genevievedurst
Ambition and laziness
I’ve been reading a lot of Mac Rogers’ words in the past few weeks, because my final was a dramaturgical exploration of his very excellent play Viral. I came across this article of his that really had no place in my blog or essays but is truly excellent. He’s a guest blogger on Larry Pontius’ […]
The Play: A Critical Response
The Play is part of DigitalTheatre’s Gulf Stage project. Gulf Stage is “a unique digital project that transcends geographical barriers through artistic innovation” (http://www.digitaltheatre.com/collections/gulfstage). The process of development was to set up a competition for six countries in the Middle East to produce and perform a play for film which would then be streamed via […]
An Iliad at Arts Emerson (#latetotheparty)
My post about Denis O’Hare’s An Iliad is late; I am posting my thoughts here after the run at ArtsEmerson has closed. This does not concern me, however, because I have enormous faith that this production will find its way to a long and powerful touring run. An Iliad was one of the most remarkable […]
Reflections on the past week in Boston
The past week in Boston felt like (I ask you with my whole heart to please forgive me for this:) a marathon. Many hearts broke in many different ways, and many wounded people reached into themselves in order to find words to communicate their experience. Stuck inside for so much of the week, I found […]
Approaches to Criticism
I recently encountered Dominic Taylor’s “Two Considerations for Criticism.” This article, published on howlround, suggests that there are two central ideas that he does not hear critics discussing: 1) The primary function of the work 2) The primary audience The idea that critics do not consider this frightens me, and yet, I witness it from […]
Implicit Bias test
This is the link to Harvard’s Implicit Association Test to determine implicit bias.
Tim Crouch interview
Here is the link to a magnificent interview between Tim Crouch and Caridad Svich.
The Human Variations
Over the weekend, I had the good fortune to go to New York City and see a piece of experimental physical theatre. The piece was titled, The Human Variations: a dramatic symphony and is a compilation of work that the Blueprint Theater Project has been composing for the past four years. The structure of The […]
Notes from an AD
I have just wrapped up my responsibilities as Assistant Director of Boston University’s recent production of Margaret Attwood’s The Penelopiad (running until next Friday at the Wimberly). Since Winter Storm / Blizzard / Snowpocalypse Nemo put us behind our rehearsal schedule, it has been a race against time to bring all aspects of the production […]
A Piece of a Feminist Manifesto
During Winter Storm Nemo I came across a Suzanne Venkner article from Fox News and have been fuming about it ever since. Now, I rarely side with articles that are from Fox News, but this one I felt to be particularly ignorant and frightening. The title of the article? To be happy, we must admit women and […]
Language and Perception
I recently came across this New York Times article by Israeli linguist Guy Deutscher, which outlines “the influence of the mother tongue on our thoughts,” both as a sort of pseudo-science in the 1940s and as a modern field of theory. Deutscher’s thesis begins with the tracking of simple influences. One that is very interesting […]
Perspective
There has been a recent outbreak of violence in the Boston University community. Over the course of the past six months a series of armed robberies centralized primarily in the (normally very safe) North Brookline neighborhood have shaken the student body. As a young woman living in Brookline, my irritation over this inconvenience has turned […]
Childlike Wonder
Of course you can construct meaning in this world in many different ways. Construct it in the most inclusive way you can. There will still be more to see. -Elinor Fuchs Over the break I had the extreme good fortune to go to Hawaii. A much-needed repose from the real world, I was able to […]
Dear blog community, I really, really have no idea what to do with this information. It makes me want to cry a little bit. Can anyone talk me out of being upset by this? Is there any way this will NOT be horribly commercialized?Yours truly,-Genevieve
Universality, and specificity, and audience
Specificity is a tool for release. You can only do one thing at a time. You can achieve universality through specificity. Why this play, in this moment, in this place, for these people? These are just a few fun phrases that you, too, could pick up after four years of theatre conservatory! But seriously, they’re […]
This post is cheating
(At least, it’s cheating where my bold, noble 10-posts-in-10-schooldays goals are concerned.) It’s cheating because it’s a plug! I am always so inspired by explorations of movement, whether it be in class, on stage or just watching people on the street. For this and many other reasons, I think you should try and get out […]
Theatrical Consumerism
I don’t really have a lot of original thoughts for this one but a few of my facebook friends put a link to this article on their facebook pages and I think it’s worth reading. Probably not a lot of new information for those who already read this blog, but still worthwhile. There was one […]
Theatrical Blacklisting and Forgiveness
I’ve been thinking a lot recently about a concept that may or may not be petty. In my experience as a theatre artist, I have been blessed to work with some lovely collaborators. I’ve learned what kind of people I love working with, styles I gel with, different avenues through which to overcome obstacles. Often, […]
Argo / The Company We Keep
Over Thanksgiving break I saw Argo at the Lowe’s theater right off the Boston Common. It’s a fantastic movie, but don’t worry if you haven’t seen it yet; I won’t spoil it. I just want to talk about why I loved Argo as an audience member and how I can translate that into my artistry. […]
The 10-day Coward’s Challenge
Somehow I’ve managed to get really off-course with this whole Dramaturgy blog post thing. I’m really behind, in that thinking about how many posts I need to write to catch up has been the obsession in the back of my head to return to when I can’t find anything else to worry about. I love […]
Drama Lit Blog 2.0: BU School of Theatre 