The Beginning of the End (and no, I’m not talking about the Mayans)

The first blog I posted here was called Beginnings in the Middle, about how for a theatre student, your semester sort of re-starts right in the middle.  Now, I am sad to say, it’s time for another beginning.  I am about to begin my final semester here at the University of Michigan.

For me and many of my peers, the beginning of this semester has meant many things.  First of all, this semester began as soon as the last one ended.  I began dramaturging Spring Awakening the day Beaux’ Stratagem closed.  I rushed back to school yesterday to continue my research, while all of the musical theatre students auditioned for the show, so we are all ready for our first rehearsal on Friday.  I’ve been receiving floods of audition announcements and calls for designers and crews the past few days.  The theatre department likes to get a running start.  So while I, like most of us, am not ready for classes to start up again, they sort of already have.  I borrowed seven books from the library today.  For the record, I love the stacks.  Today, I traversed both the North and South stacks.  Then, I went over to the Fish Bowl and found images that might help the cast and crew find useful, both historically and thematically.  Now I am diligently thumbing through my books, marking pertinent passages, and figuring out how to best communicate that to the actors.  Friday, I will get to start the actors’ journey through the text, guiding them as best as I can through history, themes, and culture.

Over break, I was busy too.  I compiled a glossary for Spring Awakening, which is actually one of my favorite parts of dramaturgy.  I read the script twice, the first time just for getting a grasp on the text and the second to go through and pinpoint any terms, places, or people that the actors may be unfamiliar with or needs further explanation.  I also spent much of my break reading plays for the 2012 National Playwrights’ Conference at the O’Neill.  They receive approximately 900 submissions a year and actually produce 7 or 8.  The first round of plays is read by a whole host of volunteers to weed through the plays that are not right for the conference.  I read twenty plays in all, fifteen of which I read over break.  There is nothing more exciting than a new play.  There is something really invigorating about seeing someone take risks, play with form, and genuinely surprise you as a reader.

Like most people, I didn’t get everything done over break that I had planned, but I at least got a start on editing my newest play as well.  My first play won a Hopwood, which I mention not to toot my own horn, but to encourage anyone who has anything they feel is worth reading to submit.  The Hopwood absolutely changed my life.  It gave me confidence to continue writing and money to pursue dramaturgy.  Fingers crossed that the second play fares as well, but it’s a tricky business and pretty impossible to predict.

I am going to sign off here, because I need to get ready for the big game tonight.  My brain is in dramaturgy mode, so I’m sure I will be analyzing the dramatic arc of the game, pulling out moments where I feel the stakes could be heightened, or critiquing gender dynamics at play between the football players and cheerleaders.  Go blue!