Session 16 was the first time the author couldn't make the session. However, since I had Cecelia Raker and Marshall Botvinick, two dramaturgs, with me on the session, I opted to lead the workshop and see what came of it. Here's the audio intro at the beginning of the session so you can get to know Cecelia and Marshall.
The script we workshopped was Sarah Chichester's "Opposites Attract," and we had a blast workshopping it. It is a script that will go far, and the gist of the workshop is that the dialogue is very strong but we wanted it to be more bold in the character depth and conflict development.
After the workshop, I took the opportunity to talk with Cecelia and Marshall about workshopping a script, sans author. We had a frank discussion about the traits of authors - new and experienced - and how the experience level and approach an author takes during a workshop session is critical to its success. Both Cecelia and Marshall helped me get a deeper understanding of the things they do as dramaturgs when working with a script.
I'm opting to snip out the workshop session, since the author wasn't present and it feels a bit weird to post an authorless-workshop recording (and it was certainly different to workshop a piece without the author!), but here's the conversation we had about workshopping elements.
My thanks to Cecelia and Marshall for their participation and help in further defining the critical elements of workshopping.