John Wells, perhaps the most famous and successful alum of Carnegie Mellon, has for the past five years been a staunch supporter of our fledgling dramaturgy program. He sat down with our majors on a visit Thursday, before a ceremony celebrating his transformational gift to the School. He answered our questions about the centrality of dramaturgy to the creative process of performance in not only theatre, but television and film as well, as the basis for solid storytelling, even as he lamented the rash of writers he encounters who are adept at mimicking successful pop-culture products but have no idea how to generate katharsis or pathos. That's where dramaturgy comes in, he explained.
Not only is John the most prolific giver to the School of all time, not only is he deeply knowledgeable about every aspect of performance storytelling from electronics to carpentry to lighting to costumes to dramaturgy to scriptwriting, but he is also a genuine human being, accessible, kind, funny, and tirelessly curious about the pedagogy and life of the School. It was a pleasure to have him. On behalf of our program, thanks, John!
Not only is John the most prolific giver to the School of all time, not only is he deeply knowledgeable about every aspect of performance storytelling from electronics to carpentry to lighting to costumes to dramaturgy to scriptwriting, but he is also a genuine human being, accessible, kind, funny, and tirelessly curious about the pedagogy and life of the School. It was a pleasure to have him. On behalf of our program, thanks, John!
