My approach to dramaturgy is rooted in my passion for socio-cultural anthropology, history, philosophy, and primary-source journalism. I believe that each world being created onstage has its own set of rules, regulations, and specificities that a team must abide by, and it is my job to locate those caveats and supplement the team with information that expands the world created in the script into something beyond just recreation. The way to do that is with diligent historical resource skills and an ability to see both the “big picture” and the most minute, tiny little details. I am blessed with the ability to constantly notice both, and I am working on sharpening that ability with each new project I take on, or each new skill I develop.
Ride the Cyclone by Jacob Richmond & Brooke Maxwell
Chronicles of the Kalidescope Visitors by Omer Abbas Salem
Gangsters! (adapted from The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui) by Zach Helm
I search public history records, articles, publications, newspapers, and photographs for details to supplement the small planets we work together to create onstage. I also tie the show back to the audience, through audience engagement and civic dramaturgy tools. I always want the audience to be thinking about what they just saw, and how it relates to their life today. Theater can be an incredibly powerful tool for activism, but to use it in the right way, one must asses how the audience will react to the material they’re being shown, and allow space from perspectives that are as different as the people that roam upon this earth.
Ultimately, I want my dramaturgy to reflect creativity, flexibility, and a commitment to public history and nuanced socio-cultural perspectives. I believe theater should encourage audiences to feel, and then learn from that feeling, taking what they learned within four walls out into a world where things aren’t always as clear as they may seem onstage.