Reflections on Alzheimer's That Can Be Targeted Towards a More Specific Audience of Caregivers and Family Members Ofalzheimer's Patients
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This thesis/project/dissertation has been reviewed for 508 compliance. To request enhancements, please email [email protected]. SWEETENING THE BROCCOLI: REFLECTIONS ONALZHEIMER'S: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE DOCU-THEATRE PROCESS OF ANNA DEAVERE SMITH Scott M. Adams B.A., California State University, Sacramento, 1990 THESIS Submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Ill THEATRE ARTS at CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, SACRAMENTO SPRING 2009 ©2009 Scott M. Adams ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 11 SWEETENING THE BROCCOLI: REFLECTIONS ONALZHEIMER'S: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE DOCU-THEATRE PROCESS OF ANNA DEAVERE SMITH A Thesis by Scott M. Adams ommittee Chair Date l I Ill Student: Scott M. Adams I certify that this student has met the requirements for format contained in the University format manual, and that this thesis is suitable for shelving in the Library and credifis to be awarded for the thesis. ~--..----====-=;;z:::i;;======='.•Graduate Coordinator ' Qr. Melinda Wilson Department ofTheatre and Dance IV Abstract of SWEETENING THE BROCCOLI: REFLECTIONS ONALZHEIMER'S: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE DOCU-THEATRE PROCESS OF ANNA DEAVERE SMITH by Scott M. Adams In her longitudinal research project On the Road: A Search for American Character, Anna Deavere Smith created a performance process blending journalism and theatre, and by doing so succeeded in capturing an inherent essence ofcharacter through language, tone and gesture by recreating verbatim excerpts from conducted interviews onto the stage. In most ofher works, Smith applies politically driven and event based topics that affect targeted groups or cultures within a community such as the Hasidic Jews and African Americans ofCrown Heights, Brooklyn featured in Smith's earlier work Fires in the Mirror. In the following Master's thesis, I provide a comparative analysis ofmy adaptation ofSmith's docu-theatre process and argue its ability to succeed by accessing a personal and familial-based topic with its own social repercussions - namely Alzheimer'~ disease. Moreover, I explain the effectiveness ofthis adaptation given the instructional and informational application ofthe topic ofmy play, Sweetening the Broccoli: Reflections on Alzheimer's that can be targeted towards a more specific audience of caregivers and family members ofAlzheimer's patients. V PREFACE During the first term ofmy graduate studies, I was assigned an ethnography project, which entailed incorporating a technique ofinterviewing someone from a different ethnic background, gender, and age range from my own. As part ofthe process (based on the work ofAnna Deavere Smith), I studied a recording ofa selected verbatim excerpt from the interview in order to mirror or recreate the interviewee's vocal patterns and gestures into performance. Following the completion ofthis assignment, I continued to experiment and research topics of interest with the process that could incorporate iny major's emphasis to utilize theatre as a means to inform on social issues related to the well being ofolder adults. Eventually, I decided on a topic that both fit within the framework ofthis objective and signified personal importance given my grandmother's affliction with Alzheimer's disease. Like many family members ofthose diagnosed with Alzheimer's, I was a guilt ridden young man for not having visited my grandmother in the convalescent home where she resided for over ten years. Since her death, I have searched for an opportunity to heal and to help others to learn about and find ways to cope with this disease. Applying Smith's process, I interviewed sixteen professionals, caregivers, family members and early stage patients ofAlzheimer's disease. Discoverin~ this process not only provided a means to mend some old emotional scars, but it inspired' the creation ofmy play Sweetening the Broccoli: Reflections on Alzheimer's from which I am making this comparative analysis to the work ofAnna Deavere Smith. VI DEDICATION I dedicate this work to the memory ofmy grandmother, Corinne Adams Anderson. Vll ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to offer a special note of appreciation to Professor Gina Kaufmann who first introduced me to the works ofAnna Deavere Smith in my Seminar in Production course in the fall of2005. Subsequently, Dr. Melinda Wilson offered much guidance towards a productive path ofresearch while providing opportunities to present and shape the findings. As a positive influence and excellent source in which to turn, Dr. Cheryl Osborne made a lasting impact by introducing me to the field of Gerontology. For her continued guidance, support, and insights throughout the writing process, I extend profound appreciation to my thesis advisor, Dr. Linda Goodrich. Many individuals contributed to the success ofthe script-building and production phases of the play. I owe a great deal ofthanks to my dramaturge Michelle Cruff, who was relentless in her efforts and insistence that we continue to cut and trim the script. The company ofthe premier production ofSweetening the Broccoli is among the most professional and dedicated groups with whom I have had the pleasure ofworking. I am most grateful to Adrienne Sher, Kim McCann-Lawson, Blair Leatherwood, Katherine Dudney, Julie Miller Litvinchuk, Sandy Ferguson and Sutter Neuroscience Institute, Robert Hayes and Creative Projection Services, John Shumate, and Mariam Helalian for their unique talents and contributions to the production. Lastly, but perhaps most importantly, my work would not be possible without the words and stories ofeach ofthe individuals I interviewed. They bravely lent us their words with honesty and sincerity so that others could benefit from their wisdom in coping with this deadly disease. Vlll TABLE OF CONTENTS Pag~ Preface................................................................................................................................ vi Dedication ......................................................................................................................... vii Acknowledgements.......................................................................................................... viii Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................:1 2. ON THE ROAD TO SWEETENING THE BROCCOLI: AN ANALYSIS OF ANNA DEAVERE SMITH'S CREATIVE PROCESS ............................................................11 3. SWEETENING THE BROCCOLI: ADAPTATION CHALLENGES ..........................25 4. SWEETENING THE BROCCOLI: PERFORMANCE AND PRODUCTION PROCESS .....................................................................................................................40 5. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS ...............................................................................61 Appendix A. Interviewing Questionnaires .......................................................................73 Appendix B. Script ofSweetening the Broccoli: Reflections on Alzheimer's ..................76 Appendix C. Audience Response Questionnaire and Responses ...................................104 Appendix D. DVD ofSweetening the Broccoli: Reflections on Alzheimer's Performance ..............................................................................................123 Works Cited ..................................................................................................................... 124 lX 1 Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION In her longitudinal research and performance project On the Road: A Search for American Character, Anna Deavere Smith creates a unique performance process through this series of plays that succeeds in capturing an inherent essence of"truth" through language, tone and gesture by recreating verbatim excerpts from conducted interviews onto the stage. In much ofher early works, Smith selects racially driven and event based topics that affect targeted groups or cultures within a community. The success ofplays such as the critically acclaimed Fires in the Mirror: Crown Heights Brooklyn and Other Identities is interdependent upon Smith's interview process as well as her ability to perform the intricacies ofcharacter within such communities as the Lubavitchers sect of the Orthodox Hasidic Jews and African Americans ofCrown Heights, Brooklyn. This thesis presents a comparative analysis ofan adaptation of Smith's interview and performance process demonstrated in my fall, 2008 production ofSweetening the Broccoli: Reflections on Alzheimer's, a documentary play. Moreover, it demonstrates the ways in which the play succeeds at utilizing a documentary style ofpresentation to access a personal and familial-based topic with social repercussions - namely Alzheimer's disease. The approach to this analysis consists of: (1) establishing the practical use and theoretical effectiveness ofmy play given the prevalence ofAlzheimer's disease and lack ofdocumentary plays on the subject, (2) defining the usage ofthe word "docu-theatre" and providing comparative examples ofrecent plays in this genre to Smith's plays, and (3) discussing the components ofSmith's creative process and approaches taken to adapt 2 these components to Sweetening the Broccoli. According to the 2008 Alzheimer's disease Facts and Figures report put out by the Alzheimer's Association, an estimated 5.3 million people suffer the effects ofthis fatal disease in the United States today (2009 Alzheimer's Disease 12). Meanwhile, the US Census bureau projects the older population to more than double