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“So, what’s a dramaturg?” 

I’ve lost count of how many times people have asked me that question over the past couple years. Actually, the comedians in my life tend to ask about being a “dramaturd” just as often. And I don’t blame them—to be honest, I’m still trying to figure out the answer myself. 

I usually answer the age-old question with the vague but typical response, “Oh, you know, someone who does a lot of the historical and background research for the show, making sure it’s accurate to the time period, that kind of thing…” 

Now, after reflecting on my first couple years of production dramaturgy experience, I think I’m starting to formulate a more complete definition. I’ve now officially dramaturged two MSU student productions: Crazy for You in the fall of 2008 and As You Like It this past fall. The vast difference between the various job “responsibilities” both entailed has taught me countless lessons about the field of dramaturgy—in particular, its wide range. Read more »

As You Like It is most blatantly about love—as [director] Julie Fain Lawrence so beautifully put it in our interview in November: “searching for love, finding love, lack of love, yearning for love, filled with love, absence of love.” But there were a number of other themes that, throughout the rehearsal process, I found underscoring both the play itself and the process of creating the play. 

Transformation is the first of these. In many critics’ and actors’ articles about As You Like It, the Forest of Arden is referred to as almost a land of the imagination, a sort of alternate reality in which anything is possible—a woman may believably pass for a man, social status seems to level out, a clown can conceivably fall in love with a so-called “foul” maid, a man who once plotted the death of his younger brother becomes his best friend, and the “bad Duke” is transformed into a religious man. In Arden, status, societal roles, and gender roles are turned on their head. 

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Julie Fain Lawrence is an adjunct professor in MSU’s Department of Theatre and Dance and director of the department’s fall 2009 production of As You Like It (for which I am the dramaturg). AYLI is part of a new workshop initiative within the department and will be running in repertory with Polaroid Stories, come the beginning of December. I met with Julie (on Monday, November 2, 2009) in our very own Café Diem.  Amongst the hustle and bustle of the campus community in the midst of the fall semester, Julie shared her insights on the upcoming production… 

Kelly Karcher: The word “workshop” is being thrown around a lot in reference to As You Like It and Polaroid Stories. In terms of your production, and how you’re approaching it, what does that exactly mean? 

Julie Lawrence: I’m not approaching the play any differently than I would in terms of figuring out character work, what’s happening with the story, what’s happening in the text, what the words mean—so it really doesn’t mean anything different in terms of working with the actors. The only thing different to me is that, in essence, I’m my own sound designer, there are no lights other than lights up/lights down, costumes and set are just suggestive and minimal—so any production values that go along with the show are minimal and meant to be more symbolic than actualized. 

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There are two things our director, Evan Pappas, has said about A Man of No Importance that have stuck with me throughout the entire rehearsal and performance process. Number one: it’s not so much a musical as it is a “play with music;” and number two: it’s a show with a lot of heart. 

A Man of No Importance is, on the surface, an intriguing synthesis of seemingly unrelated ideas: set in Ireland in 1964, the show follows the exploits of Alfie Byrne, a middle-aged bus conductor who aspires to create great art with his somewhat dysfunctional group of friends. Alfie’s love for Oscar Wilde ties in throughout, to both his own personal philosophy and the plays he puts on. 

Alfie looks at the title character in Wilde’s Salome as a beautiful princess, and reads poems like “The Harlot’s House” somewhat out of context. And all the while, it just lifts one’s heart to hear it—the beautiful poetry underscored by lilting Irish music. 

In doing so, I think the writers challenge us to explore our notions of art—what is art? Do we have to complicate it by analyzing a poem a certain way, or can it be as simple as feeling the words that we hear? Alfie puts it best in the opening scene: “We feel poetry here, in our hearts. That’s better than understanding with our minds.” 

The so-called Saint Imelda’s Players are a testament to this same innocence. Each has a distinct, unique character that contributes to a colorful and quite hysterical landscape. But, while they are comedic characters on the surface, there’s a current of sincerity, support, and simple joy that runs underneath. The final scene of the play is what crystallizes who they are for me; come see the show, and you’ll see why. 

What to expect when coming to see A Man of No Importance? Expect great beauty—in the story and the poetry, in what you see and what you hear. Expect to be transported to a foreign land full of color and wit. And, most importantly: expect to be thoroughly entertained, and thoroughly moved. 

Kelly Karcher is an MSU undergraduate in her fourth year of the B.F.A. Musical Theatre program. In addition to A Man of No Importance, she has performed in several productions at MSU and will serve as dramaturg for MSU’s Fall ‘09 production of As You Like It.

On first watching Four Short Musicals—Sled Ride, From a Childhood, The Highwayman, and Blood Drive—it’s hard to see a connection. The musicals are as diverse in subject matter as they are in musical style, their characters range in age and type, and the settings cover a hundred-year span. Sled Ride is a modern re-imagining of Edith Wharton’s 1911 novel Ethan Frome. From a Childhood is a haunting piece based on a poem by Rainer Maria Rilke. The Highwayman is a funky, hip-hop version of a 1906 Alfred Noyes poem. And Blood Drive is an original piece that takes place in the present day.

So what draws these pieces together into one cohesive evening of theater? According to director Scott Davenport Richards, it is the simple fact that all the characters, throughout each of the four pieces, are fundamentally people in need. Pair this great need with a limited time of (at most) twenty minutes to resolve one’s conflict, and the stakes become extremely high. Read more »