Welcome to Honors Dramaturgy!
As an Honors-level offering in the THS English department, Dramaturgy is the confluence of reading dramatic works of literature, scholarly research, history, sociology, and psychology. Students in this course will read and study many works of dramatic literature and then delve deeply into them with the performance-based objective of bringing to life what the playwright intended.
Often in literature classes, students are asked to defend an interpretation by explaining their inferences, using evidence to support their thinking. Critical reading of a text is at the heart of dramaturgy. A dramaturg is expected to “connect the dots” of a production by using the playwright’s words to support (or question) artistic choices. During the writing of a new work, the dramaturg is a trusted colleague of the playwright, the critic who will question incongruencies and inconsistencies. During a production, a dramaturg is often regarded as the person on the creative staff who speaks for the playwright, who can answer questions about intention and thematic statement. The dramaturg is the resident expert on time and place, on mores and customs, who helps director, actors, and designers create a world in which the characters and conflicts can take shape. To do all of these things in an English class requires the skillful student reader and researcher, someone who is meticulous and intellectually curious and always asking, “Why?”
As an Honors-level offering in the THS English department, Dramaturgy is the confluence of reading dramatic works of literature, scholarly research, history, sociology, and psychology. Students in this course will read and study many works of dramatic literature and then delve deeply into them with the performance-based objective of bringing to life what the playwright intended.
Often in literature classes, students are asked to defend an interpretation by explaining their inferences, using evidence to support their thinking. Critical reading of a text is at the heart of dramaturgy. A dramaturg is expected to “connect the dots” of a production by using the playwright’s words to support (or question) artistic choices. During the writing of a new work, the dramaturg is a trusted colleague of the playwright, the critic who will question incongruencies and inconsistencies. During a production, a dramaturg is often regarded as the person on the creative staff who speaks for the playwright, who can answer questions about intention and thematic statement. The dramaturg is the resident expert on time and place, on mores and customs, who helps director, actors, and designers create a world in which the characters and conflicts can take shape. To do all of these things in an English class requires the skillful student reader and researcher, someone who is meticulous and intellectually curious and always asking, “Why?”