The Process of Dramaturgy - Focus Publishing

Chapter One: Laying the Groundwork 5been ravaged by use at rehearsals, the first-time production dramaturgwas able to re-engage in the process, seek answers to the designers’questions, and recapture a feeling of satisfaction from completing assigneddramaturgical tasks.In what follows we explore the early phases of production dramaturgicalinquiry—the sometimes solo archival work, the readingand preparation for early meetings with the director, and much of the“hunting and gathering” that many people unfamiliar with dramaturgybelieve is the production dramaturg’s sole function. Of course,all members of a production team “hunt and gather.” It is, however, thelevel to which the production dramaturg engages in this process andthe critical lenses employed that sets them apart from other membersof the artistic team. As we examine the practical skills necessary forproduction dramaturgy and provide models and examples, rememberthat the production dramaturg’s tasks are intertwined and dialecticalin the ways in which practical considerations speak to creative interpretationand vice versa. This is no different from the way in whichdirectors balance aesthetics with exigencies of casting or the way designersacknowledge pragmatics of space and budget as each pursuesartistic goals. The production dramaturg’s work is active, collaborativeand driven by preparation, all of which begins with an intimateacquaintance with the play text at hand. To forge that relationship,then we begin with some of the “nuts and bolts” of the productiondramaturgy book.While we advocate breadth in the tasks undertaken by a singularproduction dramaturg, we appreciate that in different venues it mightbe beneficial to create dramaturgical teams, dividing the tasks betweentwo or more individuals. In some academic settings, it might even beprofitable to teach dramaturgy by having a production dramaturgyclass take on the responsibilities as a whole. Dependent upon the degreeof critical sophistication, of course, a supervising dramaturg maywell parcel out “hunting and gathering” to learners but reserve the criticalinterpretation of gathered material for themselves. Whatever thecase may be, we begin our discussion of pre-production preparation byaddressing techniques and tools involved with hunting, gathering, andorganizing.