Writing IX: Combining Theatre Arts and Public Policy through the Process of Playwriting

This thesis explores the process of writing a play and compares sexual misconduct policies at universities in the Southeastern Conference. It exhibits the process through examining writing exercises to develop character and plot, showing expanded understanding of dramatic literature through reading additional plays, outlining the growth of the narrative through table readings, additional feedback, and displaying audience feedback garnered through an optional survey filled out by patrons at the end of their theatre experience. Throughout the narrative of the thesis, I explore how I developed each of Aristotle’s Six Elements of Tragedy: character, plot, idea, language, music, and spectacle. The thesis is the resulting full length play, IX, produced by Ghostlight Repertory Theatre during the Fall semester of 2017, in addition to comparative policy analysis of sexual misconduct policies in the SEC, a crucial component of the research necessary for the development of the play, found in the idea portion of the narrative