UBC Theses and Dissertations

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UBC Theses and Dissertations

An exploration and celebration of storytelling : directing The Arabian Nights Lendrum, Evan Frayne Fraser

Abstract

An Exploration and Celebration of Storytelling: Directing the Arabian Nights, explores my directorial practice and the challenges presented in staging The Arabian Nights as part of the UBC Department of Theatre and Film’s season at the Frederic Wood Theatre, March 17 – April 2, 2016. As presented in the following pages, my primary objective was to present a wholly entertaining, clearly directed production of The Arabian Nights by Mary Zimmerman. My practice explored the process of directing a large cast through a variety of disciplines including dance, live music, physical theatre, monologue and ensemble based storytelling. I believe that the combination of all of these disciplines can have a tremendously powerful empathetic effect on an audience while communicating clearly the story and the intentions of the playwright. I also explored the process of working with a Sound Designer to create a live musical score for the production. A particular challenge was working on a text translated from the tales of a different culture. Through the process of research, consultation and collaboration, I was able to better understand the challenges, pit-falls and rewards on working on this type of project. In the process of these explorations, I was able to engage with different aspects of theatre directing than I have in the past, expanding my theoretical and practical vocabulary towards my practice of directing theatre. This thesis includes my director’s preparation of the script, the journal chronicling my production process, production photos and a chapter containing my reflections on the experience in its entirety.

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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International