This class taught us ways to analyze play scripts, through paying attention to the dramatic structure and being aware of the conventions used. There were a few options for the final project and I chose the directing option.
The assignment was to choose a script and create a unique concept, blocking diagrams for two scenes, a set moodboard, as well as some additional materials. We also had to justify why producing the play is important and research the play from a dramaturgical perspective. I chose the play Tribes by Nina Raine because I wanted to look at a play that involved Deaf characters. I think that telling those stories are very important. They're not stories that are told very often, and theatre is not always accessible to Deaf audiences. But it also lends itself to telling those stories so well. American Sign Language is such a theatrical language because of the way it takes up space, and I love seeing it on stage. I chose a very intimate setting to mimic Deaf spaces and emphasize the family. This setting can be seen below in the blocking notes for the first scene.
Because the story of Tribes is about a Deaf person who was denied access to American Sign Language, my concept was to have the character be played by two actors: a Deaf Billy and a Speaking Billy. I was able to use what I had learned in the class in order to understand the script better. The themes of community and identity were very clear with my analysis- Billy is torn between his family who sees him as hearing, and by the pull of the Deaf community, which he wants to be a part of. One of the strategies in the class is to look at the first and last lines of the play in relationship to each other, and that was one thing that really informed my concept. I was very proud of my concept.