Dr. Stephanie “Tippi” Hart
Based in the United States, Dr. Stephanie “Tippi” Hart holds a Master’s from Louisiana Tech University and a PhD from Arizona State University. She teaches movement for actors, physical devising, and stage combat at Virginia Commonwealth University. She was first introduced to IUGTE through her research on Meyerhold practitioners and came to Graz in the summer of 2017, then returned in December to attend the conference. This is her fourth conference, and she is so grateful to the community she has found there. Tippi has studied with The Ostrenko brothers, Kahawi Dance Theatre (Canada), Atelier Mask Movement Theatre (Italy), and Frantic Assembly (England). She danced with CaZo Dance Theatre (USA) for two years before she moved into the position of Assistant Director/Acting Coach/Dramaturg. Her work as a fight and intimacy director has been showcased in the Richmond, Virginia area, where she has served as a fight and intimacy director in several professional theatres. Additionally, she was the intimacy coordinator for the second season of the Apple TV show Swagger.
PRESENTATION OVERVIEW
Emotional Dramaturgy: Invitation to a Brave Space
For the last decade, I have been moving towards the concept of what has become
emotional dramaturgy. I have actually presented the seeds of the work at IUGTE online in
2020 Since that time the understanding of the emotional and physical needs and mental
care of actors has moved closer to the forefront. I have also successfully defended my
dissertation and am excited to share the results of my research.
This presentation examines the increasing importance of emotional dramaturgy in the
presentation of traumatic material on stage. The work starts in the emotional world of the
play and addresses how actors enter into, live inside of, and exit from that emotional world.
Emotional dramaturgy seeks to create a rehearsal process responsive to the actor's
intertwined physical and psychological needs in roles depicting trauma, working with the
body and brain to promote safety for the performer.
In the field of dramaturgy, there is “traditional” or factual dramaturgy, which questions what
can be known about a script and engages the text through an intellectual lens to discover
the historical, political and social implications. This type of dramaturgy attends to the mind.
There is also physical dramaturgy or ‘dramaturgy of the body’, which transmits traditional
dramaturgy into somatic, embodied representations through movement. This type of
dramaturgy attends to the body. Emotional dramaturgy attends to the mind/spirit to create a
holistic dramaturgy that allows performers to explore potentially traumatic work bravely.
Western realism often trains actors to portray traumatic stories in a hyper-realistic style,
allowing the audience to see the pain in their bodies and faces. Actors are instructed in
ways to take on a character and get to that vulnerability needed to give the performance the
rawness and open access traumatic roles require. However, they are not being taught
enough about closure to be able to safely walk away from the role. Actors’ mental health
has long been ignored. Emotional dramaturgy seeks to create training, rehearsal, and
performance processes responsive to the actor’s intertwined physical and psychological
needs in roles depicting trauma, working with the body and brain to promote safety for the
performer. I use the word “processes” as this is not a role, it is not necessary to hire an
emotional dramaturg. However, emotional dramaturgy should be practiced in all rehearsal
and training studios.
Dr. Stephanie “Tippi” Hart
