded by linear narrative conventions, interact with a live audience and speak with their bodies as well as their words. Three contemporary theatre artists refigure the traditional rhetorical elements of persuasion, delivery, and ethos, and thereby enact a rhetoric of question and invitation. Playwright Joan Lipkin’s plays raise questions rather than answering them, interrupting narrative conventions and inviting audience participation in the act of meaning-making. Writer/director Anne Bogart and her SITI Company collaborators interrupt “delivery’s classical imperative,” the mandate that the rhetor’s bodily movement be subordinate to his word, by separating the movement from the text and creating gaps that the spectator must fill. “Beyonding persuasion” is refined and complicated by pseudonymous playwright Jane Martin, whose disembodied, "fill-in-the-blank” ethos questions whether ethos is necessarily (re)constructed prior to and within texts, and whether it is possible to enact a feminist rhetorical strategy such as “beyonding persuasion” without knowledge of the embodied positionality of the rhetor. Intertexts, short critical-creative performance pieces composed and performed to practice the theatre-as-rhetoric discussed in each chapter, both illustrate and constitute my argument that the feminist rhetoric they enact creates a unique space for an ethically aware rhetorical practice. This practice invites dialogue not only across the disciplines of rhetoric and poetics, but also creates room for the enactment of a more public and accessible feminist rhetoric, one that reaches outside the walls of academe to speak to a wider audience, a contemporized and inclusive version of the Greek polis. Ill Dedicated to my parents, Garry and Margaret McGlaun, with love and gratitude IV ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am most grateful to my mentors, colleagues, friends, and family, for their guidance and encouragement during my graduate career. I wish first and foremost to thank my advisor and dissertation director. Nan Johnson, for her constant encouragement, unfailingly wise advice, and astute critical commentary. In the graduate seminars I took with her, I was challenged to think more deeply, read more closely, and listen more actively than I ever have before, and I am a better scholar and teacher for it. And I am equally grateful for ± e serendipitous coincidences that characterized our relationship: she always seemed to know just when I needed to talk with her, and sure enough, there she would be, holding the elevator for me. I wish also to express sincere thanks to the other members of my committee. Brenda Brueggemann was the first to encourage me to explore the link between rhetoric and theatre; her ongoing support of my attempts to blend scholarly and creative endeavors has been a priceless gift. Esther Beth Sullivan generously shared her knowledge of and enthusiasm for feminist theatre with me and provided me with a much­ valued opportunity to apprentice with her as a teacher. 1 wish also to thank Andrea .A. Lunsford, who served on the committee initially, until geography stepped in. 1 thank her for her “unofficial” continued counsel and encouragement. Without the cooperation and generosity of the artists and companies whose work is treated here, I would not have been able to complete this project. I extend my deepest gratitude to Joan Lipkin for her willingness to share her precious archival materials and her thoughts on her work. Special thanks to Barney O’Hanlon of SITI Company for taking the time to speak with me and share his insights on working with Anne Bogart during one of the Company's visits to Columbus, Ohio. I also wish to thank Michael Bigelow Dixon, Literary Manager, Liz Engelman, former .Assistant Literary Manager, and James Seacat, Director of Public Relations, Actors Theatre of Louisville for generously and promptly forwarding theatre press materials and answering my queries. Special thanks also go to H. Louis Ulman, Vice-Chair of Rhetoric and Composition at The Ohio State University, and Carolyn Wilkins, Administrative Assistant, for their support during the final phases of my dissertation writing and my job search. To those colleagues and friends who read drafts and listened to me—time and again—talk my way through the text: Scott Miller, Kristin Risley, Alisha Rohde, Tania Smith, and Cindy Wittman Zollinger, I extend my deepest gratitude. Especial thanks go to Tania, who served as my Columbus liaison and graciously gave of her time to see that all the final forms and drafts got to where they needed to go. Thanks, too, to my new colleagues at North Georgia College and State University, especially B.J. Robinson, who volunteered the use of her printer during the final stages of formatting, and Thomas Austenfeld, for his gracious and astute editorial commentary. And for practical advice that shored up my determination, I heartily thank Lee C. For their moral support and friendship during this process, I wish to thank the “gals,” especially Janet Badia, Melissa Goldthwaite, Emma Perry Loss, Jennifer Phegley, VI and Kathy Wallace. For their prayers, encouragement, and sustained interest in my work, 1 send a chorus of thanks to Reverend William Leety, Dr. Larry Rhoades, and all the members of the Overbrook Presbyterian Church Chancel Choir. Alleluia, it’s done! To my parents I offer my greatest thanks; your sustained belief in my abilities and your unconditional love have brought me to where I am today, and 1 would not have succeeded without your constant encouragement—or your willingness to do ail the packing, unpacking, and painting while I sat at the computer and wrote! This "paper” is for you. Dad. And thanks, finally, to my brother Todd and his beautiful children Natasha and Hunter, who continue to remind me to look more closely and laugh more often. Vll VITA November 27, 1969 .................................................... Bom - Gainesville, Georgia 1992 .............................................................................. B.A. English Literature-Creative Writing, Agnes Scott College, Decatur, Georgia 1996 ............................................................................ M.A. English, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1994 - present ........................................................... Graduate Teaching, Research, and Administrative Associate, The Ohio State University PUBLICATIONS ‘Foreward.” With