Hello Bloggers, hope this evening finds you well.
In this section of the blog, I will be writing about the process of getting ‘Leonce & Lena’ off the page and onto the stage, from rewriting the play to the final performance. But before I do all that, I’m gonna take a little bit of time to explain a Dramaturg’s role in a performance.
A dramaturg is a person who has most of the key input in a performance. For instance, a dramaturg could be responsible for translating a script from one language to the next, could rewrite a play for adaptation or could even go as far as writing a play from scratch. A dramturg could be in charge of sound or lighting. A dramaturg’s role can change and has numourous options.
For this module, we were to be given a play to perform as part of a working process for a later module. Using what we knew about a dramaturg’s job in a piece of theatre, we all had to pull together and make the best possible performance we could in such a short amount of time. I wanted to do ‘Leonce & Lena’ from the start. I hadn’t read it at that point but the storyline really interested me, and after performing such a intense and thrilling play mid term, I wanted to let my hair down and perform something that had the potential to be both fun and exciting. I was later joined by Charlotte, Hayley, Ashton, Thomas and Jenn, and then, it began.
Our initial idea for this performance was to keep to the original script and perform it as if it was set in India, like the original play. Other ideas began floating around for a few days and we hadn’t settled on an idea we all felt strongly about. I was out smoking a cigarette outside my flat whilst listening to my iPod. “Why did you roll your dice, Show your cards, Jilted Lovers & Broken Hearts…” The idea struck me after this one line in one of my favorite albums. I ran to the computer and posted the song on the blog and let the group hear it. My idea was to set Leonce & Lena in Las Vegas. Their marriage would be forced through a poker game and the time period would be contemporary. Once I got the rest of the group on board, I set about writing the script, which took around two weeks.
The fact that the new script was in the process of being written, this put the work we could do to a minimal. We read through Buchner’s original script and gave feedback to what we thought. We all agreed that, although it is a funny play, it takes forever to say nothing. We found some of the language confusing and the ending seemed rushed. That had to go. We then decided who would take what part of stage management. We gave props, costume, set, sound and lighting to different members of the group, sharing the role of a dramaturg.
Once the new script was ‘fully’ written (for this module. The script is unfinished.), we could then concentrate on the performance. Casting was a minor speed bump. (When asked what part anyone wanted, everyone’s response was “I don’t mind”, leaving us to pick names from a hat.). However, nobody was angry about the character they would end up playing, and the group as a whole believed that every actor had got the right role.
For practical purposes, I left the first scene unfinished. I felt that this would give the others in the group the chance to improvise what proves to be the most important scene in the play. Once the opening scene was improvised and recorded, I wrote it out as a finished scene and that’s when the working progress took full shape.
The whole group kept the phrase ‘working progress’ in mind when coming up with ideas. However, the ideas we eventually came up with will be in the final performance. For example, the idea of having more of a set and, if we can do it, have the Las Vegas sign at the side of the stage at all times. We aimed big, yet kept our ideas realistic for this first module.
Everyone’s characterization was perfect and was exactly what I had in mind whilst writing it. Charlotte’s Lena was very fragile and innocent, Hayley’s Florence was loud mouthed and extrovert, Jenn’s Rosetta was the perfect bunny boiler, Thomas’ Peter was very selfish and Ashton’s Valerie (Changed from Valario) was quirky yet sad. What I tried to do with Leonce was to make his frustration appear more real. He has almost everything he could want and yet hasn’t found the one thing that makes him happy; Love.
The performance itself went great. The scene changes were smooth to say there was only six of us doing them in the dark. The set was small which is what we wanted for this performance. The fact that we all had an input as directors made for great team work. We shared the job of the dramaturg, and script changes were even being made just before the performance began.
The next time the play will be performed will be a spectacle. We want it to be in yours face. We want the play to thrust the audience into the sights and sounds of Las Vegas. The script will become more of a farce than a realistic comedy. The rest of the play sets up much more fun and excitement, and I am honoured to be working with this group again. This, for me, has been my favorite module in all my time at University and that’s partly down to this group of people, working themselves to death but still finding time to have fun…and it was fun.
Thank you guys. It’s been great. Same again next term?
James.