Amy is the NYC regional vice president for the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas. Interests include devised theatre, site-specific theatre, theatre for young audiences, dance theatre, and community-based theatre.
Sent to Amy
Jensen
My name is Amber Cummings and I am
studying dramaturgy, at Utah Valley University. I have an assignment to find a
professional dramaturg and ask them about five question I feel would be
important to my work as an up and coming dramaturg.
I have been doing some research on whom to talk and I came across your pages and blog, and I think you may have some very valuable information to help me through my journey. I would very much like to email you a few questions and just have you help enlighten the process. If this is at all possible please send me an email back.
I have been doing some research on whom to talk and I came across your pages and blog, and I think you may have some very valuable information to help me through my journey. I would very much like to email you a few questions and just have you help enlighten the process. If this is at all possible please send me an email back.
The questions I have for you are easy to answer they are simply
about your process as a dramatrug:
1. After reading the script how did you decide where to start
your research?
2. Did you come up with a process that you used for every
script?
3. How did you interact with director, actors and designers?
4. What was your job during the rehearsal process?
5. What would be the one piece of advice you would give to
someone, like me, looking to be a professional dramatrug?
Thank you again,
Amber N. Cummings
to:
Amber
Hello Amber,
1. After reading
the script how did you decide where to start your research?
The type and amount
of research I do varies with each production. In early discussions with the
director, I try to discuss if there are any particular areas that she or he
would like me to work on, either for the production team or for the cast. To
prepare for this discussion, I like to already have read the script and do
enough background research on the playwright and the piece to have a list of
areas that I anticipate being important. Then, in discussion, I may find that
some of these areas correspond to what the director is interested in pursuing
and I can bring them up to discuss with the director.
Research can
also take a few different shapes, and that also can be a factor in determining
what to research. For most projects, I have created several actors’ packets, and
often gather written materials to have on hand in rehearsal. Many dramaturgs
now choose to put their research online via a a blog and invite actors to
comment. This is nice in that people can easily link to videos and images, etc.
Some dramaturgs have created image boards for productions. Often visual
research can have a great impact on a piece. At least twice I have put together
field trips for actors in which they go visit someone who has expertise in the
field they are representing; for example, a protagonist and her lover were
astrophysicists and we were able to meet with an astrophysicist at a
planetarium, have a star sho and talk about the life of an astrophysicist.
Although the format should not dictate what research you do, sometimes keeping
in mind the various ways it can be shared helps spur ideas
and questions.
Much of the
research comes from the script itself: references, context, and pronunciation.
Sometimes this is done for you; sometimes it is not. If the play has been
edited and changed over the years, frequently research will include seeing what
was changed and analyzing what differences those changes made to the script,
etc. If a play has been translated and the director is choosing a translation,
sometimes the dramaturg may be involved in doing research on the translations.
Additional
research usually includes the playwright’s life (major influences, similar
themes or the progression of _____ elements in the playwright’s work), and
notable past productions. Some directors want to hear about this; others don’t.
Still, it is a good idea to be aware of it yourself.
There are
several books and articles that I will suggest reading. Dramaturgy in American
Theatre: a Sourcebook is a great resource and several articles will answer your
question in different ways. If you look at Cary Mazer’s article, he uses a
particular play and the research done on that piece that influenced the
production that is quite intriguing. I like Travis Preston and Royston
Coppenger’s article on how they work together in the overall process. Another
great article is Elinor Fuch’s “EF’s Visit to a Small planet: Some Questions to
Ask a Play,” in Theatre: 34:2. She asks a lot of great questions that could be
used in doing research on a piece. I can’t say that I’ve fully answered all of
the questions she asks when working on a piece, but they can be very
illuminating.
2. Did you come up with a process that you used
for every script?
Because each
production is different, I do not follow a set process in conducting research.
I do try to hit the main points, as noted above. However several dramaturgs
have written about their process: Between the Lines: the Process of Dramaturgy
by Judith Rudakoff and Lynn M. Thomson, Geoff Prohel’s Towards a Dramaturgical
Sensibility, The Process of Dramaturgy: a Handbook by Scott R. Irelan, Anne
Fletcher, and Julie Felise Dubiner, and Michael Mark Chemers’ Ghost Light: an
Introductory Handbook for Dramaturgy. For articles on play analysis, I also
suggest “Dramaturgy in the Classroom” by Carey Mazer and “Teaching Play
Analysis” by Shelley Orr.
3. How did you interact with director, actors
and designers?
This varies for
each production and each director, particularly depending on how early in the
process you have been brought on. This question can be read to either be very
general (how does one) or personal (how do I, Amy, work with directors, etc.).
I’ll try to give a bit of both responses.
You did not ask,
but if it is a new piece, collaboration with the playwright is extremely
important. If at all possible, I like to talk with the playwright before
rehearsals in order to learn what the playwright’s impetus was in writing the
piece, and learn more about where they feel it is in the writing process. These
are basic questions, but they can be key in helping you understand the spine
and trajectory of the piece, as well as how to talk with the playwright. If she
or he is not interested in rewriting, the collaboration will differ than, say,
if she or he feels that a certain scene or character, etc. still needs work and
would like you to give feedback on that specifically.
I find these
questions are particularly key in setting up that you are a collaborator
focused on the interests of the playwright(s). In working with new playwrights
or playwrights who have never worked with a dramaturg, they can be somewhat
hesitant or unsure of how to work together. This hesitancy can come from
inexperience, but it can also be based on bad experiences or a negative
perception of dramaturgs. Why? There are several concerns, first being that the
presence of a dramaturg implies that something is wrong with the script and
that changes have to be made. Good dramaturgs don’t work with that assumption,
but because a dramaturg is often assigned to the play by the theatre and not by
the playwright, those tensions can exist. There are also other concerns: will a
dramaturg force a playwright to make changes in order for it to be easier to
produce; will a dramaturg try to start trying to make it reflect her or his own
interests rather than the playwright’s? The lis
t continues.
Unfortunately, there are dramaturgs who imply that they rate how effective
their collaboration was by many changes they got the playwright to make, and
there are dramaturgs who go on power trips. That, however, is not good
collaboration. By asking good questions and really pursuing the intentions of
the playwright(s), I’ve developed good relationships with playwrights.
A challenge,
even in good collaborations, is keeping communication very open in terms of
what the playwright and dramaturg understand the dramaturg will be doing on the
piece. There have been projects in which a dramaturg contributes text. I
contributed text for two productions in which there was not a central
playwright. I enjoyed writing, but because I didn’t have a conversation about
how that changed/affected my role in the collaboration, in one production I
ended up on getting any credit for contributing text. Lynn Thomson was the
dramaturg for Rent, and although she said she and Jonathan Larson had discussed
that she would be compensated for contributing text to the piece, he passed
away very suddenly and nothing was in writing. She appealed for compensation;
his family/estate refused. She took them to court. Eventually they settled out
of court. It was a divisive case; some chose to see it as dramaturgs trying to
claim authorship and became suspicious of dramaturgs. On t
he other hand,
major playwrights, like Tony Kushner, spoke on the case about how important the
work of a dramaturg had been to his work.
I have had
directors who have chosen to work closely with me, asking me to attend most of
the rehearsals and frequently discussing the direction the play was going. For
other pieces, I have been in rehearsal less frequently, attending run-throughs
or other key meetings and rehearsals. Your relationship with the director is
probably influenced by his or her past experience with dramaturgs. Face-to-face
interaction with a director at the start of the process is particularly key for
initial conversations. It’s important for a dramaturg to understand the
director’s impetus in working on this piece and her or his trajectory for it,
the type of journey she or he is planning.
Just as
playwrights and dramaturgs have had their issues, dramaturgs and directors have
as well. Some directors have publicly stated that they see no need for the
position of a dramaturg. Again, because
a dramaturg is often assigned to the play by the theatre, by and large a
director is working with the dramaturg for a first time and the match may or
may not work well in terms of temperament and work styles. Ultimately it means
that a dramaturg has to learn to be a savvy but open and good communicator and
collaborator.
With experience
I have learned (and continue to learn) to gage what I communicate, when, and to
whom. When I read about learning when to give a comment, I thought it was
primarily a matter of reading people and when they would be open to receiving
that note. It’s much more than that; it has more to do with the development of
the play. There are times when you develop the sense that a note, even if a
good note, is either no longer applies because of where the piece is going, or
it may be better to give at another time. I have found that if I give the same
note to a director or playwright twice, odds are that it either does not make
sense and I should clarify it, or does not resonate to the director or actor
and I should stop pursuing it. Because rehearsals are usually at night and
people need to leave after they finish, I often have to type up my notes.
Sometimes I can give them in person, which I prefer, but that does not always
possible.
In terms of the
cast: I often talk with the director to find out how she/he likes the dramaturg
to interact with the cast. Some directors have a very open rehearsal room and
would like you to join in the conversation if an idea comes up. Other directors
would prefer for you to write a note and often email them after rehearsal
(talking to the director about your note would be nice, but time usually does
not permit that). It’s good to ask before you begin. Often I create an actors’
packet ask the director if she/he would like me to discuss key dramaturgical
elements on the first day of rehearsal, along with other designers. As I wrote
about earlier, other interactions with the actors can take place in field
trips, in answering questions, on blogs, etc.
When working in
theatres, I found that the designers often had completed their work on the
piece by the time I met them, or they are brought on close to the end of the
piece and there is, again, little interaction. However, I worked on one piece
in which the designers were frequently in the room and were asking fantastic
dramaturgical questions and/or had great dramaturgical solutions. Good
designers work dramaturgically, even if they don’t know it. In fact, I spoke
with one opera dramaturg who related that there can be a tension between
dramaturgs and designers because the designer’s concepts often set the
dramaturgy of the piece in a very real way.
4. What was your
job during the rehearsal process?
Not to be
redundant, but this again varies. In some rehearsal processes I have done
primarily research. In others, I have been in close dialogue with the director.
Sometimes I have been at rehearsal every day, and for others I have come in
once a week, at run-throughs. Often when the piece is being introduced to the
cast, the dramaturg will be asked to talk to the cast at that point, perhaps go
over key concepts and let the cast know how to access your research, either
distributing actors’ packets or giving the blog address, etc. Almost all dramaturgs attend run-throughs in order to
see how the piece is working overall, how the pieces are all working together
(or not). If you have other questions about this, please feel free to ask.
5. What would be
the one piece of advice you would give to someone, like me, looking to be a
professional dramaturg?
Dramaturgy is a
fundamental component in the process of making theatre; however, as a position,
it is fairly niche and, by and large, does not have high compensation or
stability. Not all theatres have a staffed position for a dramaturg, and few
positions open each year. Working as a dramaturg requires not only all of the
skills to do the work itself, but a lot of ingenuity, work, determination,
networking, people skills, curiosity, openness, and optimism. Anne Cattaneo,
who works at Lincoln Center, said that you work with your friends. I have found
that to be true and means a few different things. First, you need to find out
who your friends are, who makes the kind of work that you want to make, what
companies or theatres you love. There is a general understanding that you have
to be friendly, i.e. a good communicator that people can trust both
artistically and personally. But friendship is also based on personalities,
interests, and needs and I’ve had to recognize that I am
not the
Dramaturg for All Seasons or all directors or all theatres. It’s important to
actively and genuinely be curious and engaged, to ask questions that genuinely
interest you, and find people who find your questions, curiosities, loves of
interest to them. You find these people in a variety of ways. Internships and
informational interviews are a great place to start. I once interviewed a
playwright who, based on our interaction, my interest, and his need to fill a
position for a festival he was working on, I was asked to participate.
Attending festivals is important, particularly in order to get to know which playwrights
are being produced where; reading plays and having pieces you’d love to
do/champion is really important (I think I did not get an internship because I
didn’t have enough examples of plays I loved); and seeing theatre is
fundamental to the job.
That said,
frequently it means a dramaturg will work in another capacity within the
theatre or academia (a director, a literary manager, a producer, an outreach
director, a professor) or another job. I know of only one freelancer who lives
solely off of what she makes freelancing, and I admire her tenacity and skill.
I’m currently freelancing and have a job that is not in theatre, and it can be
a challenge maintaining the focus and balance I really want to have.
At this stage, I
would suggest being involved in productions at your school. Even if you are in
a role other than dramaturg, it is important to understand the process of
making work. I would also suggest asking if you can shadow Elizabeth Williamson
for a period of time on a show. She may not have time (she is incredibly busy
working on several project), but if now is not a good time, she may later on. I
also suggest becoming a member of LMDA and, if possible, attending their
conference. It’s the best way to meet the most dramaturges you will ever meet
at one time, and people are very personable and willing to give advice and
suggestions. LMDA has a small scholarship for early career dramaturgs to help
with travel costs and sometimes your university might have professionalization
funds students for which students can apply.
