So What’s Dramaturgy?
So what does that mean? Well… Beth Blickers, the president of Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of America puts it pretty articulately here in The Drama Fund’s Theatre Dictionary
Dramaturgs work with various aspects of the production of a work, including crafting educational materials, creating marketing copy, facilitating conversations amongst the artistic team, and running a post-show discussion. If you need it done for a production, a dramaturg can do it!
A single day in the life of a dramaturg might begin with reading a script and writing a script report. Then they might be producing an informal reading of some new work for a playwright with whom they have a relationship. The dramaturg would facilitate any discussion that might happen after that reading. Before lunch, a dramaturg could be writing show blurbs, or finding pull quotes for the marketing staff. After lunch, a dramaturg may be finishing a resource packet for the actors (who are starting rehearsal in a few weeks). They could be writing playbill articles, or scripts for special events. There are all kinds of projects for a dramaturg to tackle so no day is exactly the same!
Some of my Dramaturgical Experiences include:
Evaluating submitted scripts and writing script reports
Indiana Repertory Theatre (YPiP program) - 2023-Present
Theatre Unchained - 2022-Present
New Play Project - 2020 - 2022
Cleveland Play House - 2018-present
Lenaia Playwriting Festival - 2017-18
Compiling Resource Packets
Theatre Unchained
Taste by Benjamin Brand - 2022
Cleveland Play House
Tiny Houses* by Chelsea Marcantel - 2019
Native Gardens by Karen Zacarias - 2019
Egress* by Melissa Crespo and Sarah Saltwick - 2019
*World premiere of Tiny Houses. Roe Green Award Workshop Production of Egress.
Alliance Theatre
Additional Resources provided for: Too Heavy for Your Pocket by Mansa Ra. Kendeda Award Winner (2017)
Facilitating Pre, or post-show conversations
Theatre Unchained - 2022-Present
Coping with Autumn by Megan Ann Jacobs
Taste by Benjamin Brand
A (Happy) Holiday by Max Andrew McCreary, Kaya Dorsch, J.E. Hibbard, and Karina Jutzi
IndyFringe - 2021- Present
Cleveland Play House - 2019
Tiny Houses by Chelsea Marcantel
Native Gardens by Karen Zacarias
Lenaia Playwriting Festival - 2017-18
Production Dramaturgy
Theatre Unchained - 2021-Present
Coping with Autumn by Megan Ann Jacobs
Taste by Benjamin Brand
A (Happy) Holiday by Max Andrew McCreary, Kaya Dorsch, J.E. Hibbard, and Karina Jutzi
Apollinaire Theatre Company - 2019
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Simon Stephens
Cleveland Play House (asst. to Rachel Lerner-Ley) - 2019
Egress by Melissa Crespo and Sarah Saltwick
The Hat Box (or; The Inheritance) by Eric Coble
Writing Playbill Articles
Indy Bard Fest
“The War at Home and Abroad” - Into the Breeches! by George Brant
Southbank Theatre Company
“Director’s Note” - Twelfth Night, by Shaina Taub and Kwame Kwei-Armah, music and lyrics by Shaina Taub
Cleveland Play House
“Finding the Funny in Failure” - The Seagull by Anton Chekhov
“Red Ryder, Little Orphan Annie, and… Superman?” - A Christmas Story adapted by Philip Grecian
“The Big History of a Little Lifestyle” - Tiny Houses by Chelsea Marcantel