So… what is a dramaturg?

What is this thing called “dramaturgy”? How does one do it? Those of us who self-describe as dramaturgs are used to puzzled looks when we drop the d-word.

Dramawhat? (pause) Ah… Dramaturg…(pregnant pause) And what is that exactly?

A researcher? A facilitator? The nerd in the rehearsal room? A co-creator? A guide?  An ideal listener/audience/reader? All of this and so much more.

This blog is a growing archive, a work-in-progress, a playful site for reflection on and exploration of that thing called dramaturgy. It is growing from a seminar entitled Radical Dramaturgies taking place in the Spring of 2016 at the University of California, San Diego and it is our hope that it will continue to grow with each iterations of this seminar.

We are a group of dramaturgs, directors, designers, and scholars who happen to be undergraduate, MFA and PhD students at UCSD and UC Irvine and we propose here an ensemble of resources and creative reflections on theatre, on the ethics and challenges of representation, on the multiple ways in which a dramaturg can support and enrich the creative process, and on real and imagined collaborations. You are invited. We hope you join us. We want this conversation to happen.

 

The Role of The Critic

In Scenes From an Execution, the art critic Rivera stands as an antithesis to the bold, passionate artist Galactia. She is someone who is calculated and intentional in the moves that she makes, and who understands that art can be used as a political tool depending on the interperetaion of it. The following poem was written by the actress in our production who plays Rivera, Serina Estrada.

The Role of a Critic by Serina Estrada

Critics, art, and artists

All coexist

A critic must know

A critic must grow

Grow with the art

And grow with times

They find the divine

And label bad art a crime

They influence history

Although their appearance is a mystery

Their criticism is often tied to theory

Not necessarily cheery

But they get their point across as clearly

As they want.

And their words haunt

Us for for ages

In the pages

Of books that scholars read

Their criticism bleed-s

They criticize from a theoretical perspective

Their opinions reflective

Simultaneously subjective and objective

They can make or break a career

Their influence is at times unfair

And of that they’re quite aware

Their power is a scare

That can ignite fear

In insecure artists

The mere

Mention of failure to the ear

For all their peers

to hear

Far and near

Can have severe

Consequences

Either you are

Or you are not

No time to be distraught

One does not simply throw away their shot

Critics of that century

Only mention you

If it’s meant to be

If they went to see

Your work

If they felt the hot Passion in the art

A good first impression was a good start

But you were only somebody

If they felt it in their heart

Their voices

Defined the choices

Of palaces and people

And they were the first to label

An art era

They’d often compare

New art to old and old to new

They’d declare

Where

Art should go from there

Often not thinking to spare

An artist’s feelings

But what did they care?

Critics and artists

Have an interesting affair

They were and are an odd pair huh

But yeah that’s the role of a critic

And what i have to prepare fa

In playing the role of Rivera

-Compiled by Sofia Zaragoza

Theatre of the Catastrophe

Scenes From An Execution is from a genre called Theatre of the Catastrophe, coined by Howard Barker to describe his works which often explores themes such as sexuality, power, and violence. Theatre of the Catastrophe invites each audience member to stand alone in their interpretation of the characters onstage, and to challenge the popular notion that the audience  is supposed to come to one collective consensus about the meaning of play. The Wrestling School, which is a European based theatre company dedicated to producing Howard Barkers work,  posted the following poem to describe how The Catastrophic Theatre is in response to The Humanist Theatre.

As the dramaturg  for Scenes From an Execution that meant that this play was challenging for me to tackle due to the immense layers of complexities encountered by the individuals and society within the text. Through my research I have found that Theatre of the Catastrophe derails the conventions of what might at first look like a straightforward play, into something more uncertain, unhinged, and multifaceted.

 

-Written by Sofia Zaragoza

 

The Size of the Canvas

Scenes From an Execution revolves around the  painting of  a massive canvas, at least 100 feet long, which seems to grow in importance and size throughout the play. At different times a canvas is mentioned to be 1,000, 2,000, and 3,000 square feet. The following images are used to contextualize the size of the commission being taken on by the artists.

Examples of 100 ft paintings

3,000ft^2 mural

2,000ft^2

Largest Canvas Oil Painting in the World: Doges Palace

2460 ft^2

1,000ft^2

Finding the Dimensions of the Canvas:

100 Feet of Canvas is equivalent to…

2 school buses

A basketball court (it is around 95 feet long, the width is 50 feet)

The length of a blue whale

20 Feet of Canvas is equivalent to…

A training leash for a puppy

A shipping container

10 Feet of Canvas is equivalent to…

The average elephant

A 10 foot ladder

-Written by Sofia Zaragoza

Bodies by Caravaggio

The Conversion of St Paul

Judith Beheading Holofernes c. 1598

Seven Works of Mercy

The Death of the Virgin (detail) 1605-06

The Martyrdom of St. Matthew

The Entombment 1602-03

The Crucifixion of St. Peter, 1600-01

Sacrifice of Isaac (Sacrificio di Isacco)

St. Francis in Ecstasy c. 1595

The Body in Battle

In Scenes From an Execution by Howard Barker, the main event of the play is the execution of a painting depicting the Battle of Lepanto in 16th century Venice. The painting is full of realistic images of human bodies, looking so lifelike that you could touch the anatomy. Below are some examples of paintings from different naval battles that depict realistic bodies painted in war.

The Body in the Renaissance

In Scenes From an Execution by Howard Barker, the main event of the play is the execution of a painting depicting the Battle of Lepanto in 16th century Venice. The painting is full of realistic images of human bodies, looking so lifelike that you could touch the anatomy. Below are some examples of paintings from the Renaissance that depict realistic bodies painted by women.

Lavina Fontana

Judith and her Maidservant

Artemisia Gentileschi

Judith and her Maidservant

 

Oil Painting for the Doge’s Palace

Oil paint on canvas was popularized by European artists in the 16th Century as a more flexible and sustainable use of pigment, as opposed to tempura paint which was commonly used up until that time.

The largest single-canvas oil painting ever publicly commissioned was in 1588 for the Doge’s Palace in Venice. There was a sketching contest among artists in the city to see who could come up with the best composition, and the commission was granted to Tintoretto at the age of 70. He completed the painting on a canvas that was over 2,000 square feet: Paradise. At   74 x 30 feet, the painting  about the size of a tennis court.  It is regarded as his best works, and one of the greatest achievements in Venetian art during his era. The painting still hangs in the Great Council room of the Doges Palace, above the Doge’s throne.

Paradise (1588)
Oil on canvas
Palazzo Ducale, Venice

Photo from the online Web Gallery of Fine Art

-Written by Sofia Zaragoza

 

Female Artists in the Renaissance

Throughout human history women artists have not been as highly acknowledged for their art as men have been. In cultures around the worlds, many art forms considered to be created mainly  by women have been historically dismissed from the art historical canon as craft, and are not regaurded as fine art. Until the 16th century, women artists often encountered difficulties in  finding training, selling and trading their work, and gaining recognition for their art.

The Renaissance was the first time in Western history where a number of secular female artists actually gained international recognition for their work. Since it was still difficult for women to find artistic training, many succesful artists were introduced to fine art as a profession their fathers or husbands. Even so, women were not allowed to study human anatomy or the naked human for for their art.

 

Some female artists during the Renaissance that could have served as inspiration for Galactia include:

Caterina van Hemessen (1528-1587) was a Flemish Renaissance painter, and is best known for having been the first painter to create a self-portrait depicting an artist at their easel. It wasn’t until the 16th century that an artist showed themselves at work within their work, and since then set a precedent which many artists still do today.

Self-Portrait
1548
Oil on panel, 32 x 25 cm
Öffentliche Kunstsammlung, Basel

 

Sofonisba Anguissola (1532-1625) was an Italian Renaissance painter who was known for depicting images of people as they actually lived, not an idealized or posed versions of themselves. Sofonisba was introduced to art by her father who encouraged her more than other men at the time, and her formal art education came from studying with Bernardino Campi and Bernardino Gatti. This was the first time that a precedent was set for women to be accepted as apprentices and students of fine art.

Bernardino Campi Painting Sofonisba Anguissola
c. 1559
Oil on canvas, 111 x 110 cm
Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena

Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1653)  was an Italian Baroque painter, who is widely known for  her progressive ideas about women. She included imagery that focused on solidarity between women, and powerful women in graphic situations that were not seen publicly at that time. Gentileschi was introduced to art thanks to her father, the painter Orazio Gentileschi, and heavily influenced by the Italian painter Caravaggio. As a teenager Gentileschi was raped by a painter, and she responded by turning her art into a weapon of commentary towards the society she lived in.

Judith Beheading Holofernes
1611-12
Oil on canvas, 159 x 126 cm
Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte, Naples

Lavinia Fontana  (1552-1614) was an Italian painter, and one of the first female artists to work in the same circle as the male artists around her. She was introduced to painting in the workshop of her father, the artist Prospero Fontana, where she met her husband, the painter Zappi. She was regarded as more successful than either, and supported a family of 11 during the height of her career. Her work was much in demand, including large-scale public commissions for the Pope and other political figures. She was the first female artist to paint female nudes.

Judith with the Head of Holofernes
1600
Oil on canvas, 130 x 110 cm
Museo Davia Bargellini, Bologna

Minerva Dressing
1613
Oil on canvas
Galleria Borghese, Rome

All images are public domain taken from the online Web Gallery of Fine Art. 

– Written by Sofia Zaragoza

Dream Interpretation(s)

 

“The Interpretation of Dreams is, among other things, a disguised auto biography, drawing on the dreams that provided Freud with material for self-analysis.”

“The dream shows how recollection of one’s everyday life can be worked into a structure where one person can be substituted fro another, where unacknowledged feelings like envy and guilt can find expression, where ideas can be linked by verbal similarities, and where the laws of logic can be suspended.”

“The dream excels in turning thoughts into pictures.”

“For the purposes of interpretation, the account of the dream is the dream.”

“Freud would relate the childhood of the individual to the early stages of humanity, and seek the origins of srt and religion to the supposedly irrational thought-processes of primeval man.”

– Ritchie Robertson’s Introduction to Sigmund Freud’s

The Interpretation of Dreams (Oxford University Press, 1999)

 

“If I can dream, I can act. And if I can act, I can become.” – Poh Yu Khing

    ?

A dream for many, a nightmare for perhaps as many.

The following quotes are by Sigmund Freud in The Interpretation of Dreams. It’s interesting to note- personally- how theoretical work and study “disproves” or certainly challenges much of Freud’s work, whereas practice work (embodiment and stage directing) supports much of it.

“To the man (or woman!- parenthetical mine) who is tormented by physical or mental suffering the dream grants what reality has denied: well-being and happiness.”

“The relationship of our typical dreams to fairy-tales and other poetic materials are certainly neither isolated nor accidental. The poet is normally the instrument of the transformation process, but on occasion the keen poet’s eye has understood it analytically and pursued it backwards, tracing the poem back to the dream.” This is perhaps what Philip Gotanda has done with his play, I Dream of Chang and Eng.

“Constrained || Disgusted || & Proud”-Dance Dramaturgy-A Mexican Antigone

“This brilliant and moving book revives the story of Antigone to confront the horrifying violence shrouded within the present landscape – Antigone, a solitary figure before the law, facing certain death, who invokes a way of resistance at once textual and political. Sophocles’ play resonates throughout this act of poetic testimony and fierce interpretation, making emphatic graphic marks precisely where there is no trace of loss.”

–Judith Butler

Well, you can’t go wrong when you’ve got a good review from Judith Butler! The book, “Antigona Gonzales” was the inspiration for UCSD Dance major,undergraduate (and recently admitted M.I.T. PhD student), Claudia Varela. Varela is from Mexico, and although she does not have direct experience with the Mexican cartels that plague the land, she is affected. Her work tends to position Ballet Folklorico into a political paradigm, using subtle choreographic shifts, like repetition, imagery, costuming and music. The piece was titled “A Knit of Identity”, and I had the pleasure of being the dramaturg for it! The performance went up on May 13th and 14th at the Wagner Dance building, UCSD.
In Varela’s own words:

“Constrained || Disgusted || & Proud” reflects upon what encourages/discourages one to leave/stay in Mexico and explores the various perspectives  that an immigration experience encompasses. This work investigate how a transition of this nature can allow for pride, oppression and disgust to coexist”

A Casebook

Above are some of the images I utilized for the casebook I made for Varela and her dancers. The paintings are all by one of my favorite Mexican painter, Ruffino Tamayo. I used his images as a resource for the world that Claudia crafted. I also included three versions of Antigone in the Casebook. Those included Sophocles Antigone, Brecht’s Antigone, Jean Anouilth’s version, and Marianne McDonald’s “The Living Art of Greek Tragedy”. Obviously, the main text was Antigona Gonzalez by Sara Uribe.

Our First Meeting

Upon our first initial meeting, at the 64 Degree coffee shop, Claudia had questions.

Why leave and why stay, in regards to borders, both real and imagined?

How to use the texts from the book, Antigona Gonzalez?

How to refer to these texts in a live performance?

Should these texts be spoken, recorded and played or projected?

Which language should these texts be featured in, Spanish or English?

Antígona González is the story of the search for a body, a specific body, one of the thousands of bodies lost in the war against drug trafficking that began more than a decade ago in Mexico. A woman, Antígona González, attempts to narrate the disappearance of Tadeo, her elder brother. She searches for her brother among the dead. San Fernando, Tamaulipas, appears to be the end of her search.

We parted with the agreement that my job as her dramaturg was to defamiliarize material by asking questions

Rehearsal Notes

April 21st and April 28th

How can the dancers actually trust each other when falling in the trust fall?

What is the Genealogy of Antigone? Are dancers representing specific characters? Or all they the same person?

Could the use of repetition be more evident? What does repetition do for this work?

April 5th

I had been researching some work by Guillermo Gomez Pena. In his workshops, he uses the following exercise:

The dancers walked on the grid in the dark while I posed the following questions…

1. which border did you cross today
2. what issues where you obsessing about today/
3. is your identity fixed or mobile
4. when you hear the word community, how many people are in it?
5. Which metaphors did you use today to describe your place?

Of course, I took some creative liberties.  I had them do this in the dark room. It was in the middle of rehearsal, with permission from Claudia, of course.

Then they ran the piece again.

What is the wall? What are the dancers doing at the wall? What does it mean to them personally?What does the rolling mean after the melt down at the wall? How do the dancers get back up?(This refers to a section that was at the end of the piece, which the dancers ran up to an imaginary wall and were slowly stricken done by it)

How do the smiles operate or perform in the face of colonialism? How do they perform in the environment at UCSD? (This was in relation to a Faux Ballet Folklorico part of the dance.  It was a bit eerie, because the smiles on the performers were so sweet, and yet the subject matter of the drug cartel and Antigone were so dark)

 

What does it mean to have one dancer who is white? Why does she just appear in one solo and what does this mean in the world of Antigone?What are the dancers doing during her solo? What should we be noticing?(a wonderful dancer, Miranda had a solo in this work. She was not really incorporated into the piece, along with the Mexican cast. I had questions about this)

When do the dancers look at each other? When do you and Isa look at each other in your duet?

What are the dancers seeing in the space?

Linda Queried, how to rupture the lyrical quality of the music

Can the direction be changed at the end phrase?

May 10th

What is the function of the arms behind in terms of the piece?

Which way to face at the end of lingo querido, I think the front

Can the dancers reverse engineer to get up from the floor?

The question of shoes, what do they mean?

How do the shoes  relate to Antigone?

What does it mean that they are all leading now, vs. just Isa leading them during National Anthem?

what are the dancers seeing? can they see beyond the walls of the studio? Can they gaze into preset/past/ future?

Beanies? What do they mean as far as costume choices.

When should they smile?

great transition from folk to duet!

What does the back to back roll with Isa accomplish?

how do you relate to the diagonal for ISA?Caludia?

could the walk be slower going to the sides during solo?

It’s not together when you all come back in, is that okay? it’s more like a canon.

Can the first touch be sensitive? Then surprise us with the push down.

Great design with the outside melting down looks like a bow

lower runs back in forth like drills.

can there be more at stake during the trust falls?

What does it mean for each one to lead?

travel?

can it continue in the dark? the stomping?

What does it mean then Isa comes out during folk?

nudge on the elbow for more human? Isa Claudia

miranda red dress and the lights!

hands up fall keep space!!

stillness?

what happens after hands behind back?

national anthem?