Kyle Samuel

Professor Brewer

ENG 201

29 March 2017

Analysis of Writing in Theatre Arts/Acting

Introduction

The theatre arts discipline encompasses a broad range of subdisciplines that all fall

under this umbrella term. Some of these subcategories are stage design, directing,

wardrobe, acting, musical theatre, and education. I will specifically be analyzing writing

that falls into the Theatre Arts education subcategory because I am not familiar with

writing in all of the other different subcategories but I can imagine they all vary slightly

especially in terms of category specific language and terms. I chose to look at writing in

Theatre Arts education because it is the type of writing I have to read on a weekly basis for

my major and because the professor I chose to interview, JV Mercanti, is a Theatre Arts

educator.

Theatre, in particular acting, is a tricky subject to write about because this is a very

practical discipline that relies heavily on hands-on experience and practice. This discipline

does not rely on writing or utilize it very much. Writing is not valued as much as practical

professional experience in this discipline. It is not possible to fully understand an acting

concept from solely reading about it and not applying the knowledge to a hands-on

experience. All writing in the theatre arts discipline is written to support practical work.

Methods

Im very familiar with the discipline Im discussing but not with all aspects of it. For
example, Im very familiar with the literature in this discipline and Ive done a small amount

of writing in this discipline, but I dont have the first hand experience of writing in this

discipline for anything other than responding to writing in this discipline. All of the writing

Ive done in the Theatre Arts has been in response to someone elses published writing in

this field. To find one of the articles I used for research, Drama as Literature, I used the

database platform EBSCO and searched their database titled, The International Bibliography

of Theatre & Dance. I chose this database because of its extensive refining tools that let me

narrow down my search. I chose the Drama as Literature article because it encompasses

several elements of writing such as multiple authors and quotes from different experts in

the field that I think are common in this discipline. The other article I chose to examine I

found through a theatrical community website called Backstage.com because I know this

website is a reputable source that many experts in the Theatre Arts discipline often

contribute articles to. There are hundreds of articles on this website but I selected an

article titled, 9 Tricks for Tackling Shakespeare, because the expert that wrote it, JV

Mercanti, happens to be the person I interviewed.

JV received an MFA from Rutgers University and a BA from NYUs Gallatin School of

Individualized Studies. He worked as a casting associate for Roundabout Theatre Company

for many years and is currently the head of acting for the musical theater program at the

Pace School of Performing Arts. As the head of acting for my program, JV was the first

person that popped into my head when thinking of who to interview because he has

published literature in this discipline, I know how knowledgeable he is about writing in this

discipline, and as a faculty member here at Pace, he is a resource that is readily available to

me on a daily basis. In our interview, I asked JV questions like: what kind of rules for
writing are unique to the Theatre Arts discipline and what kinds of writing does our

discipline value? These questions opened up some great discussion and really gave me a

good idea of what writing is like in the theatre arts from JVs perspective.

Theoretical Frame and Literature Review

When it comes to breaking down and closely examining the writing in the theatre

arts discipline, I discovered that most of the themes I found in the writing are supported by

the ideas Teresa Thonney presents in the article, Teaching the Conventions of Academic

Discourse. In this article Thonney outlines six common themes she found in her analysis of

academic writing. One of the themes is that academic writers respond to other writing in

their discipline. Thonney says, By referring to what others have said about a topic, writers

accomplish two things: they show that they are addressing an issue that matters, and

they establish that there is more to be said about it (349). I would argue that the most

common form of writing in the theatre arts discipline is writing to respond to someone

elses ideas or work. For example, in JVs 9 Tricks for Tackling Shakespeare article he

responds to a chunk of Shakespeares writing by saying, Take Juliets line, Romeo, Romeo,

wherefore art thou Romeo? Its easy to assume that wherefore means where are (you)?,

as if Juliet is calling Romeo to her side. But in actuality, she is asking why? Juliet is saying

Why are you Romeo, a Montague, instead of someone my family will let me love?

(Mercanti). This demonstrates the theme Thonney presents. JV writes a response to

Shakespeares writing because he believes there is more to be said about it by offering a

translation or clarified meaning of the text using his academic knowledge on the subject.

In addition to Thonneys six common themes in Academic writing, she also adds

that, Another way writers create an ethos of authority is by using a high percentage of
meaning-carrying words (354). The point shes making here is that academic writing is

concise. Writing as concisely as possible is a trait that writing in the theatre arts discipline

highly values. In my interview with JV he mentioned that the theatre arts discipline values

simple, practical language in writing. Being concise is an element to writing in this

discipline that is crucial. If the text is too complex and the language to flowery, it will not

benefit the reader who is often a theatre student trying to grasp an idea from the text. In

the theatre arts discipline, you are only doing a disservice to your reader if you choose to

not write in a concise style.

Findings and Discussion

I really enjoyed interviewing JV and finding out what his take on writing in his

discipline is. I think I was most surprised to discover that when I asked JV, a published

author in the theatre arts discipline, how his field values writing he said, my discipline

doesnt value writing. We value practical professional experience over reading about it

(Interview 23 March). I think that is fascinating. In my own personal experience, I have

found great value in reading writing in this discipline. It has been absolutely illuminating to

me in my studies of acting and theatre for the past three years at Pace University. But when

I reflect on his response, I understand what he means. If I wasnt in school studying acting, I

dont think I would have ever sought out literature in this field because JVs absolutely

right. A lot of the literature in this discipline is about different methods to use in your

acting and it tends to be very instructional and informational and most actors would rather

learn from doing than reading. As JV said, any writing in our discipline is to support

practical work(Interview 23 March).

When it comes to the style of writing in the theatre arts JV said, simple and
practical are the best ways to write about acting(Interview 23 March). This discipline

doesnt use a lot of fancy, elaborate, or dense language. Over all the writing is somewhat

casual and conversation like. Obviously this changes from author to author but effective

writing in this discipline is written in the most simple, straightforward way possible. This is

definitely not an accident. Most writing in this discipline serves to be an instructional guide

for the reader and often the ideas being discussed or taught are complex, irrational

concepts. The key to becoming a successful writer in the theatre arts discipline is your

ability as an author to make complex concepts as accessible and easily understood as

possible. JV wrote an article for Backstage.com titled, 9 Tricks for Tackling Shakespeare

and in the middle of the article says this in response to an excerpt from Hamlet, one breath

should take you from O to dew! This is how one acts Shakespeare on the line. You must

maintain the flow of thought and language. Just because the line breaks doesnt mean your

thought does as well (Mercanti). JV is discussing how to speak a particular line for the most

clarity, and this is a great example of the practical and direct language utilized in this

discipline. Telling the reader in simple terms how to execute a task so that after he or she

puts down the book, they can apply that knowledge to their physical work.

Im really glad that I chose to analyze writing in a field Im currently studying

because it gave me a chance to closely study all the elements that make up the writing Im

reading and engaging with on a weekly basis. I also found it interesting to hear that the

theatre arts discipline doesnt value the writing in its own discipline. Even after discovering

this, I definitely still find writing in this discipline to be incredibly useful. If you want to be a

true student of the theatre arts, you have to read and engage with writing in this discipline

because it is not enough to just hear your teacher's perspective on the theatre arts, you
need multiple different opinions and thoughts on the same ideas so you can discover the

ideas and concepts that make sense to you. In addition to gaining a broader perspective, a

lot of the literature in this discipline was written by people who are considered to be the

greats in theatre arts. Many of us are not fortunate enough to have had these great

educators as teachers but we can still learn from them by reading the literature they have

published. I cannot imagine my education without exposure to writing in the theatre arts

discipline. I know how much I value writing in this discipline and hope more people can

learn to see its value as well.

 Works Cited

"Drama as Literature." Dramatist, vol. 16, no. 3, Jan/Feb2014, pp. 9-15. EBSCOhost,

rlib.pace.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db

=ibh&AN=111188451&login.asp&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

Mercanti, JV. "9 Tricks for Tackling Shakespeare." Backstage.com. N.p., 24 Jan. 2017. Web.

03 Apr. 2017. <https://www.backstage.com/advice-for-actors/backstage-

experts/9-tricks-tackling-shakespeare/>.

Thonney, Teresa. "Teaching the Conventions of Academic Discourse." TETYC (2011):

347-62. Web. 5 Apr. 2017.