ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: THE PHENOMENOLOGY OF ...

its bright white eyes and teeth sparkled in the stage lights, the audience would be
reminded of Mr. Punch’s antics. They would observe a theatrical frontality (the Snare
Drum Marionette) that exhibits both the essence of minstrelsy and the essence of Punch
and Judy, co-present in the present production. It is a clever synthesis of influences. Its
co-presence has the potential to undermine the racialism at the heart of minstrelsy
essence, by adding the anti-hierarchical essence at the core of Punch and Judy.
The next object, a bugle player, further suggests that Meader took the privilege of
experimenting with minstrelsy’s essence (figure 14). Meader sets it apart from other
Fig. 14. Meader Bugle Player. Photographs by the author. From the Detroit Institute of
the Arts Collection.
minstrel musicians in his troupe, by giving this object a gold, emerald, and maroon
jacket. Certainly, this suggests the standard garb of the marching minstrel player. Also,
it may simply be a coincidence that this object is decorative where the others are not.
Meader may only have employed this marionette in the walk around, thus not requiring
an exchange of the marching coat for a pair of tails. Or, when Meader packed up the
69