Casting the Art of Rhetoric with Theater and Drama

Casting the Art of Rhetoric with Theater and Drama: Taking Center Stage explores rhetoric and theater as they relate to one another, developing the understanding of rhetoric as theory and praxis. This book addresses rhetorical themes and cultural resonances, as well as the oft overlooked symbiosis of rhetoric and theater. Rather than addressing audiences as either observers of rhetorical artifacts or theatrical performance, this work demonstrates the intersection of the two, which strengthens theatrical events and their cultural significance. Overall, the volume showcases the many ways in which an understanding of the relationship between rhetorical and poetic theories can benefit dramatic convention and the breaking thereof.

Adrienne E. Hacker Daniels is professor emerita at Illinois College.

Chapter 1: Rhetorical Criticism as a Research Method for Analyzing Musical Theater Texts
Valerie Lynn Schrader
Chapter 2: The Rhetoric of identity and Ideology in the Broadway Musical Revival: An Exploration of the Musicals Oklahoma!, West Side Story and Parade
Jessica Neu
Chapter 3: Remember Who You Are: A Rhetorrectional Situation Analysis of "They Live in You" and "He Lives in You" from Disney's The Lion King
Ann Broda
Chapter 4: A Farmer, a Lawyer and a Sage: Identity and Identification in Paulus and Page's 1776
Emma Loerick and Casey Berner
Chapter 5: Devising Democracy: Inclusive Rhetoric and Communication through Devised Theater Processes
Courtney Helen Grile and Amanda Hill
Chapter 6: Performance, Place and Public Memory: To Kill a Mockingbird at Monroeville's Old Courthouse Museum
Jefferson Walker
Chapter 7: The Spectacle of Didacticism in the January 6th Hearings
Tony Palmeri
Chapter 8: Rhetorical Invitation in Straight Line Crazy: Evaluating Robert Moses' Legacy through Drama
Christopher Lee Adamczyk and Mary P. Caulfield
Chapter 9: Understanding Christopher: How The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Develops Awareness of the Neurodivergent Community
Valerie Lynn Schrader and Jessica Neu
Chapter 10: Making Voice: Sign Language on Stage
LaReina Hingson
Chapter 11: Children's Theater as Essential "Equipment for Living"
John H. Saunders
Chapter 12: The Missing Link in the Golden Chain: Judaic and Kabbalistic Eloquence in Thornton Wilder's Plays
Adrienne E. Hacker Daniels