Dramaturgical Analysis

Dramaturgy is often referred to as being a very ‘slippery’ and indefinable word; though there are standard definitions available for us to find, we cannot seem to comprehend these definitions without exceptions arising. For example, the online Oxford English Dictionary defines dramaturgy as either being a ‘dramatic composition; the dramatic art’ or as ‘dramatic or theatrical acting.’ However, words such as ‘composition’ can be highly vague, leaving itself open to broad interpretations and debates via the scholars of drama and theatre studies. Similarly, we are left to question what exactly the role of a dramaturg is, and whether they perform this role alone or share it; as no one has actually established a clear definition of what

The theory of dramaturgy is considered a micro theory, under the category of “interpretive”, which also includes interactionism, ethomethodology, and phenomolohy.

Erving Goffman was a sociologist known for developing the symbolic interaction and dramaturgical theory perspective. The dramaturgical theory is a social psychological perspective that studies human behavior and social interaction in terms of the analogy of the theater. This perspective is also related to symbolic interactionism. Symbolic interactionism is a theory based on interaction and communication, facilitated by many different words, gestures, and other symbols that have acquired various meanings. Dramaturgical theorist focus on how people manipulate various aspects of themselves and their settings to influence how others define and respond to them. In this perspective, “the self” is constructed of the various roles that one acquires, in order to present their various selves in ways that sustain particular impressions to their audiences. “The self” is a private possession established in and reflective of an individual’s personality, which includes ones values, beliefs, motives, traits, and dispositions. In addition, a person’s “self” is acquired through social relationships and is a structurally fundamental process that may change due to various situations. As humans interact with one another they are placed in social categories based on their attributes and actions. These assessments are primarily based on ones knowledge of roles.

This last half term we’ve been looking at challenging stereotypes and misconceptions. To begin with we were given stimulus in the form of photographs; these prompted each of us to have thoughts on what was shown. The image showed a man or woman staring stone faced through the many legs of passers by. My feeling towards this photograph was partly sympathy; however I knew I would just be one of the many people who would walk past. Stereotypes can interfere; one of the first things that came into our minds was things like drugs and gambling. This makes you feel less sorry for the person and immediately ideas that could be entirely untrue come into your head.

Since it's summer we don’t usually use an alarm. Since no one is really working summer is the family vacation season. We wake up whenever we like. The school year is always intense since everyone will be running into each other in order to get to work.

When applying Erving Goffman’s theory of dramaturgy to social networking media such as Facebook, it can be observed that people present themselves to others to appear more desirable. People presenting themselves to be more desirable on Facebook can be seen in the artifact of the Catfish Movie- Trailer (Universal Pictures, 2010). While looking at Facebook as a stage in terms of Dramaturgy it can be viewed that impression management, performance, and front and back stage are consciously or unconsciously used by Facebook’s users, which will all be applied in context of Facebook users. Dramaturgy will be applied using Facebook as the stage due to it being the “most dominant social networking platform” (Duggan & Smith, 2013), although Goffman’s Dramaturgy is limited to face-to-face interactions, Dramaturgy can still be observed when looking at Facebook users due to the social interaction between one another. Due to users convenience of being able to monitor what images they put up of themselves, such as pictures, friends, and groups, they are able to seem more desirable to their peers then they may actually be which will be displayed through Catfish and the application of four scholar articles.

The learning experience that is theatre can be very similar to a rolling snowball. Each and every show gives me something new that I keep with me on the rest of my journey. Whether it be the mastering of a double pirouette or the acquiring of a new accent, I can remember shows based upon what I collected. This year is not an exception, but it is certainly a special case. Being a senior has been a rocky road, but in turbulence I have found wisdom. After playing Bert most recently in Mary Poppins, I did more than just refine my tap dancing. I got to experience firsthand the miraculous power of theatre.

Besides Gramsci, Marcuse, and Chakrabarty, another person that makes me think about structure and agency is Goffman. According to his dramaturgical analysis, people are all actors and actresses performing on the stage. At the front stage, with the help of props and nonverbal communications, people behave or perform accordingly based on their roles. People put on different masks when they interact with different people, and there are certain elements that they do not want others to see when they are at the back stage (Goffman 1956). For example, a man might be at all the same times a father, a son, a religious devotee, a teacher, a volunteer, an avid rock music fan, a photographer, and a vlogger. At all these different roles, he might present himself differently. He might be a caring and considerate father who enjoys cooking for his family, but at the meantime he might be a very serious teaching who always wears suit and tie and seldom smiles in class. In the meantime, he sings along and dance crazily at a rock music concert, and as a vlogger he always speaks funny on YouTube. On the hand, we can say that all his behaviors are determined by the structure, because the structure or the collective consciousness determines what is appropriate or inappropriate at different settings. On the other hand, his agency jumps in and makes the decisions of whether or not he performs the role in the most socially accepted ways. In fact, while he performs the different roles differently in

A couple weeks ago we had a meeting at our daughter’s dance studio. It was a day before dance recital and her teacher wanted to make sure that everyone is ready for the big day, so the show will go smoothly. The teacher, students and parents were present. Dance teacher went through the rules and requirements for dancers, such as when they should come and get ready, when to go on stage and what to wear if they decide to go to the audience after performance. In addition, she talked to parents and explained several rules, such as no photography or video recording, which way to go to dressing rooms, etc. Parents asked a few questions about hair requirements and upcoming dress rehearsal. Status of “dance teacher” is formal and she performed her

Cis-actors, or a significant omission of the text, not only loses the purpose of doing such piece,

Musical theatre is a cherished topic of interest across the cities of Australia with each production touring, rehearsing and performing with passion, talent, determination, zest and undeniable gratitude of their place on the stage. This comparison of mass media will explore two reviews of Annie the musical; one performed by the Adelaide Youth Theatre and the other by the Australian Touring Cast. Each performance was critiqued with an aim to inform the audience about the shows quality. The Adelaide Theatre Guide reviewed an amateur performance by the youths of South Australian, whereas the Brisbane Times critiqued the professional Touring Australian Cast.

“Though the concept of dramaturgy and the practice of the dramaturg are widely accepted and established across mainland Europe, this is still not the case in the UK”

With the development of modern technologies, millions of individuals are constantly connected with the digital world, where some individuals may correlate social media platforms as real life. However, it is reasonable to state that due to the vulnerability of teenagers and their difficult transformations, both mentally and physically, social media could have various influences on teenagers, that including low self-esteem. Erving Goffman's dramaturgical theory can help explain how one’s identity development is framed while on these social sites as well as while offline. Using collected data, qualitative methods have shown that such things like surveys that are randomly sampled can help approach this link between social media and an individual's sense of self. Although there were no significant relations identified, results indicate that social media platforms can possibly have a negative effect on individuals sense of self.

Burker’s als used Dramatistic pentad the critics can used to discern the motive of a speaker or writer by labeling five key elements:. Dramatistic pentad and the five element was used to help understand communication events. Pentad element can also be applied in our day to day lives. The five elements of human drama, which Burke called the pentad was used to help critic to understand the rhetorical message. Act, scene, agent, agency and purpose. The five element of dram that can help audiences to understand a story. The scene is the place where the action of the act take place, the location, the time of the event. The Act is the main meaningful part of a drama, the act motivated, entertainment the audience, action such as moving or speaking.

The Theatre of the Absurd began in the early 1950s and was influenced by four major events of that time- World War I, World War II, liberalism and epidemics. The two wars had a deep impact on the European population and they started questioning their values and beliefs about society and soon started opening up to new ideas.