This study is an investigation of the subject matter of eighty Italian cassone paintings of the fifteenth century now located in the United States and answers a four-part question: (1) What were the major themes pictured on cassoni panels during the Quattrocento? (2) Were the themes of cassoni in Quattrocento Italy predominantly of a religious or secular nature? (3) If secular subject matter was dominant in cassone painting, was this a reflection of the newly founded tastes of aristocratic, wealthy and middle classes? (4) Did cassoni mirror the way these classes viewed themselves and the place occupied by women in society?

The problem with which this study is concerned is that of critically analyzing and producing the musical comedy The Apple Tree. The study attempts to adapt some of the major unifying elements of this production and, in addition, unite the show through the use of color. The study also attempts to update the production through an extension of symbolism based on the style of Peter Max; to produce a major musical comedy in a stylized and symbolic style, and to show how a stylized and symbolic method of production can be used to achieve simplicity and unity within the confines of a limited budget.

The purpose of this study is to compare the staging of the Passion Play of Oberammergau, Germany, with the staging of The Great Passion Play on Mount Oberammergau, Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Source material includes literary writings of the century concerning Passion plays, interview with the directors of both productions, and eyewitness accounts of the 1970 producation in Germany and the 1970, 1971 producations in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, U.S.A. Photographs of actors and scenes from both productions are used throughout the thesis.