Humor in the Life of a Musical Theatre Production: a Catalyst to Reduced Stress and Enhanced Performance
Year: 2004
Type: article
Abstract: Based on an ethnographic exploration of social psychological phenomena within the context of a musical theatre production at a Midwestern University, humor was found to play an integral part in the lives of actors/performers, directors, and stage managers.Major themes that surfaced concentrated on the role of humor in helping student actors/performers (a) cope with situational factors related to stress, tensions, and performance anxieties and/or (b) engage productively in the development of acting, singing, and/or dancing roles for public presentation.Specifically, off-stage roles involving humor and play were emphasized as well as how such roles helped or hindered on-stage performances.Results indicated that production humor was the product of several factors.The infrastructure of the context supported various undulating patterns of humor usage and stress according to (a) the structures and processes involved in the production, (b) who engaged in humor and how, and (c) the ways in which humor contrasted with seriousness.In addition, a close look at the interior spaces of the theatre context revealed (a) numerous factors that contributed to stress and anxieties among participants and (b) various factors that contributed to confidence and role development.Overall, humor was found to be a catalyst to reduced stress and enhanced performance.Humor increased in both high and low stress situations: for example, to boost confidence, to socialize participants, to mediate moods and emotions, to stimulate creativity and spontaneity, and to underscore elements of theatre, play, and performance through ritual and superstition.However, humor desisted in situations that involved both high and low stress: for example, when stress and seriousness reached high levels due to situational variants, humor desisted in the production context, but increased in off-stage social contexts; on the other hand, humor desisted in low stress situations, such as when the goals of participants demanded concentration for success, when task functions took priority, when tasks were complex, and/or when sub-cultural norms required it.iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Education is a lifelong journey encompassing many years, many teachers, many subjects, and many lessons.My educational pursuits have been mentally, emotionally, and spiritually gratifying and enriching for me, so much so that they possess a hallowed place in my life.Based on the contributions of many teachers, I am confident that I will continue to reap the benefits of life-long learning in the years ahead.I am deeply indebted to my very first teachers, my parents, for instilling in me a deep respect for the liberating and democratizing functions of education.I also am indebted to many teachers along the way, including some from my developmental years who I have been in communication since my youth.Moreover, it undoubtedly is fitting to thank many faculty members and administrators at the University of Cincinnati (UC) who have contributed meaningfully to my education and my career as an educator at UC Clermont College.UC, as my alma mater, holds a special place in my heart academically and professionally.In addition, various teachers and students through New York University contributed to this degree program as part of my participation in two summer programs in Educational Theatre in Greenwich and London, England.Thank you to all those teachers from different stages of my journey that I have admired.Their love for teaching and learning has been contagious.Of course, any expression of thanks would be incomplete without acknowledging the members of my doctoral and dissertation committees.I have a deep sense of gratitude and respect for each of these UC professors.They are some of the finest human beings I have ever known as well as among the most knowledgeable and talented.I could not have asked for a better group of colleagues from diverse, yet interrelated disciplines to guide my interdisciplinary doctoral program in Communication/
Author: Patricia E. Friel
Institution: University of Cincinnati
Language: English
Subfield: Social Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2260217800