Against Dramaturgy

"...there will always be those who insist that the script is the template, or even the essence of the theatre. At one extreme, the eccentric professor of English Literature who will insist that his own personal reading, in his chamber (an office chair, a desk with a typewriter and surrounded by books) represents the most authentic of experiences and even the discussion of the reading weakens its purity... this position can be found in the thoughts of Louis Becq de Fouquiere's reflection that 'the need for mise en scene becomes all the greater if the work is weaker... artificial means of distraction'. Never mind that the choice to remove the decor, the props, the scenery and lighting are, in themselves, dramaturgical, but tell me again how much better Shakespeare is without all these modern interpretations...'