from Ghost light: an introductory handbook for dramaturgy
By Michael M. Chemers
In some theaters, dramaturges have the responsibility of curating lobby displays. Such displays can take virtually any form, but many theaters have display cases or other hardware especially designed for this kind of presentation. It is an opportunity for the designers to showcase their work by displaying rendering and models, and audiences one to see these kinds of things because they convey a certain level of insight into the process usually reserved for insiders. This is another opportunity for the dramaturg to cultivate the ideal mindset in the audience. The display is a great place for exploring the production more deeply, for instance, by presentation information that doesn’t fit into the program notes or including visual research that enriches the audience experience (like charts, timelines, maps, photographs, and the like).Remember, the lobby display is something audience will probably confront three times: before the show, at intermission, and after the show. Consider how their attitudes and insights will change with each confrontation. Making a provocative lobby display requires forethought and creativity but can really pay off for the dramaturgy of the show. One example that stands out in my mind was the display at a 2007 production of a documentary-theater piece entitled In Their Own Words, which was set in 1900 and dealt with issues of Europeans immigrating to the United States. The dramaturg, Brianna Allen, had erected a tall board that posted in two columns quotes from immigration (and anti-immigration) activists from 1900 and from 2007; the reader was staggered by how similar the rhetoric was. Nothing could have brought home WTPN better.
