Re: RAT Re dramaturgy

[schedlinski <schedlinski@yahoo.com>]

seems that the answer to the original post would be to
bring M. Rothbart to LA for a dialogue on dramaturgy
and playwriting here in LA. So far we have one ticket
from philadelphia to LA. Anyone want to volunteer a
space? I can offer couch space for two if you cuddle,
and I promise to bring good food so that when people
start yelling at each other they can take a break. A
simliar conference at New Dramatists last year
featured no dramaturgs, only writers, so it didn't
have that spark of dialogue.

It seems only pedantic to correct the proper spellings
of playwright, playwriting, or cacti when the improper
spelling was being used itself pedantically (does a
playwright really aspire to be a 'wright' in the sense
of someone who makes a table, a cast iron knife -- if
a play is something that is 'wrought' why are there
actors, a director). For those who wonder about the
utility of dramaturgs because they have not worked
with one, or not with a good one, may we remind the
list that there are plenty of bad writers and
directors who nonetheless practice their jobs without
anyone claiming that the job itself is useless.

Places like the playwrights center are dedicated to
promoting the careers of playwrights. Literary
departments, usually headed by dramaturgs, are devoted
to finding writers and HELPING them. It seems to me
that a good writer would want an intelligent person
who knows their work to look over it for feedback and
suggestion. TS Eliot thanked Ezra Pound for crossing
off nearly 2/3 of the waste land, and Scott Fitzgerald
praised Edmund Wilson for his critical skills. Editors
have been praised in fiction since its inception; for
those who talk about shakespeare remember he had no
director either, does that mean the director is
worthless?

I'm serious about helping to host a dramaturgy
conference in LA.

rm schedlinski

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