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I, You, We Are the Oracle: Creative Self-expression as Vocal Liberation
Thesis   Open access

I, You, We Are the Oracle: Creative Self-expression as Vocal Liberation

Bree Glasbergen
University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
Master of Creative Arts, University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
2026
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25907/01024
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ThesisCC BY-SA V4.0,  Open Access
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B.Glasbergen_Creative_Artefact_151.96 MB
Supplementary MaterialCC BY-SA V4.0,  Embargoed Access, Embargo ends: 10-Mar-2028
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Supplementary MaterialCC BY-SA V4.0,  Embargoed Access, Embargo ends: 10-Mar-2028

Abstract

Creative writing (incl. scriptwriting) Feminist theory oracle cards playwriting practice-led research theatre and performance gender voice voice-as-agency autoethnography women collectivism
Women change and alter our voices—both physically and metaphorically—depending on the environment, our interactions, and for personal safety, but what is our voice when we are by ourselves? Finding ways to elicit the inner voice has the potential to inspire and enable others to claim their voices and, thereby, enhance creative self-expression. 'I Am, You Are, We Are the Oracle' is a post-structural feminist investigation into the nuanced construction of women's voices in contemporary Western society. This research investigates the construction of metaphorical voice as a socially crafted exchange. The central premise of this research is to create methods to assist women in claiming and honing their voices when engaging in creative practice, by exploring if and how oracle cards may be used as provocations for creative self-expression, specifically theatrical playwriting. The research produced three main outputs: thesis dissertation, oracle deck sample, and a 40-minute playscript. The creative artefacts used practice-led research, using oracle cards as provocations for creative self-expression, to create a theatrical playscript. I employed the research lens of post-structural feminism and intersectionality, coupled with autoethnographic feminine reflective writing (écriture féminine), to investigate the construction of voice through performance and writing. In a society rich with stimuli and laden with literal and digital noise, finding one's voice—that is, one’s sociopolitical position, what one stands for, and one’s capacity to voice personal truths agentically—amongst the noise proves increasingly challenging. Can creative self-expression lead to self-liberation by cutting through the noise in dialogue with oneself?

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