Last Frontier Theatre Conference: Cyrano’s team on playwright-dramaturg relationships

June 15, 12:15 AMAnchorage Theater ExaminerMaia Nolan

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The Last Frontier Theatre Conference opened in Valdez this weekend, and while I can't be here for the whole week, I did manage to make the drive down yesterday in time to help load in "8 Stars of Gold," a play I co-wrote for Perseverance Theatre, which will be on the mainstage tonight.  We don't go into rehearsal until today, so yesterday afternoon I made it to a couple of interesting sessions.

Playwright Arlitia Jones, director Bostin Christopher and dramaturg Jayne Wenger sat down to talk about "Make Good the Fires," which Cyrano's Theatre Company commissioned from Jones as part of its 2009 statehood celebration world premiere series.  Jones recounted how Cyrano's artistic director Sandy Harper pitched her the concept (originally a one-woman show about Socialist organizer Lena Morrow Lewis, although two characters were later added) at last year's conference.  Jones said she wasn't sure at first that she wanted to write the play, but ultimately, "Sandy's passion for this history and this woman won me over," she said.  It was a good lesson in seizing opportunity.

"When you get asked to do something ... say yes," Jones said.  "It's opened incredible opportunities for me."

Harper engaged Wenger to serve as dramaturg, a role that Wenger admits is sometimes kind of a "dirty word" in theatrical circles.  With an established script, a dramaturg may help ensure that a production gets historical and creative details right, but with a new play, a dramaturg acts as an editor, sounding board and advisor. 

"One of the things that dramaturgs do is ask questions that no one else can," Wenger said.

Jones and Wenger had never worked together before, but soon found themselves enjoying their developing relationship, particularly as they started digging into Lewis's world.

"Arlitia and I know a lot more about Marx than we ever thought we would," Wenger said. 

Jones, Wenger and Christopher live in three different towns in two states (Alaska and California), so they used Skype to do their first read-through with volunteer actors, and later met up at Wenger's home for a retreat.  Combining all their creative visions — along with the visions of the technical and creative team members — wasn't always easy, but because they had previously worked together over Skype and on their retreat, they were able to make rapid progress despite setbacks that included the loss of an actor and the eruption of Mount Redoubt.

"We were able to go further with the play that first week" because of the earlier work sessions, Christopher said.

Wenger advised playwrights and directors working on original productions to use their preview audiences to gauge the need for any last-minute adjustments.  Sit in the back of the house, she said, listen for candy wrappers rustling, and get a sense of the oxygen in the room.  Use that information to figure out what — if anything — needs to be fixed.

"Get in as many previews as you can," she said.