Who’s afraid of … the dramaturg?
Who’s afraid of … the dramaturg?
Some thoughts after five years as a freelance dramaturg
By Katalin Trencsényi, dramaturg
It has been five years since I received my degree (MA) in Dramaturgy at the Academy of Drama and Film in Budapest. When the Dean of the School presented me with my diploma in the packed theatre of the university, he shook my hand and said: “Welcome, back!” What he meant was that I had literally just returned from my two-years’ theatre traineeship in Britain.
After the ceremony, myself and my dramaturgy class (there were eight of us) had our picture taken on a cart in the school yard (to be framed and hung on the school’s wall of fame) before we all dispersed to start our professional career. Sitting cheerfully on “Thespis’ cart” as we called that decrepit old prop that summer afternoon, little did I know that cart had a symbolic meaning for my future: further travelling between Budapest and London, until a year later I’d move to Britain and continue my career there as a dramaturg.
Five years have passed since then, all spent working in my profession (one year in Hungary and four in Britain) – enough time to look back and summarise my experience as a freelance dramaturg before moving to the next chapter of my career.
Posted by Hanna at 03:49 PM in Articles | Comments (0) |
Two forms of collaboration and complicity in total theatre and playing Beckett
Two forms of collaboration and complicity in total theatre and playing Beckett; a dramaturgs view.
by John Keefe
Introduction All theatre is a collaboration: between the actors, and between the actors and non-acting contributors; together these make a ‘mise-en-scène’ with which the spectator collaborates. All theatre is a complicity or a pact of knowing acceptance: between the actors who accept the fiction and figures they present as ‘real’ and behave as if these are ‘real’; between the real fictional world created (the ‘mise-en-scène’) and the spectator who accepts that fiction as a real representative of their world whilst knowing it is a fiction. The spectator is always reading the ‘mise-en-scène’ to a lesser or greater degree but I do not accept they are always constructing an image; rather it is a question of how complete is the image presented. The more complete the image the less work the spectator has to do; at its worst a form of infantilising the spectator.
I wish to examine and contrast two particular forms of collaboration-complicity; between that demanded by the unsustainable ideology of the ‘Gesamtkunstwerk’ with its attempt to construct and give a complete image which subsumes the spectator (as an ideal), and that of Beckett’s ‘mise-en-scène’ which rests on his performance dramaturgy that both shows us the world of the play yet keeps us slightly detached from that world as we laugh and cry at what we recognize in ourselves. Where we do have to play our part in the play, in constructing our image and experience of the human condition from the images presented to and confronting us.
Posted by Hanna at 03:44 PM in Articles | Comments (0) |
On Getting People to Engage A few thoughts on festival dramaturgy
On Getting People to Engage A few thoughts on festival dramaturgy
by Martine Dennewald, dramaturg
“We have to find a way to continue talking […]. We have to engage. […] That’s all theater is: who’s in the room, whom you can interest in being in the room. And then extending the discussion.” (Peter Sellars)
Six months ago, I left the United Kingdom to go to Hungary, where I was asked to curate and coordinate an international Visitors Programme for the Contemporary Drama Festival Budapest. The aim of this series of private events was “to offer a number of international guests the possibility to experience cultural life in Budapest from an insider’s point of view […]” (Kortárs Drámafesztivál 2005a). Forty visitors – theatre and festival directors, dramaturgs, critics and academics – were invited to take part in an exceptional cultural programme. Over the week-long festival period, they were introduced to the different arts in Hungary by some of the most outstanding experts in each field, and they had the opportunity to meet a considerable number of Hungarian artists in person. The intention was to lay “the foundation for future co-operations off the beaten tracks of mainstream cultural exchange” (Kortárs Drámafesztivál 2005b).
Posted by Hanna at 03:37 PM in Articles | Comments (0) |
Contracts for dramaturgs
There are very few contracts in theatre work and it is a particularly tricky issue with a fairly new role. One of our members had a full contract for a project and we have put it here as a guide for dramaturgs, theatre companies and producers for when entering into a collaboration with a dramaturg.
Posted by Hanna at 10:08 PM in UK Dramaturgs, Resources | Comments (0) |
Become a member
If you would like to join the dramaturgs’network, down load a membership application form or find out more about our memberships, here is all the information you need.
Posted by Hanna at 09:54 PM in dramturgs'network |
What a dramaturg can do (compiled by the Dramaturgs’ Network)
This list is compiled by the dramaturgs’network and is therefore a reflection on the different tasks a dramaturg support in the UK at various times and in different projects.
The dramaturg in the UK is providing a range of support to theatres and productions.
This is a list of some of the things dramaturgs do:
DRAMATURGS CAN HELP WRITERS AND DIRECTORS with;
READING PLAYS
Old and new, British and foreign; rediscovering old treasures, digging out forgotten plays and helping you choose the best for your theatre to make an interesting season.
TRANSLATING OR RE-TRANSLATING PLAYS
Helping you translate plays into English in order to get the best out of a foreign writer’s work. Can also look for good translators for a play
Posted by David S at 05:35 PM in dramturgs'network, Dramaturgy, UK Dramaturgs | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) |
What does a dramaturg do? (LMDA’s definition)
This is the list of the different tasks the dramaturg can do. It has been collated by our sister organisation LMDA (Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas) The dramaturg in the UK may not be involved some of these functions
Posted by David S at 05:29 PM in Dramaturgy | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) |
Dramaturgy Courses in the UK
This is a brief list of courses in the UK which either have a component of dramaturgy or where dramaturgy is an intergral part of the course with an option to study the skills applied by the dramaturg.
Please let us know if we are missing a course!
Posted by David S at 05:28 PM in UK Dramaturgs, Resources | Comments (4) |
Fees for Dramaturgy Services
This linked document lists suggested fee’s for the different services provided by a dramaturg based on research done by the dramaturgs’network.
fees for dramaturgy services.pdf
Please feel free to comment on these recommendations below if you have had different experiences or have other suggestions.
Posted by David S at 05:27 PM in UK Dramaturgs, Resources | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) |
What is dramaturgy? (LMDA’s definition)
Defining what dramaturgy is, is the first step to understand what the dramaturg is focussing on during the production process.
The list below compiled by the LMDA (the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas) is a very comprehensive list of the elements of the performance text. The dramaturg staying on the outside of the process is supporting the choices taken by director, actors and stage designers which make up the unique production
Posted by David S at 05:26 PM in Dramaturgy | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) |
Find a dramaturg
The network has members all over the UK and beyond its borders with a wide range of expertise, language skills and specialisms.
We are in the process of developing a searchable means of finding a dramaturg amongst our members with the right expertise and in the right area, however in the meanwhile please send an e-mail with a description of the project, the role you want the dramaturg to fulfill and other practicalities such as location, time and remuneration to and we will distribute it amongst our members.
Some of our members have chosen to add their details to the website so feel free to browse. To contact individual members including those listed below send an e-mail through and you mark the mail FAO ’name of dramaturg‘
Alternatively contact us via phone to discuss the potential role of a dramaturg in your project and how to best find the right person for your company. (see the contact us page for the phone number)
Posted by David S at 05:26 PM in dramturgs'network, UK Dramaturgs |
Anne Hamilton, Hamilton Dramaturgy, New York City, NY USA
Anne Hamilton is a Columbia University graduate with sixteen years of experience in New York City with some of America’s best theatre artists and companies. She wishes to expand her practice to international clients. She offers: script development, production dramaturgy, career development and production research and more. Inquire at http://www.hamiltonlit.com.
For full CV see: annehamiltoncv07.pdf
Posted by Hanna at 05:25 PM in dramturgs'network | Trackbacks (0) |
David Lane: London and South-East primarily and South-West
Dramaturg, playwright and lecturer in higher education (Exeter, City, Goldsmiths, Brunel) to BA / MA level (dramaturgy and playwriting). New writing, ensemble work and theatre workshops for young people. Literary Associate to Theatre and Beyond, Brighton and Visiting Dramaturg at Exeter University. Under commission from Half Moon Young People’s Theatre.
For full cv see: davidlaneCV07.pdf
Posted by Hanna at 05:20 PM in dramturgs'network | Trackbacks (0) |
the Network
Who are we?
How are we organised?
How do we work together?
Find out more about the structure of the dramaturgs’ network…
Posted by David S at 12:17 PM in | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) |
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