Kaneza Schaal is a New York City-based theater artist who consistently utilizes a collaborative and hybrid approach to performance making, privileging demographic diversity alongside formal diversity. Drawing on intermedial performance discourse, early television scholarship, and social practice theory, I argue that Schaal’s citation of 1950s sitcom aesthetics in her 2018 theatrical work Jack & self-consciously stages a critique of the cultural hegemony that structured twentieth century television in order to contest the contemporary US media-incarceration nexus.
As a critical second layer to my analysis, I look at the ways Schaal utilizes the tools of the avant- garde (intermediality, collaboration and postmodern deconstruction) to articulate and aestheticize the social justice aims of her project (community outreach, racial justice, and criminal justice reform).
Drawing on Piotr Woycicki's concept of post-cinematic performance, I explore Schaal’s deconstruction of sitcom aesthetics within live theater. My research addresses the gap left in Woycicki’s study in regards to those post-cinematic works that source twentieth century television (instead of film), as well as the broader dearth of scholarship on the impact of network television in contemporary performance and theater.
","abstract_html":"<p>Kaneza Schaal is a New York City-based theater artist who consistently utilizes a collaborative and hybrid approach to performance making, privileging demographic diversity alongside formal diversity. Drawing on intermedial performance discourse, early television scholarship, and social practice theory, I argue that Schaal’s citation of 1950s sitcom aesthetics in her 2018 theatrical work <em>Jack &</em> self-consciously stages a critique of the cultural hegemony that structured twentieth century television in order to contest the contemporary US media-incarceration nexus.</p> <p>As a critical second layer to my analysis, I look at the ways Schaal utilizes the tools of the avant- garde (intermediality, collaboration and postmodern deconstruction) to articulate and aestheticize the social justice aims of her project (community outreach, racial justice, and criminal justice reform).</p> <p>Drawing on Piotr Woycicki's concept of post-cinematic performance, I explore Schaal’s deconstruction of sitcom aesthetics within live theater. My research addresses the gap left in Woycicki’s study in regards to those post-cinematic works that source twentieth century television (instead of film), as well as the broader dearth of scholarship on the impact of network television in contemporary performance and theater.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Power, Amber M."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts (MA)","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Film Studies","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Kelli Fuery, Ph.D., Chair","Leah Aldridge, Ph.D.","Micol Hebron, MFA","Ian Barnard, Ph.D."],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2021,"date_issued":"2021-05-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2021-05-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:38:16Z","subjects":["Kaneza Schaal","intermedial performance","post-cinematic aesthetics","art and social justice","media-incarceration complex","Film and Media Studies","Other Theatre and Performance Studies"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/film_studies_theses/15","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Kelli Fuery, Ph.D., Chair","Leah Aldridge, Ph.D.","Micol Hebron, MFA","Ian Barnard, Ph.D."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Power, Amber M."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2022-05-01T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Film Studies"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts (MA)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Kaneza Schaal","intermedial performance","post-cinematic aesthetics","art and social justice","media-incarceration complex","Film and Media Studies","Other Theatre and Performance Studies"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/film_studies_theses/15"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Kaneza Schaal is a New York City-based theater artist who consistently utilizes a collaborative and hybrid approach to performance making, privileging demographic diversity alongside formal diversity. Drawing on intermedial performance discourse, early television scholarship, and social practice theory, I argue that Schaal’s citation of 1950s sitcom aesthetics in her 2018 theatrical work Jack & self-consciously stages a critique of the cultural hegemony that structured twentieth century television in order to contest the contemporary US media-incarceration nexus.
As a critical second layer to my analysis, I look at the ways Schaal utilizes the tools of the avant- garde (intermediality, collaboration and postmodern deconstruction) to articulate and aestheticize the social justice aims of her project (community outreach, racial justice, and criminal justice reform).
Drawing on Piotr Woycicki's concept of post-cinematic performance, I explore Schaal’s deconstruction of sitcom aesthetics within live theater. My research addresses the gap left in Woycicki’s study in regards to those post-cinematic works that source twentieth century television (instead of film), as well as the broader dearth of scholarship on the impact of network television in contemporary performance and theater.
"]},{"key":"dc:source","label":"Dc Source","values":["Power, Amber. Layer Cake: Post-Cinematic Aesthetics and the “Social Justice Impulse” in Kaneza Schaal's Jack &. 2021. Chapman University, MA Thesis. Chapman University Digital Commons, https://doi.org/10.36837/chapman.000242"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Layer Cake: Post-Cinematic Aesthetics and the “Social Justice Impulse” in Kaneza Schaal's Jack &"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Kelli Fuery, Ph.D., Chair","Leah Aldridge, Ph.D.","Micol Hebron, MFA","Ian Barnard, Ph.D."],"dc:creator":["Power, Amber M."],"dc:date.available":["2022-05-01T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Kaneza Schaal is a New York City-based theater artist who consistently utilizes a collaborative and hybrid approach to performance making, privileging demographic diversity alongside formal diversity. Drawing on intermedial performance discourse, early television scholarship, and social practice theory, I argue that Schaal’s citation of 1950s sitcom aesthetics in her 2018 theatrical work Jack & self-consciously stages a critique of the cultural hegemony that structured twentieth century television in order to contest the contemporary US media-incarceration nexus.
As a critical second layer to my analysis, I look at the ways Schaal utilizes the tools of the avant- garde (intermediality, collaboration and postmodern deconstruction) to articulate and aestheticize the social justice aims of her project (community outreach, racial justice, and criminal justice reform).
Drawing on Piotr Woycicki's concept of post-cinematic performance, I explore Schaal’s deconstruction of sitcom aesthetics within live theater. My research addresses the gap left in Woycicki’s study in regards to those post-cinematic works that source twentieth century television (instead of film), as well as the broader dearth of scholarship on the impact of network television in contemporary performance and theater.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/film_studies_theses/15"],"dc:source":["Power, Amber. Layer Cake: Post-Cinematic Aesthetics and the “Social Justice Impulse” in Kaneza Schaal's Jack &. 2021. Chapman University, MA Thesis. Chapman University Digital Commons, https://doi.org/10.36837/chapman.000242"],"dc:subject":["Kaneza Schaal","intermedial performance","post-cinematic aesthetics","art and social justice","media-incarceration complex","Film and Media Studies","Other Theatre and Performance Studies"],"dc:title":["Layer Cake: Post-Cinematic Aesthetics and the “Social Justice Impulse” in Kaneza Schaal's Jack &"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Film Studies"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts (MA)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:38:16Z"}