The moment of freedom:  an arts practice investigation of the creative process in  theatrical writing, acting, directing and teaching.

This thesis explores the synergistic, creative processes of theatrical writing, acting, directing and teaching from the perspective of an artist and an educator. While its engagement with the creative process spans a lifetime of professional work, its focus is on three plays. Iscariot provides the point of departure. With two later plays, Deeper and Notes to a Dying Mother, written and performed as part of the doctoral thesis, it forms a trilogy of works under consideration in this research. Chapter One outlines the structure and rationale for the work. Chapter Two introduces the rationale for conducting this exploration through a practice-based prism. It also debates and challenges the integration of practice-based research into the conventions of academic research. It introduces the key methods used in this work (narrative writing, creative writing, autoethnographic documentation, photographic, and audio-visual recordings of work; ethnographic interviews with artistic collaborators) and problematizes any simplistic use of terminology around “performance” or “practice” through the issues raised in the interdisciplinary spaces of performance studies and practice theory, in particular. Chapter Three, explores the source of the plays and the role of creative relationships in the evolution of work. Chapter Four examines the period of rehearsal and the bringing to life of a script. In Chapter Five, key themes from the works are analysed through reflexive engagement using journal writing, interviews and arts-based methods including photography, painting and music. The focus of Chapter Six is on production. Noting the importance of context (cultural, geographical, temporal) on the production of a play, this chapter examines two different productions of Iscariot. Chapter Seven brings the insights of the previous chapters into dialogue with the pedagogical space and proposes a practical application of these themes within the context of theatre education. A ‘personal manifesto’ of practice concludes the work: the practice of research, the practice of writing, the practice of rehearsal, the practice of collaboration, and the practice of self-reflection. The written dissertation forms part of a holistic document which also includes a companion portfolio of ‘traces’ of the creative process including photographs, interviews and a video recording of a performance of Deeper.