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  • 1.  Dramaturgy for the Insanity of Mary Girard

    Posted 01-09-2018 12:03
    My Drama I classes have started work on the play and I'd like them to do some dramaturgy for the play. If you have done this before, would you mind sharing a list of what you had them research? I have a few points to research" Dr Rush, treatment of mentally ill in 1790, women's rights in 1790, and the Girards themselves. Ideally, I'd like to have have least 10 things to research.

    Thank you in advance!

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    Ken Buswell
    Drama Teacher
    Peachtree City, GA
    http://mcintoshtheater.org/

    Theater kills ignorance
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  • 2.  RE: Dramaturgy for the Insanity of Mary Girard

    Posted 01-10-2018 08:06
    Good exercise for your students.

    You might have them create a timeline for how the field of psychiatry developed and how Mary’s case might be dealt with today. Also, how rudimentary the requirements were to even call oneself a doctor in 1790. You might include a section on the playwright - how and why this idea was developed. Maybe include other important play productions of this play. Explore other related theme plays like “Marat Sade” or “The Madness of King George”. Perhaps have your students interview the director, designers, actors about how they came to their decisions about presenting this play. Maybe reach out to area organizations in your area that deal with persons experiencing mental health issues today and provide a link for your audiences to seek more info if needed. Perhaps organize some kind of talk back after each show moderated by a mental health expert and involving the cast and production team.



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  • 3.  RE: Dramaturgy for the Insanity of Mary Girard

    Posted 01-10-2018 13:38
    I'm not sure if this will be helpful to you or not, but I live just down the street from Girard College in Philadelphia and would be happy to help your students with any local research if that would be helpful! Especially if they want any photos or access to local documents.

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    Alexander Dzurick
    Philadelphia PA
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    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Dramaturgy for the Insanity of Mary Girard

    Posted 01-11-2018 15:25
    Thank you both for the responses! 
    We're not actually performing the play - just using it for character and scene work. I'm vaguely considering it for our one-act next year. We started the research yesterday looking up the following topics:

    Stephen Girard

    Mary Girard, Polly, Sally Bickham

    Dr. Rush

    Licensing for Doctors

    Pennsylvania Hospital

    Rights of women in 1790

    Psychiatry in 1790 / treatment of mental illness

    Personalities of the Furies

    Scene breakdown

    Vocabulary

    Previous Productions



    ------------------------------
    Ken Buswell
    Drama Teacher
    Peachtree City, GA
    http://mcintoshtheater.org/

    Theater kills ignorance
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Dramaturgy for the Insanity of Mary Girard

    Posted 01-12-2018 13:05
    I have my students do dramaturgical research for every play we produce in a class setting. 

    The first thing we do is read-through the play out loud, switching the students reading lead roles pretty frequently.  While we are reading, each student keeps a list of what we need to find out.  Their lists may contain such disparate items as "Luggage of the time", "Who was -----?", or "What is___?"  I am frequently shocked at what and who they do not know. 

    They submit their lists digitally.  (We use Canvas right now.)  I compile them into one big list and sort into general categories.  Then we begin the research.

    I usually have students paste pictures and chunks of text into a document, pasting in the URL after each piece.  We have a data projector, which makes it easy for students to present to the entire class.  I have had students make PowerPoint presentations a couple of times, but I find some of them get really hung up on pretty backgrounds for really lousy information.  Documents are also more usable for production, as I can delete everything but the pictures or text I want to print for various binders or to post around the room.

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    C. J. Breland
    Asheville High School
    Asheville NC
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    Original Message


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