Thinking an Old Practice Anew

Lior Avizoor & Ran Brown Taken from: http://maakaf.co.il/en/

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In Zygmunt Baumans 2011 publication "Culture in A Liquid Modern World" (Cambridge: Polity), recently translated to Hebrew, Bauman states that the most prolific of all contemporary arts (and even the most constitutive and effective of them all in accomplishing their cultural roles) are essentially nothing but further stages in an infinite process of reinterpretation of shared experiences, and act as an open invitation for dialogue, which continuously expands[Free translation]. Baumans statement revalidates the need for such deep and meaningful dialogue to exist between artists themselves inasmuch as its needed between artists and their audience, via the website and outside of it. After three years of activities, we are delighted to launch a new version of the magazine, now compatible also with mobile devices. In the new website you will find, alongside our editorials the billboard section, aimed at readers wishing to share information about new shows, workshops, auditions etc. Accessing the billboard section is open to everyone and is free of charge, and we hope it will help makers find their audiences and vice versa, without having to depend on commercial channels. In addition, the new interface will help to easily access previous issues of the magazine as well as certain articles, via keywords search. Please register at the bottom of this page for receiving our newsletter, keeping you updated on special events and upcoming magazine editions.

Dramaturgy: Thinking an Old Practice Anew

The term Dramaturgy isnt new to the field of performance, but it seems that present times beg us to rethink it, perhaps especially the way the role itself is being put into practice in the fields of dance, performance, visual arts and visual theatre. In the past twenty years we can find an abundance of texts overseeing the changes that occurred in the perception of the field of dramaturgy and the professional implications of these changes. We will mention here just one example of a comprehensive and updated anthology which consists of texts dealing with dramaturgy practices within the dance, performance and experimental theatre fields: its an online anthology called Embodied Dramaturgies, published in January 2012 by Sarma, a Belgian research laboratory. Its uniqueness lies in the fact that it features writing by practicing artists and dramaturges and not just academics. An early perception of dramaturgy is attributed to the works of those who wanted to set ground rules for the making of theatre. The most noted example (in occidental

cultures) is the set of rules for the writing of tragedy suggested by Aristotle in his book Poetics. But it was German critic Gotthold Ephraim Lessing who coined the term dramaturgy as an expression as well as a practice. Lessing wrote theoretical and critical essays on theatre, which were published in his book The Hamburg Dramaturgy. In publishing the book he began a tradition of German theory and practice, which preceded the plays direction and predetermined its nature. Following its publishing, dramaturgy began to base itself as a stand-alone profession within German repertory theatres.

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing & Bertolt Brecht (source: wikipedia) The dramaturgy derived from Lessing (retrospectively referred to as classical or textual dramaturgy) never dealt directly with the way works were executed on stage, it is only in the 1920s and 30s that a new dramaturgical approach emerged, following the work of Bertold Brecht. Brecht, a dramaturge, playwright and director in his own right, took the dramaturgy out of the libraries in which the plays were read, chosen and edited, and brought it into the rehearsal space. Now the dramaturge became an active part in the making of a theatrical performance, and the role was retermed - a production dramaturge. In the late twentieth century, when the prewritten play made way as a primary source of theatre to the new post-dramatic theatrical genres that redefined composition and communication with the audience, the role of the dramaturge changed once again. Throughout all its inceptions, dramaturgy remained an obscure practice; questions in regards to its definition (what is dramaturgy?) and its methodologies (what does a dramaturge do?) are continuously asked in every book, symposium and course on the subject. Even if we assume for a moment that the term or the practice were once unambiguous, its now clear to us that with all the changes which occurred in the field of performance, it must be rethought and redefined.

In Israel so it seems, the discourse around the field of dramaturgy hasnt developed enough outside of the academia, and even there, its a small group of interested scholars who havent been able to break through the theoretical discourse and become significantly involved in the making itself. In May 2008 Professor Gad Kaynar invited dramaturges and researchers from Australia, United States, Europe and Israel, for a research workshop at the Department of Theatre Arts at Tel Aviv University. The workshop focused on the essence and future development of the dramaturgy profession, and lectures given in the workshop can be found in Teatron magazine. In a lecture given at the opening event Kaynar spoke of his hope for finding Israeli dramaturges who are assertive, well-informed, up-to-date with recent global developments in the field, who enjoy a dominant position within the theatres in which they are employed [] who will demand and present a multicultural repertoire, and demand the staging of classics, even if deemed a financial suicide [] along with the staging of modern plays, post dramatic, and multidisciplinary works. The current issue of Maakaf contains three interviews and five original essays, canvassing the field of dramaturgy in the way Gad Kaynar hoped for. Kaynar himself suggests (in the Who Said What editorial readers will be able to find a summary of a lecture he gave on the subject in 2010) to rethink the role of the dramaturge in post-dramatic theatre, following a research conducted by Kaynar, where he interviewed German dramaturges. But his renewed definition for the role doesnt actually clear away the fog around previous definitions; on one hand, the dramaturge enjoys an immense freedom and its role is chaotic and open-ended, and on the other hand the dramaturge moulds the artistic process into a performance and creates some kind of an order within it. Bojana Bauer, a European dramaturge and researcher, negates current definitions for the role of the dramaturge in a conversation with Noa Mark ofer; for Bauer the dramaturge isnt a mere consultant nor is he a first spectator, a bridge between theory and practice or in some way responsible for mediating the piece to an audience. Moreover, Bauer states that the role of the dramaturge is to question the choreographer not to help him simplify things so that his intentions are understood, but to make it harder on the choreographer and thus challenge their process. A similar approach is taken by Itzik Giuli in a conversation between him and Tammuz Binshtock, where he suggests that the role of the dramaturge is to encourage and fail. Similarly to Bauer, Giuli includes the articulation of exercises as a part of the dramaturgical practice, and suggests that the role changes from project to project. Having said that, Giuli articulates a permanent position on the role of the dramaturge as a thematic presence throughout the entire process, and presents the role of the dramaturge as a :mirror one that reflects the process back to the maker and instigates dialogue around the structure, themes and development of the work. Giuli also refers to the notion of editing within the dramaturges practice an idea widely discussed by Monica Gillette in her essay. Gillette draws a parallel between film editing and the practice of dramaturgy. She claims that the dramaturge, similarly to the editor, offers a restructuring of the materials so that they better suit the choreographer or directors intentions. She mentions a few of those parallels, some of which are; the processing, interpretation

and rearrangement of the information, as well as mediation between the makers intentions and the way it which the work is perceived by the audience. The dramaturgical practice described by Gillette is particularly complex when the audience response is embedded in the work itself. This exact notion is also examined in Maya Arads essay on the Dramaturgy of the Unexpected. Arad describes her dramaturgical work with Dutch director Ilay Den Boer, whose works are known for the active role the audience play in it they make decisions that can change the order of scenes, the way the piece ends, etc. Arad presents a dramaturgical practice where the live, spontaneous presence of the audience serves as a central and guiding element in the creation of the work. Hillel Kogan deals with the way in which a piece is perceived by an audience and highlights the measure of interpretation given to it. Kogan wishes to examine the role of the dramaturge through looking at the relationship between maker, audience, and meaning. He believes that the role of a dramaturge is nothing but an expression of what he terms the terror of meaning, raising questions in regards to the role of the maker. The role of the maker and the dramaturge in the context of their complex relationship is also the entry point for Liav Mizrahis article dealing with a similar relationship that of an artist and a curator. In the Visual correspondence editorial Liav Mizrahi describes curatorial practices that include collating visual images from across the web for a new exhibition. The virtual cyber space, according to Mizrahi, offers infinite curatorial opportunities for contemporary curators, using simple tools such as copy/paste. Mizrahi draws an analogy between the dramaturge and the makercurator who creates connections, mediates between desire and reality, guides and assists the fruition of the work. The compilation he curated includes artists who have a strong affiliation to the internet: Nurit Yarden, Roy Bushi, Yoram Kupermintz, and Moran Shoub. Thinking about the field of dramaturgy and all its interpretations is offered here as a means to spark and trigger a discussion around the performing arts in general; processes, ways of experiencing performance, the artists responsibility, the audience interpretation, context, referencing, and especially the relevance of the work being made to contemporary audience and culture. This is also the reason why we chose to occupy the interviewee seats in the Flies on The Wall editorial contemplating dramaturgy touches the very heart of Maakaf; the offer of creating a discourse around performance art on its many and varied contexts and related fields. Anat Katz and Erez Maayan lead the conversation between members of Maakafs Editorial Committee Lior Avizoor, Ran Brown and Guy Gutman. Enjoy the read! From Hebrew: Sivan Gabrielovich - Gal
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