Dramaturgy Diaries: What's Sloan Thinkin' About?

As a dramaturg, my job on the most basic level is to stay curious. Below you will find the questions I'm currently musing over updated weekly. I may never know the answer to these questions, but I believe they're worth asking. I encourage you to ask your own big questions. Stay curious.

Where do we stick to the choices made in the original Broadway production, and where do we depart? Why?

When does a character's reality give way for a comedic moment? Or, how and when do we value theatricality over the "reality" of a characters' humanity?

In what way is Dot's journey to concentration similar or dissimilar to George's journey to connection?

Who are these characters most themselves around? Who are they when they're alone and have no one to impress or for whom to posture?

What does it mean that George's listing of the elements of good art do not remain consistent?

How do adult children and their interactions with adult parents affect our understanding of children's function in the play?

In what ways are Old Lady and George changing throughout the musical? Does Old Lady change?

Where do we insert magic, leave magic, remove magic?

When do the characters lead the music or the music lead the characters? Why?

Where the play leaves a gap in logic, are we meant to fill it in with history?

What is it important for an audience to know to enjoy the play? What does it mean to understand this play?

What is necessary for an audience to know?

What does it mean to appreciate art? How is that different from understanding, relating to, or being impacted by it?

What repetitions are necessary to highlight?

How does the relationship of "falling in and out of love" with a piece of art change how we tackle it?

The Archives

It is also my honor and duty to enter this production and its process into the archives. While most of this website already serves this purpose, there are some things which were released to the public in other ways that I have chosen to catalogue here as ephemera, well after the show has closed.