What Am I Doing Here?

Sound: "I'm A Soul Man" by James Brown

I have completed my first week of graduate school.  I did not cry once, and I don't feel like I've made a massive mistake, both of which are good.  In fact, I feel even more secure in my decision to study an esoteric aspect of theatre.  Yay!

You might be wondering, what classes does one take in the course of earning an MFA in Dramaturgy?  Well, funny you should ask, because I have a little handy-dandy list of my classes and required activities right here!

Summer 2012 Classes at the American Repertory Theatre - MFA Dramaturgy
Acting Observation: This "class" only lasted a week.  Apparently it can last up to two weeks, but the head of my program decided about halfway through this week that we had done enough observation/needed more time to sleep/research/cry in a corner while surrounded by mountains of books (I'm hoping that last one hasn't actually happened to anyone yet).  Acting observation is just what it sounds like: we observe the MFA Acting students' acting class.  The idea is to gain a shared vocabulary with the actors and observe the basics of Stanislavksi's system.  I think that happened.  Maybe.  At the very least, I observed the actors become a human pinball machine (aka the coolest acting exercise ever).

Introduction to Dramaturgy: This is a seminar with Antaoly Smeliansky, the head of the Moscow Art Theatre School and all-around amazing man.  I'm not actually sure what we'll be doing in this class.  Tolya (Russian nickname for "Anatoly") said we'll "discuss the issues surrounding being a dramaturg and dramaturgy."  I'm kind of hoping this turns into a therapy session, like the Dramaturgy Practicum I took as an undergrad.


Stanislavski, Chekhov, and MXAT: This is a theatre history class focusing on the founding and cultural relevance of the Moscow Art Theatre School (MXAT).  Also taught by Tolya.


Introduction to Dramatic Structure: Different plays from different eras are structured differently.  Here is where we learn about those structures.  Right now we're using the Phaedra myth as a basis for learning four different structures - Ancient Greek, Roman, French Neo-Classicism and In-Yer-Face (1990s British theatre - angry, violent, shocking).

Russian Language and Culture: Доброе утро. Что это? Это моя водка!


Icons of Masculinity: What socially constructed roles are men forced into?  How are these roles portrayed in the media?  These questions, and more, are asked and answered twice a week in Arthur Holmberg's class.  We also watch a lot of movies and read a lot of articles about emo music and the crisis of masculinity.


Casebook: This course goes through the major items a dramaturg would research in preparation for a production: the structure of the play, any potential translations of the play, author biography, production history, historical/social/political context, literary criticism about the play, anything the director specifically requests.  All this research, in theory, would go into a binder called a casebook, but we're saving paper in this class and instead are presenting the research piecemeal in multiple presentations.


Education and Community Engagement: Or, how to supplement the crappy/nonexistent arts funding available to public schools.  Also how to get people to come to the theatre even if they're not the typical theatre-going demographic.


Voice: Dramaturgs are required to talk a lot.  So the A.R.T. has given us our own special voice class that's a combination of the voice work actors do (breath control and support, speech, etc.) and public speaking.  This week we lay on the floor and let the "golden honey voice" travel to our toes.  I'm a fan of this class.


History of Set Design: Analysis and discussion of the developments in set design during the late 19th and 20th centuries.  Because people started doing REALLY cool things on the stage.

In addition to these classes, I'm prepping for the main stage production of The Lily's Revenge (an intricate, hilarious, awesome show devised by performance artist Taylor Mac - you can learn more about it here) and researching Andersonville Prison, a Civil War POW camp in Georgia.  The A.R.T. and Harvard University (along with Atlanta's Alliance Theater, Baltimore's Centerstage, and Washington, D.C.'s Arena Stage) are doing a series of events marking the anniversary of the Civil War.  Right now we're in the research/planning stages, so a lot of the events are round-table discussions.  Hopefully, these events will eventually culminate in some sort of theatrical event.  And, of course, the dramaturgy students are right in the middle of it all.