What Does a Dramaturg Do?

The most frequent question I get asked is “What does a Dramaturg do?”

It can be a difficult question to answer as there is still some debate about how the role fits in to the British system of producing theatre.  Some people see it as a purely new writing mentorship role, akin to a Literary Manager. Others like to think of it along the lines of an Assistant Director or a researcher.

But it’s actually all of these things. And much, much more besides.

Wikipedia contains a pretty faithful and accurate description of the craft which you can read here. However the role of the Dramaturg within the creative process changes greatly depending on whether the play is being devised, newly written or adapted from a classic text.

The Production Dramaturg

This is the most familiar role for a Theatre Dramaturg. If a production team choose to mount a pre-existing play script, whether a translation of a foreign text or a “classic” English language piece, they can employ a Production Dramaturg to become responsible for the “Dramaturgy” of the text.

Put simply, the main role of a Dramaturg is to become the playwright’s representative in the production. That’s to say, it is the job of the Dramaturg to know as much about the play, its language and the context surrounding its creation as the original playwright did.

After exhaustive research, and having undertaken a full literary breakdown of the text, the Dramaturg provides the production team with expert feedback on the creation and “world” of the play script; a valuable resource from which they can draw as much or as little as they like. And rather than simply presenting their research in a large book (although a central “bible” is generally compiled as part of the process), the Dramaturg is present from inception right through to the end of rehearsals, becoming a truly collaborative part of the team.

For example, if there is a question that an actor or director has about the “world” of the play or a specific line of dialogue, the Dramaturg should be able to answer it with the same authority as the playwright – and if they don’t know the answer then and there, they will track it down and present it as swiftly as it can be found.

My own personal experience of working as a Production Dramaturg is that the process can be extremely creative – far more so than it looks on paper. My presence in rehearsals and meetings has sparked new ideas, inspired design choices and influenced the delivery of dialogue. It can be very liberating for the directors, the designers and the actors not to have the weight of the play texts’ Dramaturgy on their shoulders. They can also be assured that, by giving the responsibility of it over to one central figure, they’re all receiving and working with the exact same information as each other.

Beyond this, a Dramaturg is often employed to make a written and annotated record of the production process, from start to finish – ensuring that there is a constant reference point to decisions made earlier on in the process (including noting the blocking in rehearsal). This information is also useful for outreach activities and programme notes, as well as for future directors and production teams.

It really is a wide ranging job.

 The Arts Council in England now recognises, and in some cases encourages, the use of Dramaturgs as part of a theatre production. If you would like to discuss building in Grants for the Arts funding for the use of a Dramaturg for your show, please e-mail me by clicking here or by using the details above.

The Dramaturg in New Writing.

In recent years, Dramaturgs have begun to become more and more associated with new writing. Indeed, this was a big part of my training at Bretton Hall and I have spent a lot of time as a script reader and literary critic in my career so far.

Part of what the Dramaturg does when working on an established text includes the detailed deconstruction and analysis of the play script. Only by taking the script apart piece by piece and contrasting it with research on the writer, the context and the background of the play, can the Dramaturg deliver a full and exhaustive view of the Dramaturgy behind the text itself.

These skills and abilities can easily be reversed so that, instead of working out what a long-dead writer may have intended for their work, a Dramaturg can be employed in helping a modern writer to develop their own, brand new Dramaturgy.

In such cases, the Dramaturg is there help a writer with the process of writing their play. The Dramaturg becomes a facilitator; helping the writer to develop and distil their thoughts and ideas, providing feedback, researching contexts and language, and being a professional sounding board so that the writer gets exactly what they’re looking for from their script.

In my experience, it is a hugely rewarding and liberating journey for both the writer and the Dramaturg. Indeed, this is one of my very, very favourite jobs!

It involves a clear and constructive relationship between the two parties. The Dramaturg is there to support and help the writer, not to write the play for them. It is an active collaboration between two professionals but the writer is, ultimately, in charge of their own work.

Think of it like this; A writer has a set of great ideas and they pull them together to create a script. The resulting play, while containing some good work, ends up being unwieldy, bloated and unfocused. The writer, or an agent to the writer (a sponsoring theatre, for example) can then employ a Dramaturg to aid them them in refining the text, helping the writer to clarify their vision, neaten up ideas and present a leaner and healthier script as a result.

In some cases, a Dramaturg working on a piece of new writing alongside a playwright is then employed as the Production Dramaturg. The Dramaturg then becomes the modern writer’s representative within the production.

 I offer a number of Dramaturgical Services to new writers and writing groups. These include script readings, one to one courses and seminars. Please see the New Writing Services page, listed above, for more information.

I am currently running a new writing experiment over at https://onewordonestoryblog.wordpress.com/ – Please click the link to join in!