UNCW Performance Studies
UNCW Performance Studies has performed for over 18,000 local elementary children since 2010. And now expands to reach local adult audiences in our black box theatre
About Us
All of our student performers are enrolled in Communication Studies classes with Dr. Scott-Pollock:
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The UNCW Storytellers are enrolled in COM 212: Storytelling in the Community. Students perform children's stories each week as well as film, performances and manage the online presence of the troupe throughout the semester. This course is offered during the Fall Semester.
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Just Us: Performance Troupe performers are enrolled in COM 211: Storytelling and Culture. Students write, name, stage, and promote (create and distribute a logo, press release, and program) an original show for the UNCW campus community and downtown Wilmington audiences. This course is offered during the Spring Semester.
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Hawk Tale Players are enrolled in COM 413: Storytelling and Identity. The performers interview local residents and write original interactive monologues to promote the diversity of human experience through the arts. Members also film their live performances, create multimedia content and manage the web and social media presence for the semester. This course is offered during the Spring Semester.
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Students who take on the leadership role of Assistant Directors are enrolled in COM 313: Storytelling and Community Engagement. This course runs concurrently with the other three troupes' course sections.
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Adaptations of Literature and Dr. Scott-Pollock’s autoethnographic and ethnographic research are a rotating special topics that culminate in community performances or film screenings.
“Entertaining, Educating, and Inspiring…”
A Product of the UNCW Communication Studies Department. UNCW Performance Studies transforms children's literature, biographical interviews, and personal stories into interactive live performances and films to promote literacy, appreciation for diverse experiences, social justice, and a love of live theatre for audiences ranging from preschoolers to adults. Information on the UNCW Storytellers, Hawk Tale Players, Just Us Performance Troupe, & Experimental Performance are located here. Contact our director Dr. Julie-Ann Scott-Pollock at scottj@uncw.edu to schedule a show or screening.
Information on Dr. Scott-Pollock's first book, based on the design of UNCW Performance Studies, Embodied Performance as Research Art and Pedagogy, is available along with the synopsis and tour schedule of the one-woman show adaptation: Gazed At: Stories of a Mortal Body. Information on her second book, Stories of Raising Boys: Disability, Gender Expansiveness and Anxiety, and the forthcoming adaptation, Being Deformed Saved My Life, is also available.
The UNCW Storytellers and Hawk Tale Players transform literary stories and biographical interviews into interactive one-person shows between 5-8 minutes to promote literacy, appreciation for diverse experiences, and a love of live theatre. The UNCW Storytellers tour during the Fall and the Hawk Tale Players tour in the Spring. Performances consist of a series of tellers performing, are usually 60 minutes or less, and can begin between 12:30-2:00 on Wednesdays.
Just Us: Performance Troupe stages an original show each Spring on campus and in downtown Wilmington. The show features the performer's personal stories in pursuit of a world where all members are safe, valued and able to reach their full potentials. Each show includes a talkback with the audience.
We also provide screenings and discussion of performance ethnographic films and recorded performances centered on resisting stigma associated with disability and aging derived from Director Dr. Scott's research for adolescent and adult audiences.
