by Shelley Graham, dramaturg Often one of the dramaturg's major responsibilities is to help the cast and production team understand and truly live in the world of the play. Because of the condensed timeline for this show, there was a dramaturgy presentation as part of the first rehearsal. The cast was given some basic information about Gilbert and Sullivan's history and a quick primer on theatre in the Victorian era, and that was it! The rest of the historical context, visual image research, and production history was available to the cast as part of an online learning module that they could access outside rehearsal time. But as we moved into the unique process of first recording the final tracks and then going into blocking and choreography, it became clear the another of my responsibilities as a dramaturg would be to document this creative approach. Below is a video slideshow of our process, including the studio recording, blocking and choreography rehearsals, and the filming. We hope you enjoy learning a bit more about how we created this one-of-a-kind performance!
