Re: RAT Re dramaturgy

[DgSWEET@aol.com]

A good dramaturg -- and I've encountered several -- tends not to give answers 
so much as enter into a Socratic dialogue.  That is, he or she asks questions 
of the playwright, the honest answering of which will lead the writer to see 
what the problems are and where their remedy might be found.

Now yes, there are some ego-mad souls who think of themselves as studio 
executives giving notes to screenwriters.  The thing is, when you're a 
screenwriter facing your employer, if you want to get the movie made, you 
either have to take the notes or make the employer THINK you're taking the 
notes.  (Any screenwriter here will know what I'm talking about.)  When you 
write a play, the final choice of what is on that page is yours.  So a 
dramaturg, no matter how forceful the personality, cannot bring to bear the 
kind of pressure at studio exec can.  Thank God.

I was working on a play for Actors Theatre of Louisville.  Sent in the first 
draft.  Dramaturg called, said she liked it a lot, but could I think of some 
activity the people might engage in that would provide a counterpoint to all 
the talk?  I instantly came up with something workable, which meant rewrites, 
and the rewrites made the play deeper and funnier and gave me more issues to 
play with.  I think the conversation between us may have been all of three 
minutes long, but that was swell dramaturgical work.

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Jeffrey Sweet
Resident Playwright, Victory Gardens Theatre
Faculty, Actors Studio at the New School
Council, the Dramatists Guild of America
DGSweet@aol.com
www.jeffreysweet.com