Billy Elliot Thesis

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pauline
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Billy Elliot Thesis

Post by pauline »

Hello everyone,

I recently joined this forum, after finding it again. I visited this very often a couple of years ago. Then it got another name and I could not find it anymore.
I am very happy to be able to read al te facts en news again about this show because I really love it. Unfortunately I live in the Netherlands, so I can't see it that much.

I have a question, I am looking for some creative ideas.

In the next couple of months I am planning to write my bachelor thesis/ scriptie in dutch. I study theatrestudies at the university of amsterdam. Which means I studie the history, theories and dramaturgy of theatre. My teachers are not really fond of musical theater. I would love t write abot Billy Elliot the musical, but I am having trouble finding a hypothesis, or general question I can write about. Things like the history about the miners strike are not really relevant to my field of study.

Are there people here who have ideas or did a paper or thesis about billy elliot themselves?

I would be thankfull for your comments,

Pauline
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ERinVA
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Re: Billy Elliot Thesis

Post by ERinVA »

Welcome back, Pauline. Glad you found us again.

Have you considered dealing with Billy Elliot in the context of dramaturgy? You could focus on Lee Hall's work as a playwright and then narrow in on BETM. Or, another way you could go is to consider the subject of "film to stage," and look at this as a trend in theatre today. Those are just a couple of suggestions to get you started. Hope they are helpful.
Ellen



"I don't want people who want to dance; I want people who have to dance.”
-George Balanchine 1904 -1983


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porschesrule
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Re: Billy Elliot Thesis

Post by porschesrule »

Welcome back to the forum, Pauline. Hope your stay this time is enjoyable and interesting for you.

Good luck with your thesis.
pauline
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Re: Billy Elliot Thesis

Post by pauline »

Hello,

thank you for your reply's.

Lee Halls work, I think that would be difficult as I have only seen Billy Elliot. I could read his other plays, but then it would be a comparisson about the tipics.
I like the idea of film to stage.
Another idea I had is to do something with the role of gender in Billy Elliot the musical. But I am still thinking about that.
Any ideas are still welcome.

Pauline
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olivejuice
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Re: Billy Elliot Thesis

Post by olivejuice »

Hi Pauline,

First off, nice to meet you! I hope you enjoy the forum.

I have been seriously thinking about your thesis question, as I just graduated university with a degree in theatre so I was hoping I'd be able to help in some way. I did write a short paper for a non-theatre (sociology) class about gender roles in films about youths including Billy Elliot. I'm not sure if it would be helpful for you but you are welcome to read it if you're interested, feel free to pm me.

How long does your thesis need to be? That might have a heavy impact on what your topic should be because you definitely want to pick something you have enough to write about, right?

Have you thought at all about discussing the use of realism and expressionism as devices to tell the story on stage? As far as dramaturgy goes, could you place the play in historical context and talk about the intricacies of the text in relation to both the time period of the play and/or it's relation to Lee Hall's own life? Just some thoughts to consider.

Anna
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ERinVA
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Re: Billy Elliot Thesis

Post by ERinVA »

I like that realism/expressionism suggestion, olivejuice. And you are right: It's important to consider how long the paper must be because a thesis will require a lot of material to work with.
Ellen



"I don't want people who want to dance; I want people who have to dance.”
-George Balanchine 1904 -1983


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pauline
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Re: Billy Elliot Thesis

Post by pauline »

Thank you verry much for your ideas.
The thesis must be between 7500 en 10000 words. So it is nog really small, but not that big either.

Of course it is important that there is enough literature to write about.
The idea of realism/ expresionis, can you explain that a bit? I mean, I get the idea of the realistic bits in the show, and also the exppressive scenes that are not that realistic, I just can't figure out how to write a thesis about that. I think I need more shows then to write about. I find it hard to come up with a topic because for the last couple of years I dit another study (child psychology) so erverything I did during my theatrestudies is somewhere for away in my memory.

Thank you,

Pauline
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