Puppets, politics, and postmodernity : Paula Vogel speaks through theater history

UNCW Author/Contributor (non-UNCW co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)

Neeley Gossett (Creator)

Institution

The University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW )

Web Site: http://library.uncw.edu/

Advisor

Lewis Walker

Abstract: Throughout her career, contemporary playwright Paula Vogel has purposefully incorporated literary and theater history within her plays in order to comment on contemporary social and political issues. In the introduction to her 2004 play The Long Christmas Ride Home, Vogel acknowledges her intertextual use of three of Thornton Wilder’s plays, The Happy Journey to Trenton and Camden, The Pullman Car Hiawatha, and The Long Christmas Dinner. She also cites traditional Japanese Bunraku Theater as the model on which the puppets in her play are based. This thesis will explore Vogel’s use of literary and theater history within The Long Christmas Ride Home, and specifically investigate her intertextual use of the Thornton Wilder’s works and Bunraku puppetry. By collecting metanarratives stemming from both Wilder and traditional Japanese puppet theater, Vogel is able to convey her current social agenda to her readers. Including these texts and techniques also allows the playwright to incorporate presentational style and postmodern concept within The Long Christmas Ride Home.

Puppets, politics, and postmodernity : Paula Vogel speaks through theater history
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Created on 1/1/2009
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Additional Information

Publication

Thesis

A Thesis Submitted to the University of North Carolina at Wilmington in Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Art

Language: English

Date: 2009

Keywords

Vogel Paula. The Long Christmas Ride Home--Criticism and interpretation

Subjects

Vogel, Paula. The Long Christmas Ride Home -- Criticism and interpretation

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