I have found this module, dare I say it? The most entertaining, and enjoyable module I have taken while at University of Lincoln. That is not to say that it was easy, it required a lot of hard work from the group, and on the part of the tutors, so thanks are given, deservedly.
To begin, the title of Dramaturgy for the module, at first had me confused as to what it could mean, I saw the name on the timetable and hadn’t a solid definition in my personal glossary. I then took the liberty of going online and checking what it meant, and much to my surprise I wasn’t far off the meaning. I hadn’t heard the term used before and wasn’t sure what duties the title had in terms of acting or theatre.
I was of the opinion that a Dramaturge was somebody who critically assessed dramatic productions, or performances, and in thinking this I was partially correct, but after checking I realised that they are a jack of all trades, and can have many jobs when it comes to the production of a performance. This can be from assisting a director, or taking on production roles, right down to just watching the cast rehearse, acting as an outside view, to give critique to the cast and director, from angles they would not normally see.
It is more popular in Germany and America to have a Dramaturge as part of the team on a production, as it was originated in Germany. Companies may have a Dramaturge on their team, or sometimes they have been known to hire a Dramaturge from an outside source to work with them on the production. In our production of “Leonce and Lena” I feel we all took on certain roles of the Dramaturge between us, and it came together really well.
Our group in particular, came together due to other groups having decided already to work with certain people, so in that sense we didn’t have much choice, and were open to the idea of the play we chose to undertake. I think we found the idea of the plot quite different and it would present a good challenge to us. In terms of group dynamics, I had previously worked with Jennifer, and James, and briefly Haley, but had never worked with Charlotte, and had never even met Ashton. After one session together though any doubts of conflict or mutual silence, were swiftly dispatched, as everyone in the group spoke openly and had very similar ideas and expectations of the module, and it went from there.
We began over the space of the next few classes, talking and sorting out the ins and outs of the play, and how we could set it and so on. Rather than taking each aspect individually, it seemed much more productive to discuss it as a group, and the ideas began to flow, not one idea was cast down, but either added to and in some cases improved upon. In terms of the transition of the script from the known play, changed to an updated modernised version, we have James to thank. He made it his task to write a modernised version and decided that Las Vegas was a great place to set it, we all in the group jumped at the idea, for obvious reasons.
We collaborated to build the bones of each scene based on the original text, and then decided that we should decide on characters. We picked what we thought were the six main character, so as there was a character for each member of the group. For James and me, it was slightly easier, as Leonce and King Peter were the two main male roles, but the girls had a harder task. We had the idea to change a character “Valereo” to a female “Valerie” and this role eventually went to Ashton. The rest of the roles were picked from a hat, and everyone seemed happy.
I was given the role of King Peter, who is Leonces’ father. I was thrilled because on reading the text he seemed a bit of a crazy character and I wanted the chance to portray him in my own style.
I believe that during the course of this module, over the many weeks of work and preparation, we came together extremely well as a group. We worked together really well, and got along like a house on fire, both in terms of work ethic, and personality. Every member of the group was encouraging towards the others, and help was always given, as were praise and suggestions. I feel that the performance went as well as we expected, due to the level of confidence, brought about by the sheer enjoyment of the module, it is the only module I have honestly not been nervous for.
We received some great feedback from tutors, some ideas, duly noted, and are ready to comeback even stronger next term for the second instalment of “Leonce and Lena” in the Theatre Company module.