Deadline Postponed

The deadline for the Week 4 assignments has been postponed to this Sunday, August 3, at noon.

Substitution for Design Assignment

If you cannot find (enough) materials for the "Production Design" assignment you may substitute the following:

Special Topic: Name Provided By You

Pick one topic or theme in your play that the production team needs to understand. (Examples: LDS/Mormonism and Angels in America; Fashion and Regrets Only; Mental Health Care and The Boys Next Door.)

Identify, describe in complete sentences, and link 5 online resources that will help your team understand this special topic.

Links for Class Discussion

Terry McCabe on "The Production Dramaturg"
My argument is not really an attack on dramaturgs. There are many excellent dramaturgs, just as there are many excellent designated hitters in the American League. But the designated hitter rule, because it creates an unnecessary team member, is a disservice to baseball, and the emergence of the dramaturg as a distinct position is likewise a disservice to the theater. Independent of the performance of individual dramaturgs, it has this harmful effect: it puts distance between the director and the play.
http://mrexcitement.blogspot.com/2007_01_14_archive.html

Dramaturg's Network
http://ee.dramaturgy.co.uk/index.php/site/front/

Dark Knight Dramaturgy for Moliere's The Misanthrope
http://darkknightdramaturgy.wordpress.com/category/misanthrope/

Criticism and Dramaturgy: Frank Rich's Review of Angels in America
http://theater2.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?_r=2&html_title=&tols_title=ANGELS%20IN%20AMERICA:%20MILLENIUM%20APPROACHES%20(PLAY)&pdate=19930505&byline=By%20FRANK%20RICH&id=1077011429136&oref=slogin&oref=login

Final Assignments

Your final assignments are due by noon on Thursday, August 7.

10% Educator's Packet

This is a packet of materials that you would send to a class or school (you determine the level) planning to attend a performance of your play. There is no one "right" way to prepare a packet. While you may base your packet on one posted in "Educational Guides: Samples," you must include the following (this section counts 5%):

--the basic facts of the script
--an introduction to the plot and its characters
--an introduction to the author
--a brief production history with excerpts from reviews

All of these are materials you have created already; however, you will need to edit them to cater to your target audience.

In addition, (1) you will create and include a preparatory classroom exercise (something to do and discuss) before the class attends the performance as well as (2) a list of 5 questions that will be included in the Q&A with the director and production team following the performance. (This additional section counts 5%.)

In real life, you likely would mail a hard copy to the class. For this project you will share everything in a single post on your blog. (So everyone in the class can see what you've come up with.)

10% Dramaturg's Statement

This is a brief essay in your own words (about 700-750 of them written in complete sentences and organized into paragraphs) that summarizes your understanding of the script from a dramaturg's perspective. This is not a production concept but rather what you would want to share early in the design process with the production team stemming from your research and reflection. This statement includes what you think are the most important ideas and problems that must be addressed and solved by the production. (You probably discovered many of these problems in comments made by the critics in the their reviews.)

5% Resources & Links

This final post on your blog includes what you think are the 5 most important online resources that need to be explored by the production team. For each, include a title, brief description of what this site is and why it is so valuable, and an active link.

Educational Guides: Samples

East Bay Children's Theatre: Rumplestiltskin
http://www.childrens-theatre.org/images/Rumpel%20Ed%20Packet.pdf

Blue Man Group
http://www.blueman.com/files/BM_EDPressKit.pdf

Deaf West Theatre: Big River
http://www.deafwest.org/productions/br_discoveryguide.pdf

Folger Shakespeare Library: Romeo & Juliet
http://www.simonsays.com/assets/series/859/CG17_859.pdf

SUNY Osego: A Doll's House
http://www.oswego.edu/academics/colleges_and_departments/departments/theatre/performance/0708/Dolls%20House%20Ed%20Packet.html

Coterie Theatre: In Spite of Thunder: The Macbeth Project
http://www.coterietheatre.org/MCP%20Resource%20Guide.pdf

Class: Monday, July 28

10:00
discussed remaining projects
explored online design resources
viewed 30+ interpretations of Tartuffe
11:00
began work on Week 4 assignments

Design Resources

British Designers
The Society of British Theatre Designers
http://www.theatredesign.org.uk/

German Designers
Goethe-Institut
http://www.goethe.de/kue/the/bbr/enindex.htm

Individual U.S. and Canadian Designers

Glen Anderson
http://www.andersonportfolio.com/Portfolio.htm

Andrea Bechert
http://www.scorpiondesigns.net/gallery.html

Daniel Conway
http://www.conwaydesign.com/clients/conwayd/nav/frameset.shtml

Kim Ehler
http://kimdesign.info/

Karl Eigsti
http://www.karleigsti.com/clients/eigstik/nav/frameset.shtml

Antje Ellermann
http://antjeellermann.com/portfolio.php

Richard Finkelstein
http://www.rfdesigns.org/

Kent Goetz
http://www.arts.cornell.edu/theatrearts/kgoetz/

J Michael Griggs
http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~jmgriggs/portfolio.html

Jeremy Hopgood
http://www.jeromyhopgood.com/index.html

Misha Kachman
http://www.mishakachman.com/clients/kachmanm/nav/frameset.shtml

Timothy McCormick
http://www.timothymccormick.com/digital_portfolio.htm

Kade Mendelowitz
http://www.alaskasbest.com/kade/pro.htm

Nicole Pearce
http://www.nicolepearcedesign.com/TheaterPortfolio.htm

Ryan Scott
http://www.ryanscottscenicdesign.com/thumb_links/thumbs_photos.html

Q Brian Sickels
http://home.ptd.net/~bsickels/new_ref.html

Kim A. Tolman
http://www.kimtolmandesign.com/portfolio.htm

Week 4 Assignments

Productions (due noon Friday, August 1)

5% Production History
Identify 5 productions of your play. For each, provide:

• venue (theatre), city, state
• run dates
• producing agent or producer, director
• designers
• actors in lead roles
• your own annotation or description about what best characterizes this production or what makes it notable or memorable (this needs to be in complete sentences in your own words--no copy and paste for this)

5% Reviews
Find one review for each of these productions (5 total productions, 5 total reviews). For each review, provide:

• title of article, author, print source/publication, date
• full text (if it's really long, just include the most interesting parts)
• citation and link

5% Production Photos
Find 5 photos for 5 different productions of your play (5 total photos, 5 total productions). It's okay if these are not the same productions as in your history. For each, provide a caption that includes:

• producing theatre, city, state
• year
• director
• designers' names (and areas)
• and an active link

5% Production Designs
Find 5 total images (plates, renderings, thumbnails, elevations, digital illustrations, etc.) representing the design process for one or more of these productions. Yes, all 5 may be from the same production, but a variety of productions would be more interesting. For each, identify:

• designer(s)
• producing theatre, city, state
• director
• year
• and an active link