Re: RAT dramaturgy

[vz <dexteriously@yahoo.com>]

--- Audie McCall <audiemccall@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Actually the title dramaturg is used for  two
> separate, nearly unrelated roles.  The first being an
> individual who, usually in a regional theatre setting,
> researches and provides background information on a
> particular play that is being produced.  They’re the
> one who helps the director, actors and design team
> understand the play’s historical context as well as
> any additional conceptual overlays that the director
> might choose to employ.  I got no beef with this role,
> though I’m not sure why it can’t be performed by a
> talented intern.

Indeed, I've seen talented interns do this work and found myself
asking, "Why don't they acknowledge the intern's contribution better:
call her the dramaturg, fer chrissake, and pay her."
 
> The second role, which comes to fore when an new play
> is being developed and/or premiered, has been
> alternatively described to me as the playwright’s
> advocate, the play’s advocate, the intermediary
> between the playwright and the director,  the
> intermediary between the director and play, etc.  This
> is the one I’m not so sure about.

As a matter of convenience, I suppose, I've regarded this role as that
of the literary manager, but I'm not stuck on the title.  

> Don’t get me wrong:
> I’ve seen dramaturg’s do good, vital work in this
> capacity, but I’ve also seen them contribute to a
> potentially good play’s demise.  It begs the question:
> do they help more than they hinder?  Are they worth
> the risk?  Are they necessary at all?  Does the play
> or playwright really NEED an advocate if they’re doing
> their job?  Ain’t it kinda like bringing an attorney
> to traffic court?

In terms of bringing such risks to the staging of a new play, the
dramaturg surely is no more hazardous than the director.  I don't think
the dramaturg *should* be a hinderance.
 
> Most folks I know who actually earn they’re bread and
> rent as dramaturgs spend most of their time acting as
> polite doorkeepers for large regional theatres.  I
> kinda pity them, but about as much as I pity parking
> meter cops.

Yeah, I've seen this kind of "dramaturgy."  I've also seen them provide
audiences with context for seeing productions, through program
information, newsletter articles, and pre- and post-show talks.

Extrapolating from the above, I believe one of the main functions of a
dramaturg ought to be to represent the artistic vision (of the
production, of the theatre) to the audience.  It is conventional for
this job to be farmed out to the marketing and p.r. staff and/or to
talented interns, with drafts of everything passing through the
director or artistic director.  

But when a theatre reserves a special position for this job, it is
making a statement: that beyond producing works and marketing them, it
is important enough to build an understanding between the audience and
the artists that someone should be appointed to make it their full-time
job.

Even better, this person--the dramaturg--works a two-way street,
speaking not only to the audience but to the artists, asking those
artists things like, "Why are you doing that?"  Such a dramaturg should
be granted a fool's privilege: to raise even the most awkward issues
without being sent to the dungeon.

Of course, one doesn't need a dramaturg, per se, to guarantee that
dramaturgy is being done, and how many theatres can afford to have a
dramaturg when they don't have, say, the marketing, development,
finance, or even stage management staff they need?  We (Theatre
Double), for example, need all of those people.  My position, as
managing director, obliges me to make sure the dramaturgy gets done,
that we as a theatre make sense to our audiences, as well as to
ourselves.  I've found that our artists, left to their own devices, can
get too caught up in the details of getting their work done to stay in
touch with the larger questions.  I do wish, though, that we could have
a dramaturg on staff.


 
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