Dramaturgy is the process of research into a play to inform how you will choose to interpret it for performance. You need to do dramaturgy to help you come up with, and justify, your directing concept.
That research might look into any or all of the following:
initial 'script detective work' to analysis ALL the information provided by the playwright
further 'external' research into the setting and context of the play as well as...
the context of when the play was written.
the intended meaning of the play.
the background of the playwright.
previous productions of the play and the choices made by those practitioners.
the theatre styles evident the play, or used in various productions of the play.
Dramaturgical research can also be practical, and take place throughout the production process. A director may explore a concept or theme in rehearsal through improvisation or devising activities as a way of further understanding the play.
As you can see from the videos below, sometimes the research of the dramaturge is highly practical - how did a particular prop function in the time period it was originally used, and therefore how will this need to be represented onstage?
Next term you will be staging a script. This Dramaturgy Activity is to help you practice the skills you will be using in order to analyse your script and decide on your overall directing concept.
The directing concept is the 'big picture' decisions the director makes about their interpretation of the script, for example:
Will the interpretation stick with the original setting of the play or change it?
What themes or intending meanings do we want to communicate to the audience?
What style do we want the play to have? Realism? Symbolism? Minimalism?
What aesthetic influences will we draw on for the look and feel of the play?
Dramaturgy will help answer these questions and it involves:
Close reading and analysis of the script
Further research into everything and anything we need to know more about in order to make informed, justified, creative choices.
IN YOUR GROUP
You will be provided with a short script excerpt and synopsis.
Read the script together and do you 'script detective work' to complete the worksheet you've been given.
Use this information to come up with a broad directing concept about the type of experience the audience will have at this performance.
The director then works closely with the production team to define the remaining elements of the production - lighting, sound, set and costume.
Each of these elements serve an important function, as they convey further information to the audience about atmosphere, themes and character. The style of the production may be very realistic or it may be more minimalistic or symbolic.
Consider and discuss these two very different interpretations of The Tempest by William Shakespeare, which takes place on a magical island but also features a famous storm/shipwreck.
IN YOUR GROUP
Now re-read your scene, doing script detective work again to unpack what information has been provided for each of the design elements.
Afterwards, consider what you do and don't know about the job of these designers. What skills do they use? What design elements and principles do they manipulate?