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Kent Stetson has the knack —
a true gift if you will — of getting right to the heart of a play's essence,
delicately probing the spirit of the piece, and always suggesting the best
possible course for a rewriting strategy."
I have known Kent Stetson as
a valued colleague for a number of years. During this time I have
had many opportunities to work with him in both his capacities as director
and Dramaturg. Kent is a consummate theatre artist. He
brings a clarity of vision, a poetry of instinct, and a compassion for
the human condition to his work. He directed the premiere of my play,
Where Is Kabuki? in Toronto to much acclaim,managing the demanding
balance of actor, text and production flawlessly. Kent has dramaturged
a number of my plays. He is kind and yet uncompromising in this role.
He has the knack — a true gift if you will — of getting right
to the heart of a play's essence, delicately probing the spirit of the
piece, and always suggesting the best possible course for a rewriting strategy.
I have reached the point where I can hardly consider developing a play
without some salient input from him. In all respects, it is my pleasure
to wholeheartedly recommend Kent Stetson. Don Druick.
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Don Druick is an award winning playwright,
a baroque lutenist, and an avid herb gardener. His plays have been
produced throughout Canada, and in Europe, Japan, and the USA.
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Buddies in Bad Times 4-Play Festival Uncovers A Gem:
Where
Is Kabuki?
By Don Druick
Denise Grant, photographer
. . . is a genuinely
exciting piece of theatre.
The best new play I've seen this
season . . .
Impeccably directed by Kent Stetson . . .
Intensely focused and rich in detail
. . .
It's stunning!
Robert Crew, The Toronto
Star.
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One of the Funniest Men I
know
Kent is experienced,
smart, tough and one of the funniest men I know. If anyone can challenge,
cajole, nudge your writing to be the best it can, it's him.
Wanda Graham, award winning actress, playwright, prize-winning
screenwriter; one of the most talented (and beautiful) people I know!
(ks)
What's the Big Idea?
"Always, always, always be thinking
and writing about
big ideas."
I began writing plays featuring
lots of explosions and philosophers debating feverishly. Kent led
me to understand this was not the point. In a way 'big ideas'
was an original label for thematics, but he pushed me beyond that. A big
idea may not necessarily be tangible, explained, or understood. It
is something deep inside you, conscious, sub-conscious or unconscious,
that drives you to get up in the morning, pick up that pen, and get to work.
So now, rather than starting a plot outline or character
sketch, or beginning way too early with dialogue, the first question I ask
myself is: "What's The Big Idea?"
Jason Long is a recent graduate in Playwriting from The National
Theatre School of Canada, where he studied character generated plot with
Kent Stetson.
Advice You Can Use Throughout Your Life
as a Writer
"I always look forward to Kent‘s support
and guidance.
He makes me feel like a writer."
I think it's wonderful that
Kent is sharing his dramaturgical talent with the world. For those who
partake, I assure you — it will be informative and enriching.
Kent was Dramaturg for a play written by Berni Stapleton
and me, called A TIDY PACKAGE. Berni and I had been working
together for quite a few years writing stand-up comedy together.
A TIDY PACKAGE is a serious play about a very
serious and profound issue. Kent was instrumental in helping us organize
the issues, write a succinct treatment for the play, and understand our
goals for the project. Our work became more defined, less unnecessarily
complicated. His instincts are completely trustworthy.
He first recommended that Berni and I work separately, creating our own scenarios
for the play. Then the three of us worked together to combine the
best of both worlds.
I am eternally grateful for this; it gave
each of us a chance to explore our own ideas individually while instilling
a confidence in our own work. Kent never imposes ideas upon the writer,
but rather helps you explore and find the value of your
own ideas.
Amy House is an actress, a playwright and comedienne.
A Tidy Package toured Canada and The USA.
Hearing What You've Said;
the Rare Skill of the Dramaturg.
"Kent Stetson, while being an esteemed
and important author in his own right, is also one of the best dramaturges
it has been my fortune to work with. I can even tell you why.
It's pretty simple, really: Kent knows the difference between being a writer,
an audience member, and a dramaturg."
While my first love has always been
film, I got into writing for the stage for the simple reason that it was
a lot easier to see my work produced on stage than it would have been for
the screen. After several years and a seemingly endless amount of
mini-plays and aborted masterpieces I finally started coming into my own
as a writer, finding my own voice and carving out my own aesthetic niche.
Then I moved to Toronto.
I found myself, not long after I had arrived, as a member
of a playwright's writing group that had been organized by a prestigious
local theatre. It was supposed to be a dream come true.
It was a nightmare.
Why? One of the most dangerous things a writer
can do is put her own work in the hands of another. There's a great
difference between handing over a piece and saying "Enjoy," and handing
it over with the words "What do you think?" The former is our ultimate
goal. The latter is a necessary stage on the road to that goal.
But what you get back can make all the difference. For myself, in
this writing group, I found that we all reverted quite readily to the
style of dramaturgy that is based, however implicitly, on the "If I wrote
that, I would/wouldn't..." model. This model breeds only contempt,
insecurity and confusion. It does not help you discover what you
are really trying to get at. It only reinforces that awful sense
we all have that we're not as good as we should be. And, of course,
the equally useless sentiment that our peers are quite insane, if not utterly
talentless themselves.
Without a method of reading, without a framework as
rigorous as any decent critical mode, one descends quite easily into mere
opinion and personal instinct. This is dangerous for you as a writer,
as it makes you question your own impulses at the wrong time, and forces
you to hear an audience's voice far too early. If you wouldn't
be willing to show your work to the paying public at this stage, why throw
it to another audience for free? We need, as writers, to have
someone who can read our work in its nascent stages, and help us see what
it is we are trying to express. But that isn't necessarily going
to be another writer. What it should be is a dramaturg.
Having worked with Kent on a piece of my own, I not
only came to see what it was I was trying to express at the time, but also
what I seemed to be expressing without my intention, as well as a wide variety
of avenues down which I might go as I continued. Kent managed to
show me all this through a simple system of encouragement, specific questions
and tentative discoveries, all of which were geared towards helping me
uncover the piece I was writing, and not the piece Kent wanted me to write.
This is the key: you must always be wary of readers, for it is almost impossible
to read another's work and fight successfully the urge to "help them along"
with one's own instincts. Try reading another's work and see what
I mean.
Kent manages this feat unerringly, and consistently.
What he will show you is not what he would have written had he your ideas,
but rather — and much more importantly — what it is that you have written,
what you are writing currently and, hopefully, what it is you want to keep
writing. It's not magic really, but it is a skill few possess, which
makes it seem, when you are treated to it finally, quite magical.
For it is the method through which you, as a writer, might begin to see
what you're really saying, and not what others wish to hear.
Adam Barken is a Montreal Screenwriter. He studied
Advanced Play Writing with Kent Stetson at Concordia University.
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