Description
Book SynopsisA new edition of the celebrated introduction to dramaturgy training and practice. Perfectly suited for the undergraduate theatre classroom, this holistic guide includes chapter exercises for students to practice the skills as they learn. The new edition also incorporates recent theory and new resources on multimedia performance.
Trade Review“With wit, intelligence, and generosity, Michael Mark Chemers offers students a wide range of concrete, practical, and immediate entry points to the work of the dramaturg from classics to new plays, devised theatre, adaptations, and more. Grounded in history, theory, and textual analysis, this comprehensive handbook underscores with great effect the centrality of curiosity, questioning, creativity, collaboration, and expertise to dramaturgy and theatre making as a whole.”—Geoff Proehl, author of
Toward a Dramaturgical Sensibility “The first edition of
Ghost Light carefully broke down the role of the dramaturg and provided an intelligent and accessible perspective on the underpinnings of dramaturgy. Chemers now gifts us with a revised and updated text that carefully considers radical changes of the past decade and blind spots that can come up when writing. Particularly, this new edition addresses societal strife and the pervasive systems of oppression that have informed the recent past that theatre studies must address.”—Analola Santana, coeditor of
Theatre and Cartographies of Power: Repositioning the Latina/o Americas “
Ghost Light is the best book I can recommend to someone looking for a book that covers the history, theory, and practice of dramaturgy in one place. I never teach a Dramaturgy class without it! I appreciate Chemers updating this important contribution to the field to wrestle with and open up an academic and practical discussion about how cultural competency and identity play an ever-changing role in the way dramaturgy functions in art-making.”— Martine Kei Green-Rogers, past president of LMDA
“This second edition of
Ghost Light offers welcome updates to what has become a trusted introductory textbook for the study of dramaturgy in the United States. Featuring additions to his “theory capsules” as well as new approaches to the “Twelve Steps,” the insight Chemers offers in
Ghost Light is both practical and aspirational, a feat he accomplishes without losing his engaging, lively style of writing that at once demonstrates dramaturgy while explaining the long history and crucial role of the dramaturg in theatre.”— Jane Barnette , author of
Adapturgy: The Dramaturg’s Art and Theatrical Adaptation “For over a decade,
Ghost Light has welcomed newcomers with open arms to the rigorous building blocks that constitute contemporary dramaturgical practice. With this second edition, Chemers embraces the latest developments in an ever-diversifying field with his trademark humor, humility, and abiding love for this vocation we share. This book has earned an essential place in every dramaturg's library.”—Ken Cerniglia, editor of
Newsies: Stories of the Unlikely Broadway HitTable of Contents
- Foreword by Faedra Chatard Carpenter
- Preface to the Second Edition
- Preface to the First Edition
- Acknowledgments
- Part One: Philosophy
- 1. What the #$%@ Is a Dramaturg?
- 2. Historicizing Dramaturgy
- 3. Power Plays
- Part Two: Analysis
- 4. The Twelve-Step Program for Script Analysts
- 5. Form Follows Function
- 6. Why This Play Now?
- Part Three: Practice
- 7. New Plays
- 8. The Company
- 9. Audiences
- Appendixes
- A: The Casebook
- B: The Dramaturg’s Library
- C: Journals, Periodicals, and Online Databases
- D: Accessing Original Texts Online
- E: Recommended Play Anthologies
- Notes
