Date of Award

2014

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Myhill, Nova

Keywords

Theatre, Society, Culture, Essays

Area of Concentration

English

Abstract

This portfolio thesis consists of four essays examining the relationship between theater and society at different historical and cultural moments. The first essay analyzes the different portrayals of the Pythia in Aeschylus’s Oresteia, Euripides’ Electra, and Sophocles’ Electra. As part of the Dionysia, the plays can be understood as a civic conversation, an ongoing dialogue about the oracle and Dikē. The second essay explores the violence of the York Passion in relation to practices of affective piety and Imitatio Christi. The third essay examines the theatrical and dramatic transformations of the Restoration. Without the king at the center of the drama, the Masque was gone, but the city found itself at the center, forming a masque of London. The final essay investigates Punchdrunk’s theatrical experience at The McKittrick Hotel. Via podcasts, blogs, and theft, the audience has stretched Sleep No More beyond the walls of the theater. The individual viewer has given birth to a collective experience that rivals its four-story, 100,000 sq. ft. theatrical origin.

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