Playwright as Enchanter: A Compositional Method in Dramatic Writing

Author

Georgina Hernandez Escobar

Publication Date

8-19-2011

Abstract

The plays The Circuz and The Ruin are shaped by a compositional method that I will describe as Playwright as Enchanter. I explore the use of semiotics, fantasy, myth, folklore, and the Pictoral Imagination and how they operate in original works from inception to production. I define the Pictoral Imagination as the access of visual images and the application of them as symbolic references. In the description of the set as laid out in the stage directions, and the choice of words and prose, the playwright has the ability of not only decoding meaning but assigning it as well. I demonstrate the techniques behind this method first, by showing the operative function of the Pictoral Imagination in writing, and then by illustrating the importance of myth, fantasy and folklore. This is further supported by the historical content that supports these techniques, specifically, as it relates to Latin American writers and thinkers. This work ends by mapping and offering an extended example of Playwright as Enchanter as if functions in my original pieces: The Circuz (2009) and The Ruin (2011).

Degree Name

Dramatic Writing

Level of Degree

Masters

Department Name

Theatre & Dance

First Committee Member (Chair)

Linnell, James

Second Committee Member

Avila, Elaine

Third Committee Member

Saldana, Carlos

Language

English

Keywords

Playwriting, Semiotics in literature, Fantasy in literature, Myth in literature, Folklore in literature, Visualization in literature, American drama--21st century

Document Type

Thesis

Recommended Citation

Hernandez Escobar, Georgina. "Playwright as Enchanter: A Compositional Method in Dramatic Writing." (2011). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/thea_etds/30