Over the last decade entrepreneurialism has become a significant learning outcome for training ac... more Over the last decade entrepreneurialism has become a significant learning outcome for training actors. Institutions worldwide are exploring pedagogies that offer student actors the skills, knowledge, and empowerment to undertake entrepreneurial activities towards professional achievement and fulfillment. What methodologies are being deployed in this vein and who are the leaders in training the entrepreneurial actor? What is today’s marketplace for actors and how can trainers and teachers customize their pedagogies accordingly? In what ways can we forge a new direction towards training the twenty-first century actor?
How can indigeneity be understood through training actors in a colonial context? Do ‘Western’ act... more How can indigeneity be understood through training actors in a colonial context? Do ‘Western’ acting schools misrepresent and exploit indigenous practices and cultural traditions towards reinforcing the settler state? Or does a given school's integration of such praxis and customs demonstrate inclusivity, equity and progressivism? At what point does incorporating indigeneity in actor training become a tokenistic appropriation of marginalized cultures? Drawn from fieldwork as a 2019 Fulbright scholar at Toi Whakaari, New Zealand's National Drama School, I intersect training with culture and society. Using the Acting Program as a case study, I deploy an ethnographic methodology to address the aforementioned questions by investigating Toi Whakaari's bicultural pedagogy while positioning it as a reflection of New Zealand's national identity. I especially explore the school's implementation of Tikanga Māori, the practices and beliefs of the country's indigenous pe...
“’Let Our Freak Flags Fly’: Shrek the Musical and the Branding of Diversity†argues that ... more “’Let Our Freak Flags Fly’: Shrek the Musical and the Branding of Diversity†argues that DreamWorks used Shrek the Musical to exploit a generic theme of multiculturalism to extend the reach of the Shrek franchise and challenge Disney’s domination of the Broadway market. By bringing a political-economic analysis to bear on the study of commercial theatre, the essay shows that
The anthology unites scholars from varied backgrounds with the notion that the theories and artis... more The anthology unites scholars from varied backgrounds with the notion that the theories and artistic productions of Bertolt Brecht are key missing links in bridging diverse discourses in social philosophy, theatre, consciousness studies, and aesthetics. It offers readers interdisciplinary perspectives that create unique dialogues between Brecht and important thinkers such as Althusser, Anders, Bakhtin, Benjamin, Godard, Marx, and Plato. While exploring salient topics such as consciousness, courage, ethics, political aesthetics, and representations of race and the body, it penetrates the philosophical Brecht seeing in him the never-ending dialectic-the idea, the theory, the narrative, the character that is never foreclosed. This book is an essential read for all those interested in Brecht as a socio-cultural theorist and for theatre practitioners.
Over the last decade entrepreneurialism has become a significant learning outcome for training ac... more Over the last decade entrepreneurialism has become a significant learning outcome for training actors. Institutions worldwide are exploring pedagogies that offer student actors the skills, knowledge, and empowerment to undertake entrepreneurial activities towards professional achievement and fulfillment. What methodologies are being deployed in this vein and who are the leaders in training the entrepreneurial actor? What is today’s marketplace for actors and how can trainers and teachers customize their pedagogies accordingly? In what ways can we forge a new direction towards training the twenty-first century actor?
How can indigeneity be understood through training actors in a colonial context? Do ‘Western’ act... more How can indigeneity be understood through training actors in a colonial context? Do ‘Western’ acting schools misrepresent and exploit indigenous practices and cultural traditions towards reinforcing the settler state? Or does a given school's integration of such praxis and customs demonstrate inclusivity, equity and progressivism? At what point does incorporating indigeneity in actor training become a tokenistic appropriation of marginalized cultures? Drawn from fieldwork as a 2019 Fulbright scholar at Toi Whakaari, New Zealand's National Drama School, I intersect training with culture and society. Using the Acting Program as a case study, I deploy an ethnographic methodology to address the aforementioned questions by investigating Toi Whakaari's bicultural pedagogy while positioning it as a reflection of New Zealand's national identity. I especially explore the school's implementation of Tikanga Māori, the practices and beliefs of the country's indigenous pe...
“’Let Our Freak Flags Fly’: Shrek the Musical and the Branding of Diversity†argues that ... more “’Let Our Freak Flags Fly’: Shrek the Musical and the Branding of Diversity†argues that DreamWorks used Shrek the Musical to exploit a generic theme of multiculturalism to extend the reach of the Shrek franchise and challenge Disney’s domination of the Broadway market. By bringing a political-economic analysis to bear on the study of commercial theatre, the essay shows that
The anthology unites scholars from varied backgrounds with the notion that the theories and artis... more The anthology unites scholars from varied backgrounds with the notion that the theories and artistic productions of Bertolt Brecht are key missing links in bridging diverse discourses in social philosophy, theatre, consciousness studies, and aesthetics. It offers readers interdisciplinary perspectives that create unique dialogues between Brecht and important thinkers such as Althusser, Anders, Bakhtin, Benjamin, Godard, Marx, and Plato. While exploring salient topics such as consciousness, courage, ethics, political aesthetics, and representations of race and the body, it penetrates the philosophical Brecht seeing in him the never-ending dialectic-the idea, the theory, the narrative, the character that is never foreclosed. This book is an essential read for all those interested in Brecht as a socio-cultural theorist and for theatre practitioners.
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Papers by Peter Zazzali