Title
Date of Award
Spring 2021
Document Type
Open Access Thesis
Department
Theatre and Dance
First Advisor
Steve Pearson
Abstract
While studying for my MFA in Theatre, with a concentration in acting at the University of South Carolina, I was asked to write a solo show. I wanted to write about all the lives inside of me. As a Turkish Muslim man who lives in the United States, I lived so many lives, I met many people and seen many places. It made me who I am today, and writing became part of me forever. Creating a solo show was the most eye-opening learning experience. It changed my perspective towards my art, theatre. It helped me spotlight people, philosophy and showed me a whole new way to love. With words, I became more expressive and expansive than ever. Without suffering, searching beneath the fate of judgment that our industry could put upon an artist to be successful, I was able to discover my voice. While using my poetic imagery, I learned to evoke myself merely as a human being. With everything that makes me who I am as a writer—leaving all the fears behind about not being enough as a student who flew here with a Turkish accent and lack of fluency in the English language, strength and delicacy are somehow both revealed in my writing process. I learned to listen without preloaded filters in my head. I could just look and experience and learn from the differences and move toward a place of coexistence with my culture and the new culture that lived in me. I wanted to learn everything I could and explore forgiveness from a place without resentment, grudges, and hate: the private internal kind and the kind society and the world breed in us. I learned how theatre is a living art with space and breath within a person, and writing is a big part of it. The liveliness of it was so loud that it saved my life.
Recommended Citation
Yasar, M. C.(2021). Seven Phases of the Moon. (Master's thesis). Retrieved from https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/6297