Dramaturgical Approach

Marrying Theory and PRAXIS

While dramaturgy isn’t new, it has morphed and developed in terms of how it’s practiced. Now that are dramaturgs are becoming production staples, questions sometimes arise as to how best utilize a dramaturg’s skillset and foster effective communication between him/her and the rest of the production team. For this reason, as well for the purpose of deeper theoretical exploration, I’ve worked over the years to develop a working theory of dramaturgy that I use in any production I am brought on for. It is designed to be adaptable based upon the project’s needs, to foster collaboration, and to communicate how I work on and for any given project. While I expect that it will develop and change over time, (I certainly hope it does!) I have found this methodology to work well and be well-received whether the production is a new work or a classic.

I use a three step method that can be expanded within those steps.

I. BIG PICTURE

When I read a new script for the first time, I try not to get too analytical right off the bat. The simple question I ask myself is WHAT IS THE ARGUMENT? Meaning, what does this text want the audience to take from it, if anything? What is the overarching message, if one exists? What questions does it ask of us, both audiences and artists? This allows me not to get lost in details right away and to take the text for what it is, withholding judgement in preparation for interrogating it.

I also use this approach on smaller scales, applying it to scenes and tracking character arcs. This is the point where I like to make little notes in the margins of the text, highlighting things that give me eureka moments or putting question marks next to bits I don’t understand right away. The trick is not puzzling over the details for too. I like to allow the text to simmer on low in my head for a bit before getting to the gritty parts.

This is purposefully a low pressure step. Taking time to sit back and enjoy reading a text and thinking about it as a whole piece. What did I really like about it? Where was I really hooked in by it? Was I ever bored or find my mind wandering?

II. CLOSE READING

With big Victorian novels, trying to understand them is a process of breaking them down. Scripts are the opposite; they need to be filled in and put back together. Any script is an incomplete story and it is up to us to reassemble it with the audience being the final and most important part of that puzzle. As morbid as it sounds, I see the dramaturge in this step being more of an interrogator than analyzer. This step usually takes the longest and encompasses the hard work.

Close reading is the opposite of the big picture where I want to get bogged down in details. Going line-by-line, right down to the punctuation being used, allows me to crack the code of how the text functions as a script. Do characters use short, simple words or do they favor long ones? Why does this motif keep showing up over and over? What are the most difficult areas to interpret and why?

Those are just a few examples of questions to ask the text. Using this approach I discover something new about a text each time I return to it and I believe this is useful for every script I encounter.

III. PUTTING IT TOGETHER

It is imperative to me to have an audience based approach to my practice. Audiences are not passive spectators, but rather active participants in the creation of performative arts. This final step is focussed primarily on the production/creative team and what they do together to create a final product.

What do we want the audience to take away from this? What questions do we want to ask of them? What demands are we placing on them? What methods of theatre/film language can we use to get across what we desire?

Again, these are just examples and these are adaptable to any production’s needs.

Dramaturg’s sometimes have a reputation for being Google machines, and while I do see dramaturgy as an its own art form, I combine these steps with meticulous research techniques that I’ve gathered over the years. However, I see the research and collection of supplementary material as an aid to my work rather than being my primary duty. Of course, every director and/or playwright is going to have different needs and wants based on their own practice that I always seek to accommodate, hence why I felt it necessary to develop a method of practice that is flexible and easily understood.