DRAMA AND CONFLICT

Today, I find myself remembering high school English class when I learned the basic elements of drama. As I remember it, all drama revolves around one of four types of conflict – man vs. man, man vs. nature, man vs. society or man vs. self. As a story progresses from exposition through the rising action up to the climax, and then through the falling action to the ultimate resolution, it is the central conflict that serves as the driving force.Drama requires conflict. Conflict drives drama.It is something that was mentioned during a seminar I taught yesterday on Conflict Resolution Techniques for Theatre Producers. The focus of the seminar, presented by TRU in association with JAMS, is on practical tips for resolving conflicts within the creative team of a theatrical production. When the relationship between conflict and drama came up, it was a bit of an “Aha” moment for me.A good part of the seminar focused on collaboration and the role it plays in the creative process. Spoiler – there is no creativity without collaboration. If you want to know more about that statement, take the seminar. At one point in the seminar, a participant warned me that he was a skeptic on using mediation techniques to resolve conflicts. I said that was fine, he should speak his mind because heckling is a form of collaboration.We normally think of collaboration as two or more people working side by side towards a common goal. But that’s not the only form of collaboration; in fact it’s probably the least common form. In my seminar, I use the process of peer review in the scientific and academic communities as an illustration of another form of collaboration. Specifically, I referred to the Einstein-Bohr debates about quantum mechanics and quantum theory.Albert Einstein rejected the almost universally accepted theory of quantum mechanics and the related uncertainty principle, which held that there is a limit on the extent to which we can measure positions in space-time. Einstein conducted a number of experiments designed to prove that the uncertainty principle was incomplete. Each time Einstein published the results of his experiments, his colleague Nils Bohr published a rebuttal. It is generally accepted that Bohr won the debate.What is not generally understood is that Einstein and Bohr were actually collaborating. Each time Bohr criticized Einstein’s work, it forced Einstein to up his game. What also may not be obvious is that Einstein considered Bohr, his chief critic, an admired colleague and friend – a sentiment Bohr reciprocated.Why is this story relevant to a seminar on theatre? Because at the core of many conflicts within creative teams developing plays is a view that conflict is negative. When a writer disagrees with a director’s notes, the two often see each other as opponents. The primary objective for both the writer and the director is to push forward an individual agenda and to get as many concessions from the other side as possible. This treats the development process as a negotiation. Usually, everybody loses.However, if the writer and the director can recognize that they are engaged in a form of collaboration, they can both come to understand that they are being given an opportunity to up their game. Each has the opportunity to be part of the creation of something greater than either could create individually.How to get writers and directors to turn that corner and see themselves as collaborators rather than as negotiators? Perhaps by drawing the analogy between onstage drama and offstage drama. We all recognize that the conflict in a story forces the protagonist into action. Just as characters in a play either succeed by rising to the challenge or fail by succumbing to it, members of creative teams have the choice of failing or succeeding depending on how they respond to conflicting views.Perhaps it’s as simple as asking the writer and the director whether they want to be the antagonist or the protagonist, the obstacle or the person facing the obstacle. If both decide to become the protagonist, and neither the antagonist, then they become united in their efforts. The antagonist becomes anything that stands in the way of the collaborative process.Bottom line, conflict is not only essential to drama, it may actually be essential to creativity.So, thanks to everybody who heckled me in yesterday’s seminar (you know how you are). I am being forced to up my game and I am grateful.