FROM NARRATIVE TO THEATRE: LIVING HISTORY THEATRE (ELDERLY, COMMUNITY, ORAL HISTORY, LIFE REVIEW, GERONTOLOGY).
Item
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Title
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FROM NARRATIVE TO THEATRE: LIVING HISTORY THEATRE (ELDERLY, COMMUNITY, ORAL HISTORY, LIFE REVIEW, GERONTOLOGY).
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Identifier
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AAI8515605
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identifier
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8515605
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Creator
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BAILEY, CHRISTINE ELIZABETH HOWARD.
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Contributor
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Vera Mowry Roberts
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Date
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1985
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Theater
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Abstract
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This study outlines the development of Oral History Theatre in the field of Senior Adult Theatre, examines in detail one particular form of Oral History Theatre--Living History Theatre--and evaluates it as an artistic form. The author shows that the roots of Oral History Theatre, as it applies to the senior adult, are in oral history, people's theatre, and gerontology. She describes the work of various drama leaders throughout the United States who are developing Oral History Theatre. She contends that such theatre emerged at a time when advocacy of the elderly was popular and that Oral History Theatre as a form was most suited to a group that is traditionally disenfranchised.;The chief focus of the study, however, is on Living History Theatre as developed by Elders Share the Arts (ESTA), a New York arts organization founded by Susan Perlstein. The author examines the work of ESTA's artistic directors from historical, critical, and descriptive perspectives, and shows that the type of theatre they develop with their groups is dependent for its success upon enactment because such theatre lacks a stable text. Living History Theatre is dependent as well upon an audience which is able to interact with the performers. Its emphasis, therefore, is on process and not product, and this contributes to its considerable artistic merit. The author concludes that Living History Theatre is an evolving art form that is an integral part of the community that created it, and, as such, has social, aesthetic, educational, and therapeutic values.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Theatre
