Examples of What Dramaturgs Do - Part 8 - Pre-rehearsal Presentation

While a director may have some commentary about a play that will be given to the cast and crew, a dramaturg may be employed to look at more in-depth research and then to sum up the research in a presentation that will be show to the cast and crew before rehearsals start. This presentation would include important information about the characters of the play, the setting of the play, the playwright, any information on if it is an adaptation, information about the original play, different ideas people have about the play, and anything else that the director asks to be included.

The presentation should not be a paper unless asked. The paper is usually the actor packet. The presentation should be something like a PowerPoint presentation or maybe even a video if the dramaturg is good at this and has the available resources. However it is done, it should be engaging for the people who are going to watch it.

If a dramaturg is going to make a pre-rehearsal presentation for the play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, it would probably start with a title slide. Then it would most likely move on to give an overview of all the characters. If the director wants something deeper about the characters, the dramaturg would provide that.

Since the play is a derivative of Hamlet, there would be some information about that play. It would probably quickly cover the different opinions on if Hamlet was really crazy or just acting that way. It would definitely give the information on the characters of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. It would cover what happens to them in the play Hamlet so the play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern can be understood better.

There may be a slide about the importance of language in the play so the actors understand why there are differences in the language used in the play. There may be some information about the philosophy of existentialism. There would definitely be at least a little bit of information about Tom Stoppard. Then there might be a little bit about significant previous productions of the play.