Guest blog by Jacob Juntunen

When I first started working on Baal, I brought to bear all my typical dramaturgical strategies. I examined its structure, its history, symbolic references--anything that might give a sense of how the script functioned. And at every turn, the script thwarted me. The text was as hard to pin down as its protagonist. None of my normal process worked. After two weeks with it, I realized everything I'd done so far was worthless. And I was supposed to meet with Zeljko, the director, the next day.

We met, and I admitted up front that I had nothing for him, that everything I'd tried led me down a dead end. To my surprise, Zeljko seemed pleased with this. He agreed this script called for something beyond the norm, and that to truly probe its depths, we would have to enter into it with an open mind, brave actors and designers, and leave our preconceptions at the door.

Since then we have, of course, found more specifics, and the designers and actors bring something new to the script every time I meet with them or watch a rehearsal. But Baal is still stingy with its secrets, and I've never worked on a script that was more resistant to outside structure. That has made Baal one of the most interesting scripts I've ever worked on.

Jacob is a dramaturg and playwright in the Chicago area, and is currently serving as the dramaturg for our production of Baal. For further information about Jacob, please visit www.jacobjuntunen.com.