One of the most fun parts of being a dramaturg is giving feedback to your collaborators. This could be talking to a director after a rehearsal or a playwright or screenwriter about a new draft of their script.
When feedback is done right, it can lead to the most interesting conversations. New ideas are created, insights are shared, and the creative juices start flowing. However, when feedback is done poorly, it can make people defensive, cause them to shut down, and even hurt the creative process.
Luckily, with a little practice, you can become an excellent feedback giver. Over the next few weeks we will talk about the four different steps to giving great dramaturgical feedback. As you go through each one, grab a friend or classmate and try it out! The more you practice, the better you will become!
Now, before we start with step one, we always want to give credit where credit is due. These four steps are based on a feedback process created by the amazing choreographer Liz Lerman. Lerman got really tired of people giving her really bad feedback, so she created a system called Liz Lerman’s Critical Response. These four steps are not exactly what she teaches (as they’ve been adapted for theatre and film), but they are very much inspired by it. So we want to give her a well-deserved shout out.
Now, back to step one. The first step to giving amazing dramaturgical feedback has very little to do with you saying anything. In fact, it has everything to do with you listening. Step one is to know the vision of your collaborator.
What does that mean? Well, whether you’re working with a director, playwright, or screenwriter, that person has put a lot of thought into what they are hoping to achieve. This could be a director who really wants to update a Shakespeare play to the modern era in order to explore questions about a certain political idea or a writer who is writing a script because she wants to explore themes about losing a loved one. Or a million other ideas.
Before you can ever respond to someone else’s work in a way that is helpful, you have to first understand what they are trying to do. Think about it – how can you help someone understand if what they are doing is working or not if you don’t actually know what they are trying to do in the first place? At best, your feedback just won’t make sense. At worst, it will try and convince them to do something that is at odds with what is most important to them.
So how do you get to know someone’s vision? The best thing to do is to simply ask! There are a couple of different ways you can do this. Here are just a few examples (though feel free to change the wording to make it more comfortable with your style):
- Could you tell me more about where the idea for your show came from?
- Is there a certain question or idea that you are hoping to explore through this script?
- Do you have any questions or ideas that you are hoping your audience will walk away with?
Of course, once you ask the question, you have to make sure you listen to the answer! Don’t be afraid to write down what your collaborator says so that you can refer back to it later. And don’t be afraid to ask follow-up questions about things you’re not sure you understand or that you want to learn more about. The better you understand the vision of your collaborator, the more you will be on the same page. Which sets you up for a fun, creative, collaborative experience.
That’s step one! Check back to learn about step two – observations.
Did you try it out? We’d love to hear about your experience! Feel free to share your story here.