Dramaturgy

Opera

Des Moines Metro Opera

American Apollo by Damien Geter and Lila Palmer gives voice to a pivotal figure in American art: Thomas Eugene McKeller, a Black hotel worker who served as model and muse for famous portraitist John Singer Sargent. As a work of historical fiction, the opera imagines the story behind Sargent’s spare, nude portrait and sensual sketches of McKeller, whose image was transformed by Sargent into white-skinned Greek gods featured prominently in murals throughout Boston's Museum of Fine Arts.

Good Tickle Brain Comic

Kate dramaturgs, features in, and occasionally co-writes the world’s only Shakespeare stick-figure webcomic.

• Q&A: Kate Pitt, Pocket Dramaturg

  • Apart from being a delightful human being, Kate is also a genuine Shakespearean powerhouse, with a vast amount of both scholarly and practical Shakespeare knowledge and experience. You might have noticed that many of my recent comics have included the note “Thanks to my pocket dramaturg, Kate Pitt, for consulting with me on this comic.” This is because I quickly fell into the habit of texting Kate with random Shakespeare-related questions, like “IN HOW MANY SHAKESPEARE PLAYS DO SHEEP REGULARLY APPEAR ON STAGE?” Kate, in her infinite patience and bottomless depth of knowledge, would always promptly text me back with answers, including sources. It was like having my own personal dramaturg in my pocket.

• A Stick Figure Hamlet

  • Purchase the book with 45 pages of additional material including comic outtakes, fun facts, and so much more.

  • Read the scene-by-scene webcomic for free online.

    • A huge HUGE thanks to my pocket dramaturg, Kate Pitt, for being with me every step of the way, answering all the random questions I had about the text, making sure my storytelling was clear, discussing the pros and cons of different interpretations, fixing typos, and generally being the best moral support a Shakespearean cartoonist could wish for.

Theater