Dramaturgy

Louisiana State University undergrad Alexander Adams writes about discovering dramaturgy at a school without a concentration in the field. 

Early Career Dramaturg Amanda Boyle reflects on the lessons she learned at the 2015 Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA) conference in New York City.

Waylon Lenk considers how the University of Oregon and Southern Oregon University are doing Native theatre and compares their models to his approach to organizing a reading series by Native authors at Oregon State University.

Martha Steketee on solo performance and Dael Orlandersmith’s one-woman show, Forever.

Dramaturg Philippa Kelly considers new interpretations of Ophelia.

The author ruminates on two plays that recently concluded Off Broadway runs and their early development at the O’Neill Playwrights Conference. 

Commons producer Jonathan Norton chats with Anne Bothwell about Stagger Lee: Making a Musical, a digital storytelling project tracking the development of Will Power’s new musical.

Lia Romeo explains the advantages of being a playwright working in literary management, and how her job has improved her writing and other important skills.

Martha Steketee explores the development and evolution of I'm Gonna Pray for You So Hard with playwright Halley Feiffer. The play spans five years and two opening nights, features substance abuse, plenty of familial debate, and one attempt at reconciliation.

Martha Steketee looks at The Players, an 125-year-old club for actors and those that love them, and spends some time with all its history and archives.

3Christs is an adaptation of a study about therapeutic experiments with three men who believed they were Jesus Christ at Ypsilanti State Hospital in the 1960s. Performed in Judson Memorial Church, 3Christs exemplifies the essence of Peculiar Works Project.

Most productions are not developmental for the script and that usually means the text being used is effectively final. As is often the case, the playwright is usually not in the room, and so they have no say in the changes being made to their script. As a supporter of playwrights’ rights, I often feel that I must become the de facto voice of the writer, to protect the integrity of their text.

Martha Steketee writes about the logistics and process of the OOB Festival, including quotes from an interview with the team behind it.

When we teach, how do we discuss something truly important? Specifically, how could I talk about the murder of an unarmed black man the same age as my students? What is taught in the not teaching? What is not covered in a course? When we omit difficult conversations or troubling current events, what does that teach students about what is important, worthy of attention, urgent?

Influenced by Greek tragedies, Andy Boyd sheds insight into the complexities of writing contemporary dramas.

P. Carl interviews playwright Sarah Ruhl on her collection of short essays titled "100 Essays I Don't Have Time to Write: On Umbrellas and Sword Fights, Parades and Dogs, Fire Alarms, Children, and Theater." 

The book as a whole is a deeply moving, authentic, and relatable piece of writing. It begins by relating "The Panza Monologues" authors’ personal and social history, and then shifts gears into practical application, even including a DIY (do it yourself) production manual. "The Panza Monologues" illustrate the inherent value of theater and performance of and from a specific community and culture.

As someone who lives and works with fifteen other young professionals, I know that brilliant conversations are being had on both sides of the generational line—but the fact remains that there is a very definite line. It’s one that I notice beyond conference sessions.

We are building a shared vocabulary that may not ever fit into a dictionary or any static form, but will give us a foundation to work toward into the future. The playwrights and artistic directors, the artists, both established and emerging, all gathered at Tarragon Theatre not to shut out the harsh reality of making work in this day and age, but to huddle together and collaborate on what’s working and solutions to what’s not.

Martha Steketee interviews dramaturg Jill Rafson about the process of developing The Mysteries, described as “48 playwrights and 54 actors retelling the entirety of the Bible in a single night.”