Theatre Arts 274
DRAMATURGY
Professor Mazer
Fall 2016
519 Annenberg Center, 3-2659;
cmazer@english.upenn.edu
Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays 1:30-2:30, and by
appointment
THERE IS NO SYLLABUS, PER SE, FOR
THIS COURSE; the course is not organized on a tight schedule of weekly readings
and occasional writing assignments.
Rather, there will be regular in-class discussions of ongoing topics
through the semester, with some of them cued to specific readings; and there
will be regular assignments of succinct oral presentations (since much
of the dramaturg's work in the theatre involves making succinct and persuasive
oral presentations). Some of the
presentations will be individual; other assignments may be group presentations (since virtually all
of the dramaturg's work in the theatre involves collaboration as a team
member). At the end of the
semester, there is a final project, which may be team or may be individual.
I. Discussion Topics and Readings.
Topics include: What is a dramaturg? What is the dramaturg's function? What is the dramaturg's function in
relation to certain institutional structures, special tasks, ways of organizing
rehearsals, etc.?
Readings will be drawn, for the most
part, from Dramaturgy in American Theater: A Source Book, ed. Susan Jonas,
Geoffrey S. Proehl, and Michael Lupu.
Essays (downloadable for the Canvas site) to be read include:
Anne Cataneo, "Dramaturgy: An Overview."
Joel Schechter, "In the Beginning
There Was Lessing ... Then Brecht, Mueller and Other Dramaturgs."
Martin Esslin, "Towards an American
Dramaturgy: Adapting the function
of dramaturgy to U.S. conditions."
Geoffrey S. Proehl, "The Images
Before Us: Metaphors for the Role
of the Dramaturg in American Theater."
and possibly other essays to be
announced. There way be additional
readings, for other sources, depending on our other work during the semester.
II. Historical/Social/Contextual Research.
Every other week, each person will
be assigned to research a particular aspect of a particular period, country,
social class and/or activity.
BEFORE THE CLASS when the assignment is due, each person will post
information, visual aids, etc. on the Canvas site, along with bibliographical
references (reference book, web site, etc.) for the sources of the information;
in class, each person will make a brief presentation.
One assignment might be aided by an
in-class visit from research librarian Samantha Kirk.
III. Dramaturging the Season.
Over the course of the semester, we
will both select a season of five plays and begin dramaturgical work on
at least one of these plays. The
theme for the season will be EITHER 1) The Great Divide (relating to the
widening gap between the 1% and the 99%), 2) Electoral politics, or 3) The
dangers of incipient totalitarianism.
The season's theme may be something we wish to advertise, or it might be
something the season's plays reference indirectly, without the audience
necessarily realizing it (e.g. Wicked being about the vilification of
the Other, Into the Woods being about AIDS, etc.). Our collective task is to decide on the
scale and mission of our hypothetical theatre company; to define what we mean
by our season's theme; and to select a full season of plays, representing a
balance of genre, tone, and company size, etc., appropriate to the theatre
company's audience and community.
The company's Artistic Director has
already decided that ONE OF THE PLAYS WILL BE BY SHAKESPEARE or one of his
contemporaries. During the first
part of the semester, we will devise a system for reading, discussing, and
selecting the five plays of the season, to be drawn from a list of appropriate
plays we collectively research and compile. It is likely that the process will
initially involve individuals giving initial reports, with a recommendation
about whether another individual, or the entire class, should read the
play. (I only ask that, in the
initial stages, individuals report on plays THAT THEY HAVE NOT READ BEFORE; if
you know a script that you think the group and the class should consider, that
play should initially be reported on by someone ELSE.)
As we select the plays, we will
schedule individual and group dramaturgical projects for some or all of the
plays in the season. These might
include:
Researching period contexts,
historical and political details, etc.
Preparing visual materials for the
director, designers, and cast.
For the Shakespeare play: recommending period settings
(historical, Elizabethan, contemporary, some other period, eclectic), preparing
doubling schemes, cutting the text, etc.
(We will be assisted by readings from Andrew James Hartley, The
Shakespearean Dramaturg).
If we choose to cast the season from
a resident company of actors, devising cross-casting between the five plays of
the season.
IV. New Play Dramaturgy.
Special guest (date to be
announced): Edward Sobel, former
Director of New Play Development, Steppenwolf Theatre, Chicago, and dramaturg
for the original productions of both August: Osage County and Superior Donuts
at Steppenwolf and on Broadway; currently Associate Professor of Theatre at
Temple University. Until recently
he was Associate Artistic Director of the Arden Theatre, where he directed Superior
Donuts, Clybourne Park, and Endgame, and created The Writers'
Room. (Sobel is a Penn alumnus and
Theatre Arts minor, class of 1987).
V. Required Theatregoing: TO BE DETERMINED.
VI. The final writing assignment.
At the end of the semester (at a
date to be announced) we will, individually or collectively, prepare a set of
written and visual materials for THE ENTIRE SEASON, including some or all of
the following: a) a program note
about the playwrights; b) a program note about the plays and the (hypothetical)
productions; c) a packet of materials for a program insert or a subscriber
bulletin; d) a packet of materials to be sent to the press; e) a packet of
materials to be sent to school groups; f) visual displays for the theatre
lobby; g) on-line blogs, articles, visual materials, etc. Our particular challenge will be to
support the theme of the season, even if we don't necessarily want the audience
to notice that the season has that particular theme.
Materials should be posted on the
website for comment, and presented in the final class.
Attendance and
participation are mandatory.
Persistent unexcused absences, especially an absence on a day of an
individual or team presentation, will be reflected in your semester grade. If your absences of unpreparedness
jeopardize another student's work, you will be asked to drop the class.