Ryan Donovan’s book, “Broadway Bodies: A Critical History of Conformity,” to be released by Oxford University Press on February 24, is creating a buzz by engaging with the evident. “What I’ve written about is visible to Broadway audiences, and yet it's also the elephant in the room that nobody talked about for a long time: that casting is inherently a discriminatory process favoring some bodies over others.” In writing “Broadway Bodies,” Donovan was motivated by “taking the discrimination that… read more about “Broadway Bodies” Explores Who’s in the Spotlight. Chances Are, It’s Not You or Me. »
On February 9, 10 and 11, audiences at Duke are invited into a ritual exploration of women’s rage. Created in collaboration with Duke students, “fury” is devised and directed by Blair Cadden, a director, dramaturg and this year’s visiting artist in the Department of Theater Studies. The piece weaves together ancient myth, recent and current events and the writings and reflections of the devising company, creating a communal theatrical ritual where women's rage can be honored, reclaimed and reshaped. We spoke with Cadden… read more about Women’s Rage as a Force for Good »
To strengthen the role of the arts at the university and to attract nationally and internationally known artists to the faculty, Duke should establish a new tenure track for visual and performing artists, a faculty committee reported to the Academic Council Thursday. The special pathway in the report would be part of the university’s normal appointments, promotions and tenure (APT) process and would allow for appointments (external or internal) of tenured full professor or professor of the practice to attract the most… read more about Academic Council Considers Tenure Pathway for Creative Artists »
Long winter nights make for good reads. Duke publications from the fall and winter include attractions for readers of many interests. For history buffs, there's new history of the American West and a timely assessment of economic sanctions. For politicos, there's a blueprint for protecting democracy and a study of the contributions of migrants to various cultures. Movie fans can read about the history of Asians in theater and cinema and a surprising look at the politics of Marvel movies. Many of the books,… read more about Warm Up With Winter Books From Duke Authors »
The evils haunting the real world can be a lot harder to see than dragons and orcs. But in this semester’s Theater Studies Mainstage production of Qui Nguyen’s “She Kills Monsters,” racism, sexism and homophobia take the shape of fantastical beasts that can be fought head on. After premiering in 2011, the play has become a beloved and acclaimed piece of theater. It earned a GLAAD Media Award in 2012 for its “fair, accurate and inclusive representations of LGBTQ people and issues” and has been produced over 900 times in the… read more about In Fall Mainstage, Theater Studies Slays Monsters Real and Fantastical »
Junior Emily Miller is majoring in Biology with double minors in Theater Studies and Chinese — and can’t remember a point in her life when she wasn’t fascinated by the sciences.Her specific passion for biology began in middle school, when a science teacher’s enthusiasm for chemistry sparked Emily’s scientific interest. A year later, she dissected a cow’s heart in her eighth-grade biology class, and that hands-on experience was all it took to kick start her career path in the sciences.“I found it so fascinating that we could… read more about Theater Studies Gives This Medical Researcher the Creativity She Needs to Discover New Solutions »
In her new book, "Made-Up Asians: Yellowface During the Exclusion Era," Esther Kim Lee traces the history of yellowface from 1862 to 1940 — a time when Asians faced legal and cultural exclusion from immigration and citizenship in the United States. We sat down with the professor of Theater Studies, International Comparative Studies and History and director of the Asian American Diaspora Studies Program to talk about the book, why Hollywood producers would go to such lengths to avoid hiring East Asian actors and… read more about Esther Kim Lee Explains How Today’s Racism Has Roots in Last Century’s Yellowface »
Come as you are I find that that challenge is the reason people show up. Because at the end of it when they say, 'I got up and I did that song, or that monologue, or that scene, or the play,' that's something that they found that they couldn't get anywhere else. A 20-year veteran of Broadway, Off Broadway, Broadway National Tour, and regional productions, Chauntee’ Schuler Irving joins the Duke faculty as assistant… read more about Two New Performance Professors Bring Bravery and Compassion »
What can a puppet do that a human can’t? That’s the question puppeteer Dan Hurlin asks every time he writes a new play, including “Bismarck,” a new work he’s developing during a two-week residency with the Department of Theater Studies. Part of the New Works Lab, “Bismarck” is based on the true story of a young woman named Takako Konishi, who was found wandering the icy streets of Bismarck, North Dakota wearing a miniskirt, a cropped jacket and no hat or gloves in the winter of 2001. Clearly, she was not dressed for the… read more about What You Can See in a Puppet »
Ryan Donovan, assistant professor of Theater Studies, can pinpoint the moment he decided to become a dancer. “It all began at the National Theater in Washington, D.C., when I was seven years old and my mom took me to see the touring production of ‘Cats,’” he said. “I was sitting on the aisle, and when those dancers came into the auditorium dressed as cats, one of them came up to me and played with my clip-on tie. I was hooked.” The wonder of that moment led directly to the decade Donovan spent as a professional dancer,… read more about Ryan Donovan Is Making The Stage An Inclusive Space »
Six of this year's 24 Benenson Award winners have a major or minor in the Department of Theater Studies. Given annually, the prize offers funding for arts-centered projects proposed by undergraduates, including graduating seniors. The Theater Studies students include: Madison Canfora '22, Major: Neuroscience, Minors: Chemistry; Musical Theater, Project Area: Theater John Kang '23, Major: Visual & Media Studies (Concentration in Cinematic Arts),… read more about 6 Theater Studies Students Win Benenson Awards »
This semester, Theater Studies welcomed Associate Professor Douglas A. Jones, Jr. to the department. Before arriving at Duke, Jones served as faculty in the Department of English at Rutgers and was previously a fellow in the Society of Fellows at Princeton. He holds a Ph.D. in drama and humanities from Stanford University and earned his B.F.A. in theater at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. Although dramatic literature is his primary literary form, Jones has worked deeply in other cultural areas, too,… read more about Douglas Jones Finds the Theatrical in the Political »
When you read a play from the early 1600s, are you reading a literary artifact or a blueprint for a live production? Is the dialogue better understood by analyzing the text or acting it out? What’s more important: the tropes of the era or the architecture of the theater it was first performed in? The answer to all of those questions is both, and a collaboration between the departments of Theater Studies and Romance Studies will show why when a new production of Pedro Calderón de la Barca’s famous play “Life Is a Dream”… read more about How 2 Departments Brought a 17th Century Play to Life in 2022 »
A new program for Duke sophomores – which launched earlier this year – will include a Theater Studies course this fall: “Power, Theater, Politics” (THEATRST 225S). The course is part of the new “Transformative Ideas” program that is designed to promote open and civil cross-disciplinary dialogue on questions and big ideas that change lives, link cultures and shape societies around the world. “Power, Theater, Politics” – taught by Douglas Jones of Theater Studies and English – explores how cultural formations have… read more about Theater Studies Course Among Fall “Transformative Ideas” Offerings »
Raucous drag shows, dazzling Broadway performances, a smorgasbord of food: Duke in New York: Arts, Culture and Performance isn’t just a study away program, it’s a feast for the senses. Falling in love with the city is a familiar American story, and New York didn’t hold back on the charm for these program alumni. “My favorite part of the city overall is how creatively rich it is with opportunities (especially in fashion) at every corner,” said Sydney Reede, a sophomore who participated last semester. Hoping to work in… read more about Experiencing New York's Arts Culture for Credit »
At the end of the semester, Theater Studies Professor of the Practice Ellen Hemphill will retire from teaching after 30 years with the department. Before then, she will premiere a collaborative, interdisciplinary new work that is unlike most of her oeuvre. “North: A Love Letter” is described as a “poetic dance-movement reflection on the loss of sentient creatures on the earth.” Produced by Hemphill’s company Archipelago Theatre/Ciné, it expands Hemphill’s career work in theater choreography, voice and gesture through… read more about Ellen Hemphill on Bewilderment, Creativity and Not Really Retiring »
It was an incredibly busy and fruitful four years for Madison Canfora (B.S. Neuroscience, minors musical theater and Chemistry ’21), who had already completed her pre-med track prior to graduating in December. Through her mentorship with Dr. Monica Lemmon at the School of Medicine’s Department of Pediatrics, Canfora researched physician-patient communication in the neonatal intensive care unit and created an original codebook for brain imaging that screened data for relevant descriptions of brain imaging to support further… read more about The Arts Advantage: Nurturing the Human Experience Through Theater Studies »
Alexa Bolin Santiago (B.S. Biomedical Engineering; minor musical theater ’23) is a biomedical engineering junior who is intrigued with automation, an interest that developed during her co-op work with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. With firm plans to focus on circuits, robotics and the medical application of programming, she’s also chosen to minor in musical theater and made room in her heavy course load to explore the world of theater design. Below, Alexa discusses why she’s making a conscious effort to include theater… read more about The Arts Advantage: Empathetic Engineers Thanks to Theater »
Loïe Fuller was a queer choreographer whose innovations with light, fabric and movement revolutionized the synthesis of art and technology in France during the early 1900s. But within a few decades of her death, she was nearly forgotten. Inspired by her bold experiments, Artist in Residence of Theater Studies Juliana Kleist-Méndez created Fuller, a live, hybrid exploration of Loïe’s life. Aiming to put both in-person and virtual audiences into the same space of possibility with Loïe and the performers, Kleist-… read more about The Revolutionary Art Nouveau Designer with Lessons for Theater in COVID »
