Theatre & Dance ETDs
Publication Date
6-24-2015
Abstract
In this essay, I provide documentation for my theory and practice during this MFA degree. I begin with a short personal essay on my auto-biography leading up to and including this program. Then I follow with an overview of the theoretical underpinnings to my writing practice. Of particular importance here is the framing of listening and spaciousness as feminine and of speaking and activity as masculine, as a means of underscoring the inherent value of that which has traditionally been undervalued in the history of dramatic literature. This characterizes a move toward women's bodies, rather than away from them, including listening to women's internal experiences. I detail how listening is a playwriting tool, one which ideally precedes and functions in tandem with speaking. Next I place my work in the modern feminist playwriting tradition in America, citing Susan Glaspell, Sophie Treadwell, Lynn Nottage, Marsha Norman, Sarah Ruhl, and Kira Obolensky as playwrights in my artistic family tree. Afterward, I analyze three of the plays which I wrote during this program--Plume, Gas'n'Sips, and 2am Lovely--for their common and distinctive elements, including their hybridization of Realism with Surrealism, Expressionism, and Symbolism, respectively. My unique style of writing is highlighted as a series of poem-plays, or those which feature highly theatrical stage metaphors as a means of representing onstage that which is otherwise interior. In this, I seek to signify in performance both internal and external aspects of women's lived experiences, their spaces, stories, and relationships. Then the entire script for the twelfth draft of 2am Lovely is given, followed by a short Appendix, which is an overview of the casting and rehearsal process for the university production of this play in Spring 2015.
Degree Name
Dramatic Writing
Level of Degree
Doctoral
Department Name
Theatre & Dance
First Committee Member (Chair)
Prugh, Caroline
Second Committee Member
McDuffie, Matthew
Third Committee Member
Shields, Julie
Language
English
Keywords
theatre, dramatic literature, gender studies, listening, feminist playwriting
Document Type
Dissertation
Recommended Citation
Loy, Irene. "Listen, then Speak: Foregrounding Womens Spaces, Stories, and Relationships in Dramatic Writing." (2015). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/thea_etds/34
