\n<\/p>\n
When I took my first leap into the great unknown of independent theatre<\/a>, the teams usually consisted of the following: a director, a designer, the cast, a stage manager and a mysterious fifth person\u2026 They\u2019d sit in the shadowy back row of the theatre, watching intently, taking notes and occasionally exchanging a few quiet words with the director. \u201cWho were they?\u201d<\/em> I thought to myself. \u201cA critic? A talent scout? My long lost second cousin twice removed?\u201d\u00a0<\/em>Turns out this person was the dramaturg\u2014a student of the enigmatic field of dramaturgy, and the show\u2019s secret weapon.<\/span><\/p>\n Dramaturgy is the study of how meaning is made and conveyed to an audience by all elements of a production. Dramaturgs (or dramaturges) are typically found in theatre productions, but may be employed on film sets to work with actors on deciphering character or text.<\/strong><\/p>\n The more I learned about this mysterious figure, the more it became clear that their role in our little show was quite important. Their job wasn\u2019t always 100% clear (even to them, and more on that later), but they seemed to contribute ideas and observations that just made everything better. What\u2019s more, I realised that if you want to be a good actor, a lot of dramaturgy skills can help you become exactly that!<\/p>\n So let\u2019s unmask these\u00a0mysterious fonts of knowledge and learn to use the incredible power of dramaturgy as a force of good.<\/span><\/p>\n According to a very reliable source<\/a>, the concept can be summed up in a single sentence: \u201cDramaturgy is the study of dramatic composition and the representation of the main elements of drama on the stage.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Dramaturgy was invented by a German fellow called Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, who coined the term in a series of personal essays published in 1767-69. He was also the first ever professional dramaturg and was employed by the Theatre of Hamburg to sit in the back row and take notes. Turns out if you don\u2019t have a career, you can just make one up.<\/span><\/p>\n Since Lessing invented his very own career path, lots of very smart people have expanded on the dark arts now known as dramaturgy. As it is concerned with the study of story, it attracts a lot of writers, who I presume were trying to ignore their own writing. P<\/span>laywrights such as Thornton Wilder, Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams all worked as dramaturgs.<\/span><\/p>\n Dramaturgy is both a field of study, as well as a practical job within a production. This is perhaps why the duties of a dramaturg vary wildly: day by day, job by job. And you do not have to be a dramaturg to utilise the principles of dramaturgy. It\u2019s a lens you can apply to your artistic work in order to explore further and look deeper.<\/strong><\/p>\n There\u2019s an old joke in theatre circles about dramaturgs: ask three of them what they do for a living, and they\u2019ll all give you a different answer. Often, a dramaturg is seen as a \u2018support\u2019 to other roles in a production. Let\u2019s examine the different ways dramaturgs perform this role.<\/p>\n Dramaturgs work with writers<\/strong> on their material by examining genre, style, form and context. They look for how meaning is created by words on the page, and how that may be interpreted (or misinterpreted) by a director turning the text into an actual show. Dramaturgs also provide historical, social and cultural perspectives on a production\u2014offering research, or even their own lived experience to ensure a degree of realism.<\/p>\n Dramaturgs work with directors\u00a0<\/strong>by exploring the meaning of their directorial choices. Rather than offer up notes on what does or doesn\u2019t work, they focus on how a particular choice might be \u2018read\u2019 by an audience. If it has an unintended meaning, the hope is to catch and amend that before an audience (or reviewer) has a chance to misconstrue.<\/p>\n Dramaturgs work with actors\u00a0<\/strong>on script analysis<\/a> and character development. They may aid in analysing the text for character relationships<\/a> or backstory<\/a>. On a film set, dramaturgs often help actors contextualise a scene within the larger script\u2014which is helpful when a film is shot out of order.<\/p>\n But more than any other group or department,\u00a0dramaturgs work for the audience.\u00a0<\/strong>They watch a show develop with the audience in mind, ensuring the message of the show is clear and not diluted by any hidden ideas or interpretations.<\/p>\n The audience\/artist relationship is a two-ways street. No matter how brilliant or exciting a show is, there\u2019s nothing to guarantee that your audience will find something worthwhile in it. In fact, works that insist upon their own brilliance tend to drive people away.<\/span><\/p>\n This is why dramaturgs need to have their finger on the pulse of the current zeitgeist: \u201cAn invisible agent, force or daemon dominating the characteristics of the current epoch in world history.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n What\u2019s driving audiences at present? What\u2019s driving\u00a0people,\u00a0<\/em>getting into their heads, keeping them up at night? These kinds of questions are important to us as actors, because we need to know what people are feeling in order to reflect it back to them on stage or screen. Even if we\u2019re performing an old script or, dare I say it, a <\/span>bad <\/span><\/i>script, good dramaturgical practice can help us mine it for useful contextual queues that we can apply to the modern-day zeitgeist.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Consider Shakespeare<\/a>. The reason his work is performed over and over again in a million different ways is because most of his plays have the human experience at the very heart of them. We can all relate to Hamlet<\/a>\u2019s feelings of crippling indecision in the face of tyranny, Macbeth<\/a>\u2019s vaulting ambition and Juliet<\/a>\u2019s yearning for love without consequence. It\u2019s just about how we apply those timeless themes to a modern-day context.<\/span><\/p>\n In the case of a bad script, dramaturgy allows us to see things that aren\u2019t there. Maybe the poorly-written dialogue is a part of the artistic vision for the project? What if bad dialogue becomes a deliberate choice to highlight the degradation of good communication? It might not be perfect, but it\u2019s better than bad dialogue with no justification.<\/span><\/p>\n Absolutely! In case I haven\u2019t made this absolutely clear at this point: dramaturgs lift everybody else up on a production, and have a whole heap of knowledge around how good stories are told. Why wouldn\u2019t you want to tap into this as an actor? Taking on the role of dramaturg is also a terrific thing to do in between acting jobs. You will learn so much that you can fold back into your own process.<\/p>\n Elsewhere on StageMilk, we have an article written by the wonderful Alexander Lee-Rekers about how to become a dramaturg<\/a> which you should definitely check out. It really follows this \u2018career change\/expansion\u2019 angle and gives you tips on how to start on a new branching path of your acting journey.<\/span><\/p>\n However, my case (although aligned with his) is slightly different. Let\u2019s talk about how you can apply principles of dramaturgy to your work as an actor:<\/p>\n I\u2019m talking books, scripts<\/a>, news articles, opinion pieces, personal essays. Just about anything you can get your hands on that has more than a few words in it. <\/span>The written word captures the feelings and thoughts of our moment in human history (here\u2019s that zeitgeist again). It also serves as a time capsule, freezing in place the values and feelings of a particular time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Read it all. Enrich your understanding of art, history, society, culture. Identify something in the present-day zeitgeist and see if you can trace it backwards. When it comes to analysing your character\/script\/whatever, you\u2019ll be able to draw the conclusions and make the comparisons set out by the author in the text. Research and information: such things will always put you ahead.<\/p>\n As an actor, you are a study of human character and interaction. So fill your lives with interactions and moments of connection\u2014learn from the very people you hope will buy a ticket to your next film or play.<\/p>\n A lot of my inspiration for characters and stories comes from interacting with other people. You can sit and read in isolation and intellectualise the world around you as much as you like. But until you get out there and put some effort into understanding the lived experience of people around you, you\u2019ll be little more than a walking encyclopedia.<\/span><\/p>\n The point so nice I\u2019m making it twice. You\u00a0have\u00a0got\u00a0<\/em>to put the time into understanding and deciphering a text\u2014whether it\u2019s something you\u2019re working on for a job, or simply a new monologue you\u2019ve picked up for practice. Don\u2019t focus on your lines and blocking and forget the rest.<\/p>\n Dramaturgical script analysis is very similar to Earle Gister<\/a> in a lot of ways. When you do your preliminary read, you should take notes about both the context of the world of the script and the context of the real world when the script was written.<\/span><\/p>\n Contextualise this with some knowledge about what was happening in the world at the time the script was written. What ideas or themes is the writer drawn to? And how much of it about their personal context?<\/span><\/p>\n Dramaturgical analysis helps you to find how the author has created meaning in a text. Sometimes it\u2019s very obvious. Other times, and most times in good scripts, it\u2019s buried in the most subtle of details. It could be a recurring rhythm in a character\u2019s speech, the lack of adjectives, the description of a room missing one glaring detail\u2026<\/p>\n Finally landed that job you were crossing your fingers and toes for? Well, it\u2019s time to put all of your experience into practice. The best way to approach work dramaturgically in the room is this: don\u2019t forget all the good work you\u2019ve done. Keep your research, your characters and your analysis in mind and let that research inform your choices.<\/span><\/p>\n All of this detective work is dramaturgy that can help you develop a relatable and believable character. Report your findings to the director and your cast-mates and discuss them together. See what kind of discoveries they have made and note how it influences your own findings. <\/span><\/p>\n Remember though: you\u2019re an actor, not a dramaturg. It\u2019s not your job to redesign the script, it\u2019s to develop a character and their relationships that fits the director\u2019s vision<\/a> for the play.<\/span><\/p>\n All the best actors are nerds. That\u2019s my working theory. If you\u2019re really serious about acting, you\u2019re probably a little bit obsessed with humanity and want to find ways of understanding it through your work. So get out there and soak it all up. Make observations, ask people for their opinions and feelings. Don\u2019t take everything at face value\u2013remain curious and excited about this crazy world and take your findings into the theatre or onto set.<\/span><\/p>\n And how does dramaturgy fit into this? Dramaturgy is a philosophical idea about how we can understand art and storytelling. Which, when you think about it, makes it just another way of understanding life. Sounds pretty nice, right?<\/span><\/p>\n Hope this helps. See you around the traps!<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nWhat is a Dramaturg?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
What Does a Dramaturg Do?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Tapping into the Zeitgeist<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Should I Become a Dramaturg?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Read. A lot.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Talk to People<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Analyse the Script<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n
In the Room<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Conclusion<\/strong><\/h2>\n