Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
by
Steven
Dietz
Performance DATES
November 12-14, 19-21 at 7:30pm
November 22 at 2:30pm, 2015
MSU Denver Studio Theatre,
King Center
Steven Dietz
Steven
Dietz
was
born
in
June
23,
1958
in
Denver,
Colorado.
Dietz
graduated
from
the
University
of
Northern
Colorado
in
1980
with
a
BA
in
Theatre
Arts.
Shortly
after,
he
moved
to
Minneapolis
to
start
directing
at
The
Playwrights'
Center
and
other
local
theaters.
Here,
he
began
writing
his
own
plays
and
now
has
over
thirty
produced
plays
in
the
US
and
internationally.
The
American
Conservatory
(formerly
A
Contemporary
Theatre/ACT)
commissioned
him
to
write
Gods
Country
in
1988
and
three
years
he
moved
to
Seattle,
Washington
settling
into
a
new
artistic
home.
He
lived
there
until
2006
and
now
splits
his
time
between
Seattle
and
Austin,
Texas,
where
he
teaches
at
the
University
of
Texas
at
Austin.
The
Childrens
Theatre
Company
of
Minneapolis
first
produced
Dietzs
first
script,
Brothers
and
Sisters,
in
1981.
The
company
also
toured
it
around
the
United
States
the
same
year.
He
didnt
receive
a
breakthrough
until
Gods
Country
was
produced
eight
years
later
by
ACT
and
he
continued
to
write
plays
for
them
nearly
every
season,
including
Halcyon
Days,
Trust,
Lonely
Planet,
Handing
Down
the
Names,
and
The
Nina
Variations.
Dietz
didnt
even
receive
national
attention
until
Lonely
Planet
was
produced
in
Evanston,
Illinois
in
1993.
Other
notable
plays
by
Steven
Dietz
include:
Shooting
Star,
Inventing
Van
Gogh,
God's
Country,
Private
Eyes,
Rocket
Man,
Ten
November,
Foolin'
Around
with
Infinity,
and
More
Fun
Than
Bowling.
Dietz
also
has
a
large
repertoire
of
adapted
plays
including:
Force
of
Nature
(from
Goethe),
Over
the
Moon
(from
P.G.
Wodehouse),
The
Rememberer
(from
Joyce
Simmons
Cheeka),
Paragon
Springs
(from
Ibsen),
Dracula
(from
Bram
Stoker),
Go,
Dog.
Go!
(with
Allison
Gregory,
from
P.D.
Eastman),
and
two
of
Dan
Gutmans
baseball
card
adventures
Jackie
and
Me,
and
Honus
and
Me.
Dietzs
continues
to
receives
wards
including:
the
Kennedy
Center
Fund
for
New
American
Plays
Award
for
Fiction
and
Still
Life
with
Iris;
the
Steinberg
New
Play
Award
for
Last
of
the
Boys
and
Becky's
New
Car.
He
received
the
PEN
USA
West
Award
in
Drama
for
Lonely
Planet;
the
2007
Edgar
Award
for
Drama
for
his
widely-produced
Sherlock
Holmes:
The
Final
Adventure;
and
the
Yomuiri
Shimbun
Award
(the
Japanese
"Tony")
for
his
adaptation
of
Shusaku
Endo's
novel
Silence.
Significance of Masks
Give
a
man
a
mask
and
hell
tell
you
the
truth.
-
Ben
Kingsley
quoting
Oscar
Wilde
During
the
5th
century
B.C.E.
in
Greece,
the
classical
period
or
Golden
Age
of
Greece
was
taking
over.
Historians
believe
that
Greek
drama
originated
from
the
dithyrambic
chorus.
This
chorus
consisted
of
fifty
men
who
sang
hymns
and
danced
to
praise
Dionysus,
god
of
wine,
fertility
and
celebration.
When
performer
Thespis
chose
to
step
outside
of
the
chorus,
engage
with
the
audience
and
create
unique
characters
many
agree
he
became
the
first
actor.
Aeschylus,
Sophocles,
and
Euripides
were
three
prolific
playwrights
during
this
time
and
we
continue
to
produce
and
study
their
work
today.
o Aeschylus
added
a
second
actor
and
reduced
the
chorus
size
to
twelve,
using
multiple
masks
to
change
characters.
o Sophocles
built
on
what
Aeschylus
established,
and
added
a
third
character.
He
also
changed
the
chorus
size
to
fifteen
men.
o Euripides
has
always
been
considered
the
most
modern
of
the
three
(Wilson
and
Goldfarb),
who
blended
tragedy
and
comedy,
added
developed
female
characters,
and
expressed
skepticism
towards
religion.
Due
to
this
structure
of
drama
at
the
time,
masks
were
an
inventive
costume
piece
that
allowed
actors
to
change
into
many
different
characters
(including
women).
It
is
worth
noting
that
men
played
female
characters.
Since
women
were
not
citizens,
they
were
not
allowed
to
participate.
It
is
also
hypothesized
that
the
large
mouth
shapes
helped
to
amplify
the
wearers
voice.
Masks
can
be
made
from
materials
such
as
wood,
clay,
ivory,
metals,
leathers,
cloth
or
paper.
Some
masks
depict
realistic
human
features
and
some
are
stylistic
representations
of
emotions
or
character.
Theatrical
masks
can
represent
other
human
characters;
animals,
spirits,
or
other
imagined
figures,
but
all
serve
the
purpose
of
hiding
and
revealing
personalities
or
moods
(Britannica).
To
bring
the
mask
to
life,
the
wearer
must
fill
in
its
spaces
by
undergoing
a
physical
psychological
change.
The
localization
of
a
particular
spirit
in
a
specific
mask
must
be
considered
a
highly
significant
reason
for
its
existence
(Britannica).
With
this
intellectual
commitment
comes
an
automatic
transition;
becoming
subservient
to
that
of
the
personage
of
the
mask
(Britannica).
Because
the
mask
hides
the
wearers
features,
it
also
gives
the
wearer
a
level
of
anonymity,
which
can
lead
to
power.
It
is
for
that
same
reason
the
Ku
Klux
Klan
decided
to
veil
themselves
in
white
hoods:
the
anonymity
of
an
entire
group
is
both
cohesively
powerful
and
terrifying
to
the
spectator.
Kenneth
MacGowan
said
of
masks
that
they
are
an
expression
of
primal
instincts
of
imagery
and
religion,
they
thereby
gain
force
as
dramatic
symbols.
In
Gods
Country,
Dietzs
chorus
is
homage
to
the
ancient
Greek
convention.
The
directors
decision
to
mask
the
chorus
in
this
production
alludes
to
theatrical
history
and
also
to
the
power
of
groupthink
that
the
misled
yet
passionate
members
of
the
White
movement
rely
on
to
motivate
their
actions.
Once
the
wearers
face
is
covered,
they
are
able
to
take
on
another
spirit
and
conceal
their
identity,
therefore
separating
themselves
from
the
evil
they
project
onto
their
world.
TERMS
Affirmative
action:
is
a
policy
that
favors
those
marginalized
or
discriminated
against
in
a
society.
Defense
attorney:
the
attorney
representing
the
defendants
case.
10
eastern
central
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