Gyllian Raby

Rank: Assistant Professor
Department: Dramatic Arts
Ext: 3221
E-mail: graby@brocku.ca

Work currently in progress, or about to be begun, along with indication of when the project is likely to culminate and what form it will take:
My research explores the theatre director’s manipulation of theatrical forms to make meaning; specifically the interaction between space, image and narrative in connoting cultural ideas of “High” and “Low Art”. Creation, translation and adaptation are frequently the means for the the focus of this investigation. I am presently working :
Flo’ a drama investigating the structure of jazz music, happiness and the life of Canadian doyenne Florence Jamieson.

Work previously undertaken, research achievements or projects completed:
Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” in an Age of Terror, (director), Brock University Department of Dramatic Arts, November 2004.

“Hysterical Voodoo: Representing ‘The Crucible’ during the new McCarthyism”. Brock University, Image and Imagery Conference. October 2004.

Fingers and Toes, by Logan Medland, (dramaturge, director). Ontario CCI tour, 2003-2004 season.

The Demi-Monde, by Dumas-fils, (translator, adaptor, director). Brock University Department of Dramatic Arts, November 2003.

Experiment with An Air Pump, by Shelagh Stephenson, (director). Brock University Department of Dramatic Arts, November 2002.
“From pre-Luddites to the Human Genome Project: Smashing Frames in Shelagh Stephenson’s play An Experiment with an Air Pump”. Brock University, Image and Imagery Conference. October 2004.

Quarry, by Mo Bock, (dramaturge, director), Thousand Islands Playhouse, July 2001.

Faust and the Human Genome, (adaptor, director) Faustival Conference, University of Calgary, April 2003; The Human Genome Odyssey 2001 Conference, Akron, Ohio, April 2001.

The Rover , by Aphra Behn, (adaptor, director). Xavier University, Ohio, October 2001.

Research Grants held (including dates) and Research Awards or Honours:
2004 HRDC JCP grant for Technical Research Assistant to support technical artistry in production by Brock University’s Department of Dramatic Arts ($1,600 project grant, plus a research assistant for 52 weeks).

2003 Ontario Arts Council Community Touring Grant to facilitate 10 theatre tour of Fingers and Toes.

2003 Brock University Humanities Research Institute: internal award to develop translation and adaptation of Dumas-fils’ play The Demi Monde.

2001 Queen’s University Fund for Support of Artistic Production: grant to develop Faust.

1992 Michael Lukovich Heritage Trust Award for Career Recognition and Development.

1990 Canada Council Explorations Award to film video for “Treacheries of the Blue Angel”.

1989 Alberta Culture Playwriting Competition award for “Juggler on a Drum”, a play about Norman Bethune.

Areas of Research Interest (in brief):
Post modern theatre, theatrical meaning-making, the boundary between high and low art.