Dramaturgy.
I began my dramaturgical journey at the start of 2019. After much hard work and an application, I had the opportunity to travel with Baylor Theatre Graduate Program Director Dr. David Jortner and a fellow undergrad to Tokyo, Japan. Before flying off in the summer of 2019, we began looking for a way to bring the modern Japanese play Enjoy by Toshiki Okada to our American audience.
We found that our characters are experiencing something very familiar to us college students. Early adulthood is riddled with complications, pressure, and expectations interwoven into our modern society. Driven by our history and the generations before us, this is what our audience could connect with. Enjoy plays with language and communication as another reflection of the modern age.
Research
We started by looking at how Japanese traditional architecture interacted with the modern world. What stood out the most to me was how I could see these societal frames so well represented across the visual aesthetics of the city. This blend lead us to begin looking at how light interplayed with the geometry we observed.
Seeing the city light up both through the people, art, and architecture lead us to our next refinement in our design concept.
Photos by Charly Wood
After returning home, we explored this concept surrounding frames using both classic and modern Japanese architecture combined with our observations on light. The following research images were found as inspiration for the design team to tackle the incorporation of frames and light into our production. By using these frames of light, it allowed us to emphasize the messages throughout the play.
Research images from online sources
