Apologies for the length of this: dramaturgical work will be new to many of you, and it
has a lot of moving parts, so I’ve tried to provide detailed instructions. We’ll touch on the
prompt in class, when you can ask questions, or feel free to see me during office hours.
The second formal project allows you to work on any of the plays covered since the last
assignment: Photograph 51, Informed Consent, Einstein’s Dreams, or Louis Slotin
Sonata. All these plays include some non-naturalistic elements – varying between
choruses, dream sequences, direct address to the audience, choreographed
movement, unconventional frameworks of chronology and space, among other
techniques -- to create a particular dramatic world. Such plays are typically considered
rich with possibilities for inventive staging. If you want to try something well outside
conventional staging, you’re welcome to preview the 21-minute video, “Working in
Immersive Theatre” linked in the Canvas module for the Blended Learning assigned
reading of Einstein’s Dreams. (See note below)
Students have the option of working solo or of completing the assignment as a group
(no more than three members for logistical reasons). If you choose to work in a group,
the expectation is that each member does work equivalent to a student working alone.
The simplest way to do this is to each select a prompt and then compile your work.
Note on Einstein’s Dreams: As this is a work of fiction rather than a play, students
selecting it should first do a bit of research on the theatrical versions that have been
produced (look for videos and reviews of performances). The “text” of your play will be
the Prologue and the (at least) two vignettes you select from the book. While you can do
conventional dramaturgical work on your text, it’s worth considering – given the nature
of the content – mounting an “immersive theatre” production. If you do so, you should
watch the recommended video (in Canvas for the Blended Learning day following Oct.
27). Any play you select could be made a work of immersive theatre, so this option isn’t
restricted to Einstein’s Dreams.
Prompt
Plays that incorporate post-newtonian science face unique challenges in convey
scientific themes, owing to the complex and often invisible forces at work in increasingly
strange realms (for example, genetics, atomic chemistry, and relativistic physics). While
playwrights are often up to the task of delivering the plot and dialogue in a convincing
manner, it remains for a theatrical production team to devise a ‘dramaturgy’ capable of
expressing both the scientific content and the play’s main themes.
“Dramaturgy” generally means the art or technique of dramatic and theatrical
representation; in other words, how a play is composed, first in words and then in
physical, embodied form. So, a ‘dramaturg’ (the individual or team assigned to help
prepare a production) must first thoroughly understand how a play has been written – its
structure, characters, plot, and themes – but must also provide ideas for how the play
can be directed, designed physically, and acted to make the text come alive in
performance.
Dramaturgy is mostly “pre-production,” and involves preparing research to help the
actual production team – the director, designers, actors, and (sometimes) an outreach
team involved in audience curation – present an integrated and powerful live
performance for a targeted audience. (See the brief documents in the Canvas module
Additional Materials entitled “Production Elements” and “Production Elements of Design
in Dramatic Compositions.”)
Science plays offer unique challenges to dramaturgs since most theatre artists aren’t
trained as scientists and might be expected to struggle with the scientific concepts in a
play. Moreover, the dramaturg is expected to make the connections between the
sciences being portrayed and the key structural elements, characters, and themes of
the play and communicate these to the production team. Fortunately, there are students
from ILS 254 to call upon to help!
For your project, select one of the plays for which you’d like to play a role on the
dramaturgical team. Your goal is to convey to a production team how scientific ideas are
operating in the play and how these can inform elements of a production. As theatre
artists are often “visual thinkers,” the format for your presentation will feature some
combination of images, video, sound, and text (so think about using Powerpoint/Google
Slides/Keynote; iMovie; Prezi; Canva; Wordpress or Wix websites; Squarespace blogs
or V-Logs; or similar multimedia platforms). You can find guidelines for making effective
presentations on the UW Design Lab website (https://designlab.wisc.edu/), and they
offer free consultations on digital assignments, online or in-person. I’d advise working
with on a platform you’re familiar with, rather than trying to learn a new one. Also, these
formats are sometimes troublesome to submit through Canvas, so I suggest you link
them to a cloud site or website and submit the link.
Typically, dramaturgs construct an entire “book” of research that includes preproduction research for the director, design suggestions, exercises for actors to engage
in, and plans for audience curation and marketing. You’ll only need to focus on one of
these elements from the suggestions below (or more if you’re working as a group: see
above). The audience for your project is the imaginary production team, who will use
your research and ideas to develop the actual production. This comprises the
director(s); designers (costume, set, sound, movement, lighting, digital and/or SFX
effects); the performers; and the outreach team. Be very conscious of your audience of
non-scientists and prepare your materials accordingly (e.g. you aren’t addressing me,
the course instructor, but the production team).
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Determine whether a play makes use of a strong performance metaphor taken
from the sciences or scientists it depicts (like force vive in Emilie…). Then
prepare a presentation for the production team in which you describe the
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metaphor, point to its use in the written text, and then make suggestions for how
it might be conveyed through any one or two elements of production.
Prepare a presentation that conveys to a director the key scientific ideas of the
play. Suggest ways that the scientific concepts might connect to particular
themes in the play by pointing to specific plot developments, actions, dialogue,
and characters.
Prepare a presentation that conveys to a designer the key scientific ideas of the
play. Provide inspiration and ideas for how the science can be incorporated into
the design. Note: You should specify which element of design you’re addressing
from among set design; costume design; lighting design/digital effects;
movement design/choreography.
Prepare notes and a playlist that would guide a sound designer to explore the
scientific concepts of the play. These should include relevant sound effects
where needed and background music for specific and significant moments in the
play.
Prepare a presentation that conveys to actors the key scientific ideas of the play.
Suggest exercises (for voice, movement, focus, etc.) they might use in rehearsal
to embody these concepts so that when their dialogue includes talking and acting
like (or to) a scientist, they can be authentic and convincing. Or, find a video clip
from an existing performance or trailer and respond with ‘actor’s notes’ critiquing
an actor’s delivery and suggesting ways to better express the science or the
character. [Note: not all these plays will yield video results].
Prepare a presentation that would help an outreach team set up surround events
for the production. Given the sciences depicted and the main themes of the play,
what resources from UW-Madison might be called upon to interest spectators to
attend? Some examples might include a display for the entrance/foyer to the
theatre that highlights the science and main themes of the play; pre- and postshow talkbacks featuring appropriate UW faculty and/or staff/students; visits to
local schools to present an overview of the show; etc.
o If you choose to do an immersive performance, the presentation could
offer selected sites (and rationales for them) where the production could
be mounted (e.g. science labs, libraries, abandoned building on campus
or elsewhere, etc.).