dramaturgy

(not at all related to metallurgy)

• What: Defined by what it’s not Geographical differences Literary academia vs. practical theatre Common responsibilities Differences depending on company size Level of involvement in rehearsal

• Why: Importance of text analysis, research Theory into practice Getting a play to say what you want

• How?

“It is often observed that the position of the dramaturg is one characterized by its ‘in-betweeness,’ defined by what it is not: not playwright, director, or actor, but also not simply literary critic, historian, or theorist.”

-Andrew James Hartley The Shakespearean

Dramaturg

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729-1781)

Big Daddy of Dramaturgy

Literary Academia vs. Practical Theatre

Common Responsibilities

• Script editing and cutting• Text analysis• Research: historical context,

previous productions, scholarly works, theory, etc.

Peacham Drawing, c. 1595?

Common Responsibilities (cont.)

• Discussing research, analysis with director actors (depending on level of involvement in rehearsal)

• Developing season• Reading and cataloguing new plays• Running seminars and workshops

for the public• Writing play descriptions for

programs

“…the dramaturg is an intellectual presence in a production (though this is more about perspective than it is about raw cleverness), one whose job is to view the show from the standpoint of ideas.”

-Hartley

Why?

• Why are ideas important?

• Why should we view a practical thing from the perspective of theory and ideas?

• What is the importance of text analysis?

• What can theory do for us?

• Wherefore to Dover?

How?

• Step one: Analysis. Read your shit.

• Step two: Make a decision. A good one.

• Step three: Make that decision visible.

Step three: Make that decision visible.

• Casting choices• Tech stuff:– Costumes– Set, setting– Props– Sound

• Two Gentlemen of Verona, OSF 2014• Henry V, OSF 2012• King Lear, OSF 2013• Taming of the Shrew, OSF 2013

What we see, what we don’t, and how

• How the script is cut—what we show the audience and how we show it

• Which words are emphasized and how

• Blocking• Tableaus• Pantomime

Closing thoughts

• You can’t perform an essay• Theory as Liberatory Practice—and

theatre as the practical medium for the theory

• Shakespeare is a versatile and malleable type of theatre that won’t get you in any legal trouble