The Shakespearean Dramaturg

Transcription

1 The Shakespearean Dramaturg

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3 The Shakespearean Dramaturg ATheoretical and Practical Guide By Andrew James Hartley

4 THE SHAKESPEAREAN DRAMATURG Andrew James Hartley, Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. First published in 2005 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y and Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England RG21 6XS Companies and representatives throughout the world. PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN ISBN (ebook) DOI / Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available from the Library of Congress. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: November

5 To Mum, Dad, Finie, Sebastian, and the Georgia Shakespeare Festival

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7 Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgments ix xi Introduction: The Shakespeare Police 1 Part I Principles 9 Section I The Shakespearean Dramaturg: A Job Description 15 Section II Dramaturgical Issues: The Theory 29 1 Theatrical Collaboration and the Construction of Meaning 31 2 The Text/Performance Relationship 35 3 Adaptation and Authenticity 43 4 As It Was Originally Done : The Logic Behind Historical Reconstruction 46 5 The Nature and Use-Value of History 51 6 Ambiguity and Polyvocality in the Plays 56 7 Authorship, Authority, and Authorization 59 8 Different Languages 65 9 Why Stage Shakespeare? 70 Part II Practice 73 Section III Before Rehearsals Preliminaries, Casting, and Directorial Vision Thinking About Script Preparing the Script Script-Editing Examples 115 Section IV During Rehearsals Degree and Nature of Involvement Tools of the Trade and Research Packets Knowing Your Audience: Talking to Directors, Talking to Actors 160

8 viii Contents 17 The Dramaturg in Rehearsal: A Temporal Breakdown 165 Section V Opening and Beyond Writing for the Audience (Synopses and Program Notes) Program Essay Examples Talking to the Audience The Dramaturg as Advocate Evaluating and Sharing your Experience 212 Notes 215 Works Cited 227 Further Reading 230 Index 232

9 List of Illustrations 10.1 A Midsummer Night s Dream. GSF 2000, Dir. Garner: Mark Kincaid (Oberon), Saxon Palmer (Puck), Janice Akers (Titania), and Thalia Bauldin (First Fairy). Photo: Kim Kenney The Winter s Tale. GSF 2001, Dir. Garner: Rob Cleveland (Polixenes), Anthony Irons (Florized), Allen O Reilly (Leontes), Tim McDonough (Camillo), Janice Akers (Paulina), Carolyn Cook (Hermione), and Jessica Andary (Perdita). Photo: Rob Dillard The Taming of the Shrew. GSF 2002, Dir. Garner: Gabra Zackman (Kate) and Saxon Palmer (Petruchio). Photo: Tom Meyer Twelfth Night. GSF 2000, Dir. Epstein: Bruce Evers (Sir Toby Belch), Chris Kayser (Sir Andrew Aguecheek). Photo: Georgia Shakespeare Staff Comedy of Errors. GSF 1999, Dir. Epstein: Jonathan Davis (Dromio), Peter Ganim (Antipholus), Chris Kayser (Dromio), and Linda Stephens (Balthasar). Photo: Georgia Shakespeare Staff Macbeth. GSF 2004, Dir. Fracher: Sherman Fracher (witch), Marni Penning (Lady Macbeth), Daniel May (Macbeth), Alison Hastings (witch), and Bruce Evers (witch). Photo: Bill DeLoach Julius Caesar. GSF 2001, Dir. Dillon: Theresa DeBerry (Calpurnia), Brik Berkes (Decius Brutus), Bruce Evers (Julius Caesar). Photo: Rob Dillard 168

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11 Acknowledgments This is a book about collaboration. Not surprisingly, it could not exist without the work of a great many people who have influenced my sense of academia, the theatre, and dramaturgy in particular over the years. I would first like to offer special thanks to those who have helped me work on the manuscript itself: James Bulman, who first said it was worth writing; Jeremy Lopez, who read the book as I was drafting it; Amlin Gray and Cary Mazer, who supplied invaluably detailed notes; Elizabeth Hetzel, who proof-read it; Stacey Colosa Lucas, for help with the pictures. For less direct but equally valuable support over the years, I would like to thank James Siemon and William Carroll, who supported my first forays into the staging of Renaissance drama, and to all who worked with me in Willing Suspension Productions, particularly Kirk Melnikoff, Mike Walker, Jonathon Mulrooney, Lauren Kehoe, Peter Lurie, Sarah Lyons, Jill Orofino, Michael Arner, and Michael Hamburger. My sense of dramaturgy in the professional theatre comes largely from my work with the Georgia Shakespeare Festival and I owe a special debt of gratitude to the gifted actors, designers, directors, production staff, and patrons with whom I have been privileged to collaborate in the last eight years, particularly Bruce Evers, Chris Kayser, John Ammerman, Allen O Reilly, Hudson Adams, Carolyn Cook, Saxon Palmer, Joe Knezevich, Damon Bogges, Margo Kuhne, Kathleen McManus, Janice Akers, Tim McDonough, Courtney Patterson, Rob Cleveland, Park Krausen, Bradley Sherrill, Jonathan Davis, Daniel May, Tara Ochs, Chris Ensweiler, Tim and Kat Conley, Charlie Caldwell, John Dillon, Nancy Keystone, Drew Fracher, and especially Sabin Epstein. It has been an honor to work with you all. A special acknowledgment is owed to Richard Garner, GSF s producing artistic director, the source of its extraordinarily familial energy, and a dramaturg s director. I would also like to thank my former colleagues, staff and students at the University of West Georgia for their support over the years, particularly Kimily Willingham, Jane Hill, Michael and Lisa Crafton, David Newton, Rob Snyder, Randy Hendricks, and Debra MacComb. Finally, a special thank you to my wife for her support during the writing of this book and more importantly during the productions whose rehearsal periods provide the book s impetus and evidence, and to my parents who first instilled in me a love of the theatre.