"I Am the Conjure": Sharon Bridgforth and a Theatre of Multiplicity

• Other Authors: Ormiston, Rebecca (authoraut)
• Format: Others
• Language: English; English
• Published: Florida State University
• Subjects: Theater
• Online Access: http://purl.flvc.org/fsu/fd/FSU_migr_etd-6503

This thesis focuses on Sharon Bridgforth's performance pieces. Examining Bridgforth's performance texts, a more complicated and--at times-- contradictory way of approaching subjectivity emerges, challenging ideas of cultural authenticity, essentialism, and a self-contained Black aesthetic. I position Bridgforth's performance pieces as points of entry for discussing the U.S. American theatre's misleading categorization of plays by women playwrights of color as plays concerned with race over aesthetics-- an oversimplified system that undercuts the multifaceted, polyphonic plays and performance pieces written, and limits the multiple interpretations possible in these works. I ultimately advocate for reimagining U.S. American theatre's discourse on race and gender, asking spectators to consider ways in which the voices "from the fringe" challenge incomplete binaries of identity and community. === A Thesis submitted to the School of Theatre in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. === Spring Semester, 2012. === April 2, 2012. === Includes bibliographical references. === Elizabeth Osborne, Professor Directing Thesis; Mary Karen Dahl, Committee Member; Kris Salata, Committee Member.