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Poor Lessing's
Theatre Almanack
What does a dramaturg do? How can a dramaturg be a valuable resource to a playwright? This page will answer not only why the playwright/dramaturg collaboration is so valuable, but how I do it. Many thanks to the playwrights that I have worked with---hope we work together again soon!
ARMOR by Toni Press-Coffman
An Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Commission
Synopsis: A play about a scientist who helps develop tank armor for the United States.
On the process: Ms. Helinsky shepherded the play through two drafts. A primary dramaturgical question I faced was how to tell the scientist's story despite the fact that his teenage daughter is the main character in the play and drives its action. Ms. Helinsky helped me grapple with this question structurally as well as through character choices. Because the play opens when the scientist is in a complex political position, the issue of exposition loomed large. Ms. Helinsky assisted me to discover ways to solve this problem structurally as well. I believe a grasp of structural accommodation to the play's story and themes was one of Ms. Helinsky's several dramaturgical strengths: a third way this manifested was her insight into how to convey crucial scientific information in a dramatically compelling way. As helpful as she was at viewing the "big picture" of my play's arc, she was equally helpful in helping me tackle its "small picture" problems. We discussed several scenes whose rhythms and builds she guided me through, asking questions that illuminated possible next steps. I would be grateful for the opportunity to work with Ms. Helinsky again. —Toni Press-Coffman
CATALINA DE ERAUSO by Elaine Romero
A reading for Borderlands Theatre, Tucson, Arizona 2007
Synopsis: On this epic journey, Catalina leaves her life in the convent on a journey to the new world as a man, and through a series of adventures and close calls, fate brings her back to her family---but will they accept her as she is?
On the process: As a playwright working in a development process, it's easy to get lost in the minutiae. Heather Helinsky possesses that unique ability to bring a playwright out of her head and to help her see the whole. And when I say the whole, I don't just mean the movement of the play, but the context of the play in light of other plays and the world at large. Heather's mind makes quick connections between what she sees on the page and what she knows. She's able to share her sharp insights enthusiastically. For me, they shed light on where I might take the play.
Working with me on CATALINA DE ERAUSO, Heather helped me evaluate the choices I was making with the story, enabling me to make some key structural choices. She was able to tell me which moments felt honest and which ones didn't. A good dramaturg knows it's not about supplying answers but asking questions. Heather has a huge talent for asking the right ones. —Elaine Romero
Pick of the Week by Tucson Weekly
DEECONSTRUCTION by Dee Ryan
A PUBLIC EXPOSURE reading at Pittsburgh Public Theater, 2009
Synopsis: While hiking in Scotland on her 40th birthday, Dee Ryan reaches an epiphany about the remodel of her 1912 Craftsman Bungalow. A hilarious, one-woman home renovation odyssey, as Dee negotiates the turbulent waters of piratical contractors, imperious architects, monster neighbors, and a clueless husband.
On the process: Heather Helinsky's dramaturgical help with DEECONSTRUCTION was invaluable. Her research and careful analysis of my script help deepen my writing and improve my play. I appreciate her dedication to my play. Heather's focus was always on the project, and I never felt her forcing her ego upon it or me. Heather asks the right questions. She's also patient waiting for the answers to those questions. Heather and I talked about the script, but we also talked around the script and this easy, thoughtful conversation led to many new discoveries. It was my joy to work with Heather. I hope to do it again with my next script. I hope that happens soon. —Dee Ryan
EARNEST by Joe and Andrew Doss
Synopsis: EARNEST is the true story of a black man condemned to death but determined to find life. It is the story of a lawyer, a priest, and a paralegal battling for air in a smothering system of death, while battling themselves as their client demands to grow and take them with him beyond their legal roles. It is the story of the choices with which we are all faced, and our common struggle with time. Finally, EARNEST is a story of life erupting out of a world of death.
A NIGHT WITH THE FAMILY by Matthew Ivan Bennett
A reading for Salt Lake Acting Company, Utah 2011
Synopsis: A dysfunctional family comedy with divorcees, staid partners, and newlyweds on Christmas Eve.
On the process: Heather gives you the rarest of gifts as a playwright: the combination of specific actionable criticism and the commitment to helping you write the play you want to write. She was immediately able to talk to me about individual beat sections and the relationship dynamics between characters, urging me to further exploit what was compelling and re-imagine what was flat. Usually what I hear is: "This isn't working" or "This section is weak," but Heather would both tell me that and draw me into a dialogue about how to enliven it, using what was already there. I appreciated that she was able to share her own experiences in our conversations about the characters' inner lives, and how she inquired about how aspects of my characters might be rooted in me. The effect was a return to the emotional well of the piece. We were working on comedy, but she pushed me to keep digging and deepening. The play was inarguably better after our long, but focused conversations. I will definitely be turning to her in the near future. —Matthew Ivan Bennett
RECOMMENDED READING FOR GIRLS by Ellen Struve
Great Plains Theatre Conference 2011 Womens Fund Emerging Playwright
Public reading
Nebraska Arts Council Independent Artist Fellowship 2011
Synopsis: When Amy comes home to help her mother through a difficult weekend, she encounters unexpected guests from her favorite childhood novels. A farm girl, a mountain girl, an on-again-off-again heiress, and a teen sleuth confound her ideas about their stories, herself, and the people she loves.
On the process: Heather Helinsky offers many tools to a writer. She brings a palpable energy and critical intelligence to the work, but most importantly, she provides the writer with something rare and sustaining during the revision process—hope. Her questions served as springboards. Knowing that I could rely on her sense of dramatic rhythm and structure freed me to make the exploratory, imaginative leaps that RECOMMENDED READING FOR GIRLS required. Once those leaps were made, Heather helped me discover ways to shape the play. Heather has an ear for emotional truth and an easy, honest method of delivery that makes working with her a delight. —Ellen Struve
STAYERS AND GOERS by Todd Kreidler
A PUBLIC EXPOSURE reading at Pittsburgh Public Theater, 2008
Synopsis: A mystery. A quest. Set in rural Western Pennsylvania, a son returns to home to dig up an inheritance buried on the ruin grounds of the family homestead.
On the process: I was laboring alone in my backyard shed till I met Heather Helinsky. Working with her was a move to an exciting, fully-equipped dramaturgical facility! All the dramatic tools, philosophy, sociology and history you need are on the quick tip of her mind or soon ready at her fingertips. Heather is a rare concoction of fierce intellect, deep empathy and grace. She knows how to work with writers. Questions, encourages, listens, challenges – yet totally egoless. Helps you find form in the formless. And she's got your back technically too. Would never let you mix metaphors – but she's not editing this so I can write that Heather will ride along no matter how crazy you hike, drive or fly – even when you don't know where the hell you're going! She's GPS, compass, flashlight, lantern and fire! Ever packed, willing and passionate for theatrical adventure.
On STAYERS AND GOERS, Heather led me to uncover the hidden core of the play, challenging me to embrace the spiritual elements I feared. Structurally, she suggested a change I hated for weeks but turned out to be gold. Her suggestion solved the problem that the play began twice and also grounded the world of the piece, clearly set the tone and allowed an ease of storytelling that weeded thickets of expository from early scenes. As testament to her ability to help concentrate storytelling: at the start of our process the play had fourteen scenes – now there are nine. Can't wait for the next opportunity to be in the rehearsal room with Heather! —Todd Kriedler
With Caridad Svich:
- IN YOUR ARMS A contemporary love story about a fox, a garden, a man and two women (all in their 30s) that explores the tensions between the natural and the urban world, the complexities of love and the nature of truth, and the possibility for transformation and wholeness.
- GRACE Who are you when you fall in love? What will you do to keep the memory of that first, impassioned glance alive? In this dream-like, poetic play, a man named Stephen falls for the image of a woman named Lily. The play charts their marriage as it undergoes a series of transformations, harsh, cruel and tender, while their child, caught in the middle, tries to grow up. A story of blinding, crushing love, illness, beauty, betrayal, neglect, sacrifice and impossible healing.
- FOR LOVE (a play in progress) Alice and Adam (both in their 20s) meet at a boho lounge/bar in Brooklyn on a rainy night. Drifting in and out of a crowd, their meeting leads to an impulsive romance followed by an equally impulsive decision to get married. Adam is felled by an illness, which requires a transplant. Alice chooses to be the donor. In what should be a routine operating procedure, Alice dies. And so the story of Adam without Alice, and Alice in the underworld begins in this text-movement-theatre piece very freely inspired by Euripides' Alcestis.
- GUAPA In a small Texas town, caught in the long history of class struggle & racism, live Roly, a single mother, and her makeshift family. Taken in by the family is a young woman named simply Guapa (Beautiful), who dreams of playing women's soccer. This is a story about a working class community trying to make ends meet with magical dreams of sports, graffiti, birds in flight, indigenous history, trauma, recovery, and the viable possibilities of a better life.