DramaticImpulse

From the Dramaturgy mailing list:

If a play makes no reference to being set in a particular place, and heck,
just for argument’s sake, even if it does, is there an artistic or moral
obligation to maintain the dialect used in the play’s premiere and most (I
presume) subsequent productions?

My first reaction would be that it is the artistic team’s choice, if 1) the dialect is not necessary to the rhythm and music of the text, and 2) the setting is not central to the storyline (IE, it they play never mentions that it is set in Yorkshire, and none of the story revolves around it being in Yorkshire, why would it be necessary to use a Yorkshire accent?).

Additionally, some thought does have to be given to the audience and it’s ability to comprehend the text. This is a secondary issue, of course. But I have worked on English language plays which were intended for a Russian speaking audience — often with very basic English skills. In such a case, I’d seriously consider standardizing the dialect.

One more point to ponder — a dialect can signify a serious character choice. Might it not be worth saving dialect work for where it can make the most powerful impact?

(March 26th, 2006) Well, how about that. My work on Orpheus X has not gone totally unnoticed even though I have not been in the rehearsal process. From The Boston Globe:(snip the beginning of the article)

‘’I thought we needed something fresh,” Woodruff says over the phone. The questions in the Orpheus myth that interested him, he says, went beyond the obvious, instantly grasped longing of a bereaved husband.

‘’What triggers emotion? What triggers mourning? What triggers loss?” Woodruff muses. In doing some research on mourning as he began thinking about working with Eckert again, he came across^ the story of a man who had been a passenger in a car that struck and killed someone.

‘’You would think that he would be several steps removed, because he wasn’t the direct agent of that death,” Woodruff says. ‘’But he felt totally responsible: ‘If I didn’t leave my apartment at this hour, if I weren’t in a rush . . .’ It triggered the same feelings as if a loved one had died.”

(snip part of article)

‘’Once you name Orpheus, I’m pretty much done looking around,” (COMPOSER RINDE) Eckert says with a laugh. ‘’And then it became necessary for us to figure our way through this mythology. [The ART staff]* gave me the usual 10,000 pages of dramaturgical material –” he laughs again — ‘’and I got to work.”

^ How’d he come across it? Ahh! Attack of the Dramaturg!
* In case you didn’t realize, that’s me! Yessirree. And, of course, the two lovely assistant directors who did a lot of culling, reading, and copying of material with me during the workshop.