This is my third and final dramaturgy project at IUP and I'm really excited to begin. I fell into dramaturgy on a whim and had to learn at lot on my own. There isn't a class that covers how to be a dramturge or even a paragraph in the Practicum Handbook that explains what I'm expected to do. I've had to rely on conversations with the directors I've worked with. Now, with two shows as a dramaturge under my belt, I finally have my own ideas about what I want my role to be and what kinds of questions I should ask Jason, the director, to find out what he expects of me. There's still some degree of making it up as I go but I'm feeling much more confident this time around and excited to start working.
My first task was to prepare a handout for the cast for their first read through of the show and their preliminary character development over winter break. This was something I hadn't done for the two previous productions I worked on so it was a challenge but something I really wanted to do. The goal: provide the actors with enough reliable information to begin their research without overwhelming them with so much information they didn't give up before they started. I had to find a balance: What was interesting about the time period that would make them excited to learn about it? What were somethings they might not know, or might believe the wrong things about, that would be important for understanding their characters or the plot? Where's the line between my own nerdiness and desire to explain everything and what the actor's will actually care about and take the time to read? Also, with a cast of characters with different backgrounds, how much detail can I go into about each? In short, what's too much information, and what's not enough?
I decided to go with a brief explanation of the culture and religious practices of the Puritans. They are so different both from modern culture, and in some ways, from the way most people think about them. When I learned about the Puritans in depth, I found that I had a lot of misconceptions about them that I wanted to help the cast move past as well.
Next I wanted to provide the cast with some resources to begin their research. For this part, I knew there'd probably be a range in how much research the cast was willing to do and I wanted to carter to this variation. if they were only going to put forth minimal effort (hopefully my packet got them interested enough in the subject to do more!) at least they'd have some accurate, accessible sources to rely on (and again, hopefully increase their interest to dig deeper!). I looked up documentaries, web sites, and books. I was careful to make sure I shared the most easily accessible sources I could find. I used Netflix to locate documentaries available to watch online, and IUP's library catalogue to find books. In the end, I was happy with the result and hopefully the cast will find the information I gave them useful.
