For my ethnography and fieldwork project, even before I decided on a topic, I knew I wanted to research a music culture that is well outside of my comfort zone. With that in mind, Brown University Gilbert and Sullivan (BUGS), is a rather surprising choice. BUGS is a student-run theater company at Brown that specializes in the comedic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan, a librettist and composer whose collaborative works are hallmarks of Victorian English culture. As a singer who performed works of musical theater in high school, and whose good friends and sister have performed for BUGS, the group does not seem like one that would be very uncomfortable or unfamiliar to me. However, I always thought of myself as an outsider in theater -- a performer who resents the music culture that he is a part of. In high school, personal conflicts and changes in my musical taste led me to dislike my theater company and the works that I performed as a member of it, and since then I have avoided performing in stage works. Furthermore, though I am close with many participants in BUGS individually, I have always felt excluded socially from them as a group. In my experience, they are an extraordinarily close and dedicated group of people with a vibrant and sometimes perplexing culture that seems to repel outsiders. Clearly, I have considerable personal reasons to be interested in this music culture. I am determined, however, not to let my preconceived notions of BUGS and musical theater cloud my judgment and scholarship during the course of my research.
In order to conduct my research, I will attend rehearsals for BUGS's upcoming show Patience. I will also attend a performance and cast party. In addition, I will hold an interview with the music director of Patience and, if possible, with performers (past or present), crew members, and audience members. I am interested to see how, as a student-run group, authority is distributed and tasks accomplished. I am also curious as to how the Brown student body perceives this group of artists and their performances.
Questions that I will consider during my research include:
What is the experience of a performer in BUGS?
How do participants in BUGS view their theater company and other theater companies at Brown?
How do participants in BUGS evaluate their own performances?
How does the Brown community from individuals to members of other theater companies to the BDH evaluate BUGS?
How do members of BUGS interact both in the formal setting of the rehearsal and administrative tasks and in the informal setting of social gatherings?
Why do participants in BUGS choose this theater company over other theater companies at Brown?
How do participants in BUGS view the works of Gilbert and Sullivan?
How are past members and shows remembered by current members of BUGS?
How has BUGS changed during the course of its history?
How does my experience in musical theater compare to both the experiences of members of BUGS and to my perception of BUGS gained from this fieldwork?
Alex,
ReplyDeleteA great choice for your fieldwork topic! Since any kind of interpersonal interaction, ethnography included, reveals as much about the "researched" as the "researcher," your decision to work with a theater group should help you also learn about yourself. Perhaps you could become the expert of this semester's MUSC1900 on "reflexivity" :)
You should definitely keep your questions, which are all excellent by the way, in mind while diving into fieldwork. Very quickly after you have gotten to know the group and start to understand the group's dynamics, I recommend you focus on only a couple of questions raised. You just won't have time to do meaningful work trying to address all the question during this short semester. Looking forward to learning more about BUGS through your work!