“The dramaturg – sometimes called a literary manager, is an in-house artistic consultant cognisant of an institution’s mission, a playwrights passion or a directors vision, and who helps bring them all to life in a theatrically compelling manner. This goal can be accomplished in myriad ways and the dramaturg’s role often shifts according to context and is always fluid. As there is no one way to create theatre, there is no single model of the dramaturg”

(Luckhurst, 2005, 8)

Due to sustaining an injury, I unfortunately had to pull out of acting in our performance. Because of this, myself and the director decided that taking on a role of company dramaturg would benefit the performance. My time away from rehearsals would allow me to act as an outside eye, providing feedback and advice in the last few weeks before the performance. Acting as a dramaturg was a completely new challenge for me, therefore I started by researching the subject, understanding how my role could benefit the performance.

The term ‘dramaturgy’ originated in Gotthold Ephaim Lessing’s handbook Dramatugie. In this series of essays, Lessing discusses directing, acting and the structure of plays, suggesting where theatre could go in the future. This handbook reflects Aristotle’s Poetics in the way they take an almost clinical approach to how plays work and how they are structured. Years later, Bertolt Brecht developed the role of the dramaturg at the Berliner Ensemble. In this era, the dramaturg would typically look at a piece of text and its structure but also other production elements such as lighting, direction and design, thinking more broadly, contextually and thematically about a piece of work.

A dramaturg’s role in the UK is sometimes likened to that of a literary manager, analysing the text and the set of events that create an effective journey for an audience. In more recent times, since post-dramatic theatre, a performance might not have a narrative. Although, there are still elements that add up to an overall meaning of a performance, such as movement, light and stage design, that a dramaturg can analyse. A dramaturg acts as a mediator within a theatre or theatre company assisting in the editing and sculpting process of a performance or text. Their role is to ensure harmony and consistency in the dramatic structure of the performance, ensuring the plot and the characters are clear to an audience. A dramaturg must also ensure that the performance echoes back the intention of the mission statement of the theatre company. A role of a dramaturg also ensures that the performers understand the theatrical facts surrounding the play, such as the world that the play is set. A dramaturg must work with the production team to create the world of the play, asking questions such as ‘does this world reflect the real world and if so, how?’

Skills that are vital for a dramaturg include editing, ability to give advice, critical analysis and the ability to curate. Dramaturg Katie Pushpom explains that a dramaturg should have the skills of an editor, a viewpoint of a playwright and the discernment of a director. These skills are vital when assisting new playwrights with new writing, giving playwrights an objective viewpoint. These skills are also vital when working with adaptations of plays, as the dramaturg must have a complete understanding of the original text whilst also making sure the company stays honourable to the playwright whilst the company can input their own style. Curating is also a vital skill, as many dramaturg’s help programme theatres, finding a through line or theme in the programme and making sure the shows all fit well and complement each other in a season.

– Rosie, Dramaturg.

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Works Cited:

Luckhurst, M. (2005) Dramaturgy: A Revolution in Theatre. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.