Dramaturgically Speaking

If you couldn't tell by my Batman post, I've been on a film kick lately. Outside of reading scripts and seeing live performances, film is one of the most encompassing art forms. In this particular post, I'll be discussing one of my favorite films: Pulp Fiction . In my opinion,  Pulp Fiction  is one of the greatest films ever made. At a young age, probably younger than I should’ve been, I was exposed to Quentin Tarantino through his film  Kill Bill Vol. 1.  I stumbled through my grandpa’s living room as he and my older brother were watching, and shooed me out of the room. I was petrified by the amount of blood I saw and wasn’t properly reintroduced to Quentin Tarantino until high school. I started with  Kill Bill Vol. 1 and 2  and then went to  Pulp Fiction . Through its groundbreaking and iconic non-sequential storytelling, immaculately dense dialogue that is anything but succinct, and use of soundtrack and sound design as its own storytelling device, ...

     We are side-stepping from dramaturgical analysis into rhetorical analysis. In my English class (which this blog owes its reason for existence), we have been working on what makes something effective, engaging, and enticing for an audience. We all can think of popular spokespeople/mascots in advertisements. Flo from Progressive, The Geico Gecko, and The Aflac Duck... each impart their unique flare to make them easily recognizable to viewers. Above the rest sits a poised and clever trickster of a mascot: Mayhem.     Mayhem is the name and physical embodiment of chaos in the form of actor Dean Winters. Mayhem is a character frequently used in Allstate Insurance commercials. In this particular ad, we see Dean as Mayhem wreaking havoc on various people in the household as a cat. Mayhem literally says, "I'm your cat. Ever since you brought me home that day, I've been plotting to destroy you," as he turns on faucets, rides Roombas, and lounges on the couch in all ...

    It is quite difficult these days to go to the cinema without seeing a film that was once previously a comic book. While I shudder at the idea of a multiverse of endless sequels, prequels, and mashup franchises, never seemingly drawing up any resemblance of a “new” idea, I’m taken to this quote from Mark Twain (one of absolute favorite writers):   “There is no such thing as a new idea. It is impossible. We simply take a lot of old ideas and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope. We give them a turn and they make new and curious combinations. We keep on turning and making new combinations indefinitely; but they are the same old pieces of colored glass that have been in use through all the ages.” Mark Twain portrait, 1907         From Shakespeare, to Colleen Hoover; from Chaplin to Tim Burton; artists of every generation are constantly influenced by the work of those who came before, and those who are working alongside them as peers. The stories...

This post is a slight tangent from our scheduled programming, so I appreciate you bearing with me. Recently, I've had a recurring dream popping up every few nights. In the depths of what I don't always remember, I pull out a sliver of a memory from my childhood. In this memory, I am maybe eight or nine years old and in my old family's home, talking with my older sister. We have just finished watching the film  Titanic  for the first time.      When I was even younger, I was absolutely petrified of this movie. The scene towards the end  Tangent to the tangent: spoilers ahead. The movie is over 25 years old... If you haven't seen it by now, that's a YOU problem-     The scene towards the end with frosted bodies floating in the Arctic waters spooked me like a plastic bag and a thoroughbred horse. A few years prior, I had peeped around the corner of my living wall to catch glimpses of the film as my parents watched. They were in the midst of this endi...

  Hey, Everyone – I tussled and turned with what I wanted to dive into for this “first” (albeit technically “second”) post.  Should I begin with a classical piece? Nah, Shakespeare is like an oyster; an acquired taste. Okay, Contemporary. What would be relevant to y'all right now? In search of inspiration, I went online to see any theatre companies were putting on a performance this weekend of something I could “easily” write about. In my searching I found my muse; Gloria by Brandon Jacob-Jenkins is being performed by Stray Cat Theatre in Tempe through October 14th.  What better place to begin than a contemporary play that a Pulitzer Prize finalist? When I dive into a work of dramatic literature, I begin a process of work that is called “Dramaturgy”. There is really still debate about what dramaturgy is, what it encompasses, what it doesn’t. Some duties of a dramaturg could be more research based—helping a director and production team research and contextualize the world ...