Date of Award
2012
Advisor(s)
Julie Kim
Second Advisor
Oneka LaBennett
Abstract
Building on Anthony Kubiak’s analysis of the lack of a theatrical tradition in America, this thesis engages the question of what it means to see figures from American history represented theatrically onstage. Kubiak argues that the lack of a uniquely American theatrical tradition sets the precedent for modern Americans’ inability to identify the theatrical events of our lives and our histories. Can this inability to identify the theatrical be affect by representing historical figures on the modern American stage? Analyzing the text and production of The Love Song of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Carson Kreitzer will prove that representing historical figures on stage can shed light on the inherent theatricality in the way Americans conceive of historical actors and events. Recognizing theatricality in our past can help a modern American audience identify the theatricality imbedded in its own current culture.
Recommended Citation
Rogers, Sarah J., "Dramatizing Oppenheimer and Reagan: Theatricality and American Historical Memory" (2012). American Studies Senior Theses. 28.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/amer_stud_theses/28
