Ghost Light, Meet the Dramaturg: Dezi Tibbs

Ghost Light, Meet the Dramaturg is a Theatre series featuring Columbia Dramaturgy students, faculty, and alumni, learning about their work, aspirations, and pandemic passion projects.

In Michael Mark Chemer’s book Ghost Light, he uses the metaphor of a ghost light to represent the work of a Dramaturg. Dramaturgs work behind the scenes, always thinking and searching for creative possibilities, guiding the way, even once the stage goes dark. In this series, we shine a light on Columbia Dramaturgs.

This week we are featuring second-year dramaturgy student, Dezi Tibbs (he/she/they). Dezi is a dramaturg, writer, and performer based in New York City and Philadelphia, PA. She aims to afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted. His work likes to utilize stereotypes, magic, and television tropes in order to reveal humanity’s secrets. She finds herself drawn to pieces that center blackness, queerness, or spirituality. As a dramaturg, his work is very research-driven but grounded in tangible concepts. 

What was your first experience in theatre? 

Dezi Tibbs (DT): I was in this group. It was a family group that my mom put us in. It was called The Urban League. I guess you could say it was like a Guild. So there were several different chapters, but it was mostly African moms and Black kids doing group activities and bonding. There was a play that someone in the group had written for Black History Month. It was about a young boy in the early two-thousands who got involved in gang stuff. He gets these visions from his ancestors throughout the whole play. I was maybe five or six at the time. During their rehearsals, I apparently wouldn't leave the room. I would just sit in the auditorium and listen to the rehearsal. So they made me the Assistant Stage Manager because I knew everyone's lines. I just started taking line notes. No one asked me to do so, but I was in the corner. They gave me a copy and everything. 

I was there so often that the playwright wrote a character for me. I think I was the main character’s younger brother or something. So that was my first ever gig. I have it on DVD somewhere. 

Tell me a little bit about The Void, the theatre collective you started. 

DT: It is actually really funny because my time with The Void is why I am a dramaturg now. My best friend Brittney had written a play for the play festival at our undergrad the summer between our sophomore and junior year. Brittney asked me to dramaturg for her. I didn’t have much experience at the time, but she had some specific goals for this new version of the play she had written. She wanted to change out the play. I spent a lot of time working with her and rewriting with her. We spent the whole summer together basically working on the show, 24-7. Through various collaborators we knew, we were able to put on quite a few productions. We had a composer, actors, directors, stage managers, and writers. 

In our senior year of college, Brittney wanted to do an adaptation of Mother Courage and Her Children. I got to be really hands-on with the production and I got to make a lot of decisions as the dramaturg. Everything was very intentional. It was our first big show that we all put together. We did a lot of work together. Finally, we decided to make a theatre collective because we all worked really well together. We decided to really make it happen right at the end of our senior year. Then COVID happened. So then we decided to produce a play in quarantine. We did an original musical called The Villager which you can see on our website. Right now, we are doing an online cabaret series called Informed and Entertained. It is how we have been able to stay engaged throughout the pandemic.

What plays or musicals would you recommend that everyone read?

DT: This isn’t really a play, but I think everyone needs to watch Avatar: the Last Airbender solely because of its brilliance. I think that two of the best examples of world-building are Attack on Titan and Avatar: the Last Airbender. They are both dramaturgical masterpieces because the lore and storytelling is so cohesive. As far as theatre goes, I love all Black musicals. Dramaturgically, I think that Pippin and Chicago are great. Their plots are messy, but their concepts are well thought out and explored. 

You’ve worked on quite a few productions as a dramaturg. How have you been able to practice your dramaturgical skills throughout the rehearsal process?

DT: I would say by staying curious and engaging authentically. Throughout the production process, you'll never not have questions. But if you are watching carefully while continuing to have the concept in mind, you will be able to respond more effectively. You will constantly have what the playwright has in mind, what the director has in mind, etc. all going through your head at once, and if you are engaging with the choices that are being made in real time, then you'll never stop having good questions to ask of your team in the moment.  

What led you to dramaturgy? 

DT: My whole life, I felt that I was on a parallel track of artist and intellectual. I thought that I could only be one. [When I discovered dramaturgy] I felt that it was the marriage of the two. In this way, I can be artistically intellectual and vice versa. When I was at UArts, I realized that other artists were not also wanting to write critically. I actually started a blog in my undergrad, because I was so underwhelmed by the state of theatre critique around me. I would watch plays that I thought were really important, and I would like to dissect why they are important. I realized that not every artist wanted to engage with art like that. 

How would you like to engage in dramaturgy post-graduation from Columbia? 

DT: In my mind, there is one position that does all the things that I would like to do. I would love to have a joint position as literary manager and resident dramaturg in which I help solicit the plays for the season. I also want to dramaturg on the productions and engage with the creation. I want to be part of all the marketing conversations. I want to develop the relationship between the audience members and the show that we are producing by helping create the lobby displays. 

I also really want to have an emerging writer's group or a writer's group residency project where all season long, we are working on participants' plays. But I want to be a literary manager to them, not  a teacher. I think it is useful to have an incubation process where they just create content, and I give them feedback as a literary manager. Then we would do an end of the year showing—a festival kind of thing with all of the readings. Then the next season, one of the plays in that reading series would be on the main stage.

What were some of your pandemic passion projects?

DT: Honestly? Anime and makeup. They have become such huge parts of my life, but I only really started playing with makeup and watching anime during the pandemic. Since then, I’ve gotten to do makeup and costume design on quite a few shows at Columbia. That, and working on The Void. We did a couple of virtual projects during the pandemic. 

What do you wish people knew about Dramaturgy? 

DT: As a practice, I wish people knew that it was essential. I truly do believe that it is essential. I think people understand that as a concept, but don't realize that dramaturgy is essential for anything to work at all. I wish people understood that it's beneficial to have someone else in the room who is focusing on all of the elements that make up a play.

What do you want people to know about you and your artistry? 

DT: One of the most important aspects of my artistry is probably my thoughtfulness when it comes to identity and what that means for me as a person. I am constantly exploring identity in my work as a dramaturg and as a writer. I think I tend to put that at the forefront of the work that I am involved with.