Playbuilding identity with preservice theatre teachers : an exploration through drama

During the fall 2013 semester, a group of seven preservice theatre teachers engaged in a devised playbuilding project with the aim of exploring and interrogating their own identities. This thesis uses identity theory and the methodology of playbuilding as qualitative phenomenological research to interrogate the multiple identities of the preservice theatre teacher. Through qualitative analysis of that playbuilding process, this thesis reports on the perceptions, experiences, and stories of seven participants currently enrolled in the BFA Theatre Studies program at The University of Texas at Austin as they explored identity. Their experiences and perceptions reflect the multiple, and sometimes simultaneous, identities of the participants such as Student, Student-teacher, Teacher, Artist, and Person.