The Dictionary defines dramaturgy as "the art or technique of dramatic composition and theatrical representation". But perhaps the best way to think of a dramaturg is someone with varied skills and broad intellectual oversight, or simply, a resident scholar. In Europe, the dramaturg’s role may diverge from that of the American counterpart. Here are some of the duties dramaturgs have been known to assume:
- resident playwright
- critic
- liaison with other playwrights
- verifier of authenticity
- deconstructionist
- adviser on repertory
- text preparation and oversight
- translation and adaptation
- pre-production and rehearsal work on issues of design, direction and performance
- contextual research
- program and study guide notes and preparation
- conducting audience discussions and related work in conjunction with the marketing and media departments
- script evaluation and communication with writers and agents
Expanding Roles of the Dramaturg
While this list exemplifies the diverse range of tasks a dramaturg might undertake, the role continues to expand in contemporary theater. Dramaturgy now often encompasses a wider scope of activities that extend beyond traditional text analysis and historical research.
In her very definitive and comprehensive work in the field of dramaturgy, Dramaturgy in American Theater, A Source Book, Susan Jonas states the following in defining the dramaturg:
The primary job of a theater’s production dramaturg is to focus his or her energies and those of the artistic director on long-range research and development and on artistic planning. The dramaturg must ask important questions -- of both the theater and his or her artistic collaborators. These questions will determine what lines the theater plans along and what kind of plays the theater will eventually develop and produce. These important questions begin with the most fundamental ones: Who are we as artists? What are our theatrical or extratheatrical models and our ideals? What kinds of work do we respond to? Who is our work for? What is our theater’s community in terms both of artists and audience? As these questions are discussed and addressed, an artistic philosophy will be shaped and discerned. In the end, artistic policy is of course defined by the repertory itself. It may or may not be stated in programs or grant applications, but it is always evident on the stage.
The production dramaturg’s role is to develop repertory material that will express the theater’s artistic purpose. The dramaturg will need to find, develop, and possibly even create plays by contacting writers, commissioning plays, researching lost or little-known plays in libraries or archives, and occasionally compiling texts as an editor would from other existing library or non-literary sources. The aim of this work is to present the artistic director with a slate of plays for inclusion in the season that embody the theater’s artistic purpose. The creation of this slate of plays requires experience in two areas of the repertory: the first includes classical plays and revivals, and the second area comprises work on new plays.
The Dramaturgy Pages, a popular website for the topic, engages the question of "What is Dramaturgy" by enlisting the varied perspectives of at least three practitioners in the field on a webpage of its website which can be found at http://www.dramaturgy.net/dramaturgy/What.html. The Dramaturg’s Network, an organization based in London, sees the role of the dramaturg in the following way:
Reading plays – Old and new, British and foreign; rediscovering old treasures, digging out forgotten plays and helping you to choose the best for your theatre to make an interesting season.
Translating or re-translating plays – Or help to find good translators for a play; to help you to get the best out of a foreign writer’s work.
Encouraging new writing – With events, awards, festivals, or providing one-to-one support, feedback and advice.
Devising new work – Through vigorous questioning and research we can help you to find the core of the work and to find your way through the devising process; from generating texts, through structuring the texts and finally through the post production changes. The emphasis on new writing and devised work highlights a crucial shift in the field of dramaturgy. Dramaturgs are now actively involved in shaping contemporary theater forms, collaborating with playwrights on new scripts and guiding the development of devised pieces.
Adapting – A piece for other media (novel for a stage; stage play into a radio play etc.)
Analyzing – Your chosen play, looking closely at the text as a structure and its meanings and discussing it with you, to help you to develop your conception of the production before you start rehearsing.
Editing and cutting – Helping you to shape the drama that you want to stage.
Research – Providing you with all the background information needed for successful rehearsals and to carry out production research, audience research etc. for your theatre or production.
Advice – Helping you to co-ordinate your rehearsals and to balance the different facets of the play (space, time, text etc.)
Assisting – Helping you to keep sight of the concept of the play throughout the rehearsal process, preserving the core ideas of the theme and the writer’s aims.
Compiling the program – To help your audience grasp your message.
In 1767, the first known dramaturge, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, was hired by a group of Hamburg businessmen to be an artistic adviser for what they hoped would become the first German national theatre. In today’s Germany, there is a network of some 200 government-funded theatres with large permanent ensembles staffed with salaried actors. These resident theatres, found in every major German city, have two- to four-person dramaturg staffs that organize and plan the repertory for these important state-subsidized institutions.
These theatres have established histories in their cities and perform for audiences for whom theatregoing and knowledge of the theatre is a tradition and significant to social status. After its birth in Germany, dramaturgy is believed to have spread to England, France and America, or wherever theatres were similarly organized. In Europe, the chief dramaturg is usually an elder statesman of the theatre who presides over the artistic and literary aspects of the theatre.
During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, English actors/managers, from John Philip Kemble to Harley Granville-Barker, functioned as dramaturgs. They reinvented the classical repertory and interpreted and adapted plays to reflect the preferences of the day.
In the tradition of Shakespeare, these actors/managers were men of the theater with an understanding of acting, writing, and how plays work for audiences. Often they knew a wealth of anecdotal information about Shakespeare and his plays. Some of the more recent and well-known dramaturges are Bertolt Brecht and Kenneth Tynan.
Impact of Institutional Dramaturgy
The presence of dramaturgs in state-subsidized institutions underscores the impact of institutional dramaturgy. This aspect of the field extends beyond individual productions, influencing the artistic direction, programmatic choices, and overall sustainability of theater organizations.
One of the earliest known uses of the term "dramaturg" in connection to the American theatre appeared in the annual report of the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in 1968, which had begun assigning people to perform dramaturgical functions at its annual playwrights conference. At about the same time, Robert Brustein, who became dean of the Yale School of Drama in 1966, introduced a dramaturgy program there.
Training and Professionalization in Dramaturgy
The other major center of dramaturgical training has been the University of Iowa and, following that, the American Repertory Theatre Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard. In today’s modern-day academic programs students are trained both as institutional dramaturgs, delving into artistic policy and its communication and implementation (a producer who might interface more with creative staff rather than financial backers), and as production dramaturgs, supporting the rehearsal process.
The emergence of dedicated dramaturgy programs highlights the increasing professionalization of the field. These programs equip aspiring dramaturgs with the skills and knowledge necessary to navigate the evolving landscape of contemporary theater, preparing them for diverse roles in both institutional and production contexts.
Libraries And Museums For Research And Clearance
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
40 Lincoln Center Plaza
New York, NY 10023-7498
(917) 275-6975
Extensive collection of scripts, music scores, photographs, and recordings.
[email address removed]
https://www.nypl.org/locations/lpa
The Morgan Library & Museum
225 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10016
(212) 685-0008
Holds a vast collection of rare books, manuscripts, and historical documents, including theatrical materials.
[email address removed]
https://www.themorgan.org/
The Library of Congress
101 First Street, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20540-5000
(202) 707-5000
One of the world's largest libraries, with extensive collections of plays, scripts, and performance materials.
https://www.loc.gov/
The Harvard Theatre Collection
Houghton Library
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA 02138
(617) 495-2440
Holds a vast collection of theatrical materials, including scripts, playbills, photographs, and recordings.
https://library.harvard.edu/collections/harvard-theatre-collection
The Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts
111 Amsterdam Avenue
New York, NY 10023
(212) 870-1630
Holds a vast collection of theatrical materials, including scripts, playbills, photographs, and recordings.
https://www.nypl.org/locations/lpa
The Folger Shakespeare Library
201 East Capitol Street, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
(202) 544-4600
Holds the world's largest Shakespeare collection, including manuscripts, first editions, and rare books.
https://www.folger.edu/
The British Library
96 Euston Road
London NW1 2DB
United Kingdom
+44 (0)141 332 5000
Holds a vast collection of theatrical materials, including scripts, playbills, photographs, and recordings.
https://www.bl.uk/
The Bibliothèque nationale de France
58 rue de Richelieu
75002 Paris
France
+33 (0)1 40 27 27 27
Holds a vast collection of theatrical materials, including scripts, playbills, photographs, and recordings.
https://www.bnf.fr/fr
The Victoria and Albert Museum
Cromwell Road
London SW7 2RL
United Kingdom
+44 (0)20 7942 2000
Holds a vast collection of theatrical materials, including costumes, set designs, and props.
https://www.vam.ac.uk/
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
11 West 53rd Street
New York, NY 10019
(212) 708-9400
Holds a vast collection of film and media arts, including scripts, posters, and production materials.
https://www.moma.org/
Relevant Associations & Organizations
Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA)
133 Newbury Street, Suite 603
Boston, MA 02116, USA
Phone: +1 (617) 728-0530
LMDA is a leading organization connecting literary managers, dramaturgs, and playwrights to support the development of new works for the stage.
Email:
Website: https://lmda.org
The Dramaturgs' Network (d’n)
20-22 Wenlock Road
London N1 7GU, United Kingdom
Phone: +44 0207 993 8518
A UK-based organization dedicated to promoting the practice of dramaturgy and supporting dramaturgs at all career stages.
Email:
Website: https://www.dramaturgy.co.uk
German Dramaturgy Society (Dramaturgische Gesellschaft)
Schumannstraße 5
10117 Berlin, Germany
Phone: +49 30 201 663 300
A prestigious European network fostering exchange between dramaturgs and cultural workers across Germany and beyond.
Email:
Website: https://www.dramaturgische-gesellschaft.de
International Association of Theatre Critics (IATC)
Maison Jean Vilar, 8 Rue de Mons
84000 Avignon, France
Phone: +33 4 90 86 59 64
IATC brings together theater critics, including dramaturgs, from around the world to facilitate discussions and collaborations on global theater practices.
Email:
Website: https://www.aict-iatc.org
Association of Theatre Dramaturgs of Poland (ATDOP)
Krakowskie Przedmieście 26/28
00-927 Warsaw, Poland
Phone: +48 22 552 96 70
A key body supporting the development of dramaturgy and theater criticism in Poland through workshops, conferences, and events.
Email:
Website: https://www.teatry.art.pl
Australian Writers' Guild (AWG)
1/68 Oxford Street
Darlinghurst, NSW 2010, Australia
Phone: +61 2 9319 0339
The AWG supports dramaturgs, playwrights, and screenwriters, advocating for the interests of Australian storytellers across stage and screen.
Email:
Website: https://www.awg.com.au
Playwrights Guild of Canada (PGC)
401 Richmond Street West, Suite 350
Toronto, Ontario M5V 3A8, Canada
Phone: +1 (416) 703-0201
PGC connects Canadian playwrights and dramaturgs, providing support for script development, dramaturgy services, and professional networking.
Email:
Website: https://www.playwrightsguild.ca
Nordic Theatre Studies (NTS) Association
Tegnérgatan 38
113 59 Stockholm, Sweden
Phone: +46 8 545 517 70
NTS focuses on dramaturgical research and education, connecting Scandinavian theater professionals and scholars.
Email:
Website: https://www.ntsstudies.org
Dutch Society for Dramaturgy (Vereniging voor Nieuwe Theaterwerk) (VNT)
Haarlemmerweg 8
1014 BE Amsterdam, Netherlands
Phone: +31 20 789 2020
VNT supports the development of contemporary theater and dramaturgy, providing a platform for Dutch dramaturgs to collaborate and share resources.
Email:
Website: https://www.vnt-theater.nl
Swiss Society for Theatre Studies (Société Suisse des Études Théâtrales)
Mittelstrasse 43
3012 Bern, Switzerland
Phone: +41 31 631 82 82
A leading academic association that promotes research and development in dramaturgy and theater studies across Switzerland.
Email:
Website: https://www.sstet.ch