Annotating Performance by Barbara Fuchs
Theatre dybbuk’s illuminated lecture format, which weaves together a scholarly lecture and performances by actors, recently offered me the opportunity to present Cervantes’ El retablo de las maravillas/The Marvelous Puppet Show to an audience unlikely ever to have encountered the text. Known for its deep dives and carefully considered productions under the able direction of Aaron Henne, theatre dybbuk uses the format as a research tool, and also makes the resulting recordings available through their podcast. Their most recent full production, The Merchant of Venice (Annotated) or In Sooth I Know Not Why I Am So Sad (2023), relied on a similar combination of text and commentary, with wonderfully inventive annotations offered by actors breaking the fourth wall, audio clips, and so forth.
