Sherrill, Gow (2022) Towards a feminist praxis for the musical theatre performer in conservatoire training. Doctoral thesis, The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.

Abstract

This thesis develops feminist practices to critique and intervene in aspects of musical theatre training and repertoire that tacitly accept or vigorously reproduce restrictively androcentric, ableist, classist, Eurocentric and heterocentric worldviews. I identify principles and methods from feminist performance criticism and pedagogies, musical theatre scholarship, and acting and directing techniques, then consider how these might work together to create an anti-oppressive framework for training students in musical theatre production processes. Through case studies of directing musical theatre students at Mountview (formerly Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts) in Anne of Green Gables- The musical (1965) in 2016 and Pippin (1972) in 2017, this thesis cultivates strategies for performers and director-trainers to negotiate the wide-ranging repertoire of musical theatre and engage its feminist potential. My research contributes to musical theatre practice and scholarship by demonstrating practical applications that build on existing feminist performance theory and criticism. I propose that using musical theatre as a site for feminist exploration increases students' critical and artistic facility. Moreover, musical theatre has productive potential for resisting and subverting the narrow and regressive stereotypes it frequently perpetuates when approached with intentions shaped by feminist critiques. This thesis articulates hoe the theoretical and political reframing of musical theatre in conservatoire training contexts can support the development of experiential knowledge that resists the form 's co-option by conservative hegemony, equips artists of the future and moves towards a more liberatory culture of musical theatre training.