Examples of What Dramaturgs Do - Part 3 - Actor Packets

Hopefully the actors in a play want to learn and study up about their roles at least a little bit about the play by themselves. It certainly helps if they try to learn something, especially if the director likes to consider the actors' interpretations, infections, and movements.

However, it is likely that actors don't have the time to go into deep research when preparing for a role. After all, they have to work on memorizing lines and blocking. When a dramaturg makes an actor packet, information to learn about the play is put into a short concise packet for the actors.

In a way, an actor packet may seem similar to an educational packet. However, an educational packet is geared more towards K through 12 students and the type of packet made will depend on the grade level of the students. However, an actor packet will be the same for all of the actors.

An actor will obviously know what the play is, but an actor's packet will have a quick summary of the play. If it is an adaptation or a related to another play in a significant way, that information will also be included. The main information given will be about the themes in the play. While a dramaturg may start with one of the simple sites such as Sparknotes or Schmoop to get a jump into things, this is not where a dramaturg actually finds the information given other than perhaps a significant sentence or two. Those sites should not be treated like a main point of research, but rather a starting point to find research if, for some reason, it is difficult to figure out where to start with research about a play.

A dramaturg will do deeper research about the play from scholastic sources. These sources will be cited in the text and listed on a works cited page. That way other members of the theatre production can read the documents if they want. If the play is Waiting for Godot, it is likely that a dramaturg will do deeper research into the themes of waiting, choices, truth, time, religion, friendship, and more. These themes will be researched in context of the play and specific occurrences in the play with these themes will be mentioned. Actors can then read the information and try to use it in their interpretations of the lines.

If there is something significant about the type or types of theatre in which the play falls, some information about that will also be given. A little bit about absurdism and how absurdism might be used or understood in Waiting for Godot are used will probably be in an actor's packet, too. There will also be a short bit about the history of significant past productions of the play along with why they were significant.