Thursday, April 05, 2012
Dramaturgy Is Everyone’s Responsibility
Butts In the Seats: When I was studying theatre as an undergrad and grad student, there was one role in the theatre most of my fellow students never got a clear definition of, that of dramaturg. Most of our professors would wryly answer, “nobody really knows” when asked what a dramaturg did. There was also a sense of guilt and embarrassment. Dramaturg was one of those positions you added when your theatre had money and seemed fated to be first cut when money got tight. Except the dramaturg tended to work closely with the artistic administration who were naturally resistant to the idea of cutting them so it was usually someone in development or marketing that got cut first.
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2 comments:
I completely agree. I am currently in the middle of a large project for Foundations of Drama, and every time I work on it I can't help but think the history of the production falls on more than just the dramaturg. It really does have to do with the entire creative team. If the scene designer doesn't do research, doesn't even read the packet (given there was one provided), the show will be less successful. This is because there is no possible way to adhere to cultural traditions without the assistance of research.
And, not having a dramaturg is not an excuse. Sure, it's helpful - it's actually great (and mostly unappreciated.) However, not having a person assigned to do your research for you shouldn't ever prevent you from researching.
It is the theater norm for us to poke fun at dramaturgy, mostly because the question, "what is dramaturgy", comes up so often. Sometimes it is enough to call them the fact checkers. Really, we don't see the dramaturgy department enough so it is hard to know what their work is like. I understand that it is difficult in that respect to take their opinion or their opinions on design choices. In some ways, if we limit their job description to the historical fact checker, we all play their roles a little bit.
But, never the less, they are important integral to each and every show. You just know that there is going to be an audience member that notices the flaws in a single show. It is also good to have a direction and a specific time and place in mind when creating the show. If you believe in it, your audience will as well.
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