MAPACA

Mid-Atlantic Popular &
American Culture Association

Cathy Turner suggests that not only can dramaturgy be understood in architectural terms, but also that “architecture can be understood in terms of dramaturgy.” In the same essay, Turner lays out a proposition of a dramaturgy of urban space, drawing on Maarten Hajer’s “analysis of the dramaturgical dimension of policy making.” Building upon these suppositions, extending the use of the spatial concepts of dramaturgy beyond the rehearsal room, the stage, and the site-specific performance, we may craft a more comprehensive means by which to understand performance and the city. This paper answers Turner and other similarly-positioned scholars with an example of a kind of dramaturgically-based urban analysis of Chicago that may also be used when looking at all kinds of urban spaces, as I work toward a useful definition of what might be called “civic dramaturgy.”

Dramaturgy as a field is much more than textual analysis. Dramaturgy is as much about enacting context as it is about interpretation. Dramaturgical acts are co-creative acts. A civic dramaturgy allows us to braid together the various aspects of performance, space, identity, labor, and – in the case of this paper – urban planning in Chicago, in order to address the “contested” space and dynamic system(s) that is Chicago, especially in relation to the myriad ways in which the arts are used to perform Chicago and Chicago-ness for a diverse populace/audience. In particular, this paper will braid together dramaturgical methodology, performance studies theory, and Chicago history to examine the Burnham Plan for Chicago and the first and second Cultural Plans for the city, and discuss both the history of Chicago art and theatre labor within the plans, as well as the ways in which a civic dramaturgy can enhance our understanding of city planning processes beyond these three examples.