Diving into Dramaturgy: Meet Isabel Smith-Bernstein
By Liz Armstrong, guest writer
Dramaturgy is a vital part of theatre, and Isabel Smith-Bernstein has been fulfilling this role at the Festival since 2015. Sometimes called the “experts on the play,” dramaturgs are there to support the director’s vision of the play and give context.
“We have to understand what I call the four contexts of dramaturgy: when a play is written, when a play is set by the playwright, when a play is set by the director, and when the play is being performed,” Smith-Bernstein explained. “The ‘whens’ also function like ‘whys’ and it’s my job to understand how those contexts speak to each other.”
About Smith-Bernstein
Smith-Bernstein defined dramaturgy as a job in contexts in storytelling. It makes sense that she pursued dramaturgy, as storytelling has always been a part of her life. As a child, her dad would make up “Ferdinand” stories at bedtime. At age three, Smith-Bernstein was exposed to more storytelling by attending a family-friendly Shakespeare-in-the-park. In just first grade, she participated in a musical adaptation of Tuck Everlasting.
“Shakespeare came into my life in middle school, and it was an important part of my speech therapy,” Smith-Bernstein explained. “I’ve had a stutter my whole life and lines of verse were great for practicing speech therapy techniques.”
What better way to help with speech than utilizing the work of The Bard?
In high school, she acted and unknowingly took on the role of dramaturgy. In college, Smith-Bernstein originally planned on becoming a lawyer, but that quickly changed.
“While I was there, I was introduced to the world of dramaturgy and I double-majored in dramaturgy and history,” Smith-Bernstein said.
Later, she received a master’s in English Literature. Her educational journey didn’t stop there, though, and Smith-Bernstein completed her Ph. D. in performance in 2022.
“My dissertation, ‘Views of Tyranny in the United States Through Shakespeare’s Richard III, 1749-2022,’ was born while working on Richard III at the Folger Shakespeare Library in 2013 and I was working on Richard III [at the Festival] while I was completing it,” Smith-Bernstein said.
The Festival has been Smith-Bernstein’s artistic home for a decade now, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.
“The Festival has a deep commitment to Shakespeare, and it’s a gift to be able to make plays with great people,” she said.
Diving into Dramaturgy
As a dramaturg, Smith-Bernstein will help with the world-building, cut parts of the script, do research, and summarize that research into an “actor packet” for the whole team working on the play to reference. She also attends rehearsals to answer contextual questions and make storytelling notes.
Smith-Bernstein clears up the expectation that she is supposed to be the “historical police.”
“This can be the job if you’re working on a period piece and the goal is historical accuracy, but with Shakespeare it is actually rarely that,” Smith-Bernstein explained. “Shakespeare wasn’t historically accurate at all."
Ultimately, Shakespeare and Smith-Bernstein are both interested in how to tell the best story, the best way possible. For the dramaturg, this means focusing on consistency.
“Does the internal logic of the world that the whole team has created with the director make sense? Does it track through the entire play? An example of this is the witches in [this season’s] Macbeth,” Smith-Bernstein said. “We’ve discussed just how magical they are and the rules and limitations of the magic. The world of the play has to be consistent rather than accurate to make it immersive and believable.”
Studying Seminar Directing
Smith-Bernstein has been the dramaturg at the Festival since 2015. Some of her favorite plays at the Festival include The Winter’s Tale in 2024, Richard III in 2021, and Hamlet in 2019. She will be the dramaturg this upcoming season for As You like it, Macbeth, and Antony and Cleopatra. But her role doesn’t stop there. Smith-Bernstein also serves as Festival Seminar Director.
After every single performance, the Festival hosts talkbacks the next morning in the Seminar Grove, where patrons who attended the previous day’s performance can come together to discuss the plays.
“No other theater in the United States has talkbacks following every performance. As Seminar Director, I facilitate this discussion,” Smith-Bernstein said. “I start with some background on the play, and then open up the Grove for questions and feedback. We have a deep discussion about the plays and the performances and what they mean to us.”
A bit of a biased fan of the shows in the Engelstad Shakespeare Theatre, Smith-Bernstein encourages patrons to attend this season.
“The humanities, and theatre in particular, are vital to our nourishment and development as human beings in society. Through theatre, we are exposed to perspectives and ideas that differ from our own, and so we are taught empathy,” Smith-Bernstein said.
“This season will be moving, exciting, and entertaining.”
To purchase tickets this season, visit bard.org.
