13. New Dramaturgical Tool: Dialectical Scene Montage

Lessons of the 'Troupe 1931' Theater Ensemble

The original author of these essays was Ingeborg Franke von Wangenheim.

Still from ‘Man with a Movie Camera’ (kinoklassikafoundation.org)

At this point, Wangenheim talked to us about a subtle editing structure that he’d used to turn our nonfiction material into a dramatic story. He described for us a piece of literary/theatrical architecture he called “dialectical scene montage.”¹ In retrospect, I don’t believe that this device has ever found such a skillfully conscious and consistent expression, as it did in our production of “The Mousetrap.”