: Defining what a dramaturg does in one tidy sentence is hard to do. The dictionary says a dramaturg is someone who specializes in dramaturgy. Here’s a link to Dramaturgy 101 that will help you if you want more detail. Or you can simply read on and let Ken Cerniglia give you his definition of what he does as a dramaturg.
Thursday, November 04, 2021
What a Dramaturg Does
Dramatics Magazine Online
: Defining what a dramaturg does in one tidy sentence is hard to do. The dictionary says a dramaturg is someone who specializes in dramaturgy. Here’s a link to Dramaturgy 101 that will help you if you want more detail. Or you can simply read on and let Ken Cerniglia give you his definition of what he does as a dramaturg.
: Defining what a dramaturg does in one tidy sentence is hard to do. The dictionary says a dramaturg is someone who specializes in dramaturgy. Here’s a link to Dramaturgy 101 that will help you if you want more detail. Or you can simply read on and let Ken Cerniglia give you his definition of what he does as a dramaturg.
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I found this article incredibly helpful because, to be honest, I was unaware of what EXACTLY a dramaturg does prior to this article. I knew it had something to do with history behind theatre, intentions behind characters, and creator a deeper understanding of the script. I would love if this article could somehow be downloaded into everyone's brains, as I believe most people don't even know dramaturgs exist. My sister has a very solid understanding of how theatre works because of me, but even she did not know what a dramaturg was until I mentioned it. In the past before starting theatre I as an audience member did not think about how a production comes to be and just assumed it magically appears on stage. I never considered how much work goes into the design process, and that is how I feel about dramaturgy. It is an incredibly integral role, that even I sometimes forget about the importance of. Each conservatory hour reminds me of this, so I am very thankful for those meetings. I also did not have a dramaturg on my high school productions, so I hope I will have more of an awareness for the work they do once I start working alongside them to create theatre.
The first time I heard about Dramaturgy was when I started my undergrad. Until then, I had heard that research goes into putting up a show but I never took that as a specialized job. But once I started my undergrad, I realized, by means of the several classes and my dramaturgy friends, of how dramaturgy is more than just researching and is definitely not something that everyone can do. Yet, after reading this article, I got to learn so many more things that I previously just overlooked. I think that this article is a great outlet for anyone to learn more about dramaturgy because of how clear and concise it is and the amount of information is easily retainable. I truly believe that dramaturgs help ground a play in reality and logic, given any genre and only add to believability of the piece and sometimes, to the whimsicality of the piece.
Like Reesha, I had not heard off a dramaturg before I came to college, and I do find it very interesting what they do. This person talks about how their work as a dramaturg is so closely related to the playwright, and that makes total sense, but there are also dramaturgs on shows that are already established, like we have here. And the dramaturgs role on that kind of show is so different than the role on a show where they get to work with the playwright. Something I am also wondering is if it is a thing that there are dramaturgs for a theatre or if dramaturgs are the kind of role that are specific per show and they hire different ones for every different show rather than some theatres having a residential dramaturg? I know that the role of a dramaturg on every show is different, so I would be interested to hear from dramaturgs that have worked on different kinds of shows and hear about what they prefer and the differences in those processes.
Dramaturgs deserve the world! They do so much and rarely ever get the recognition they deserve. Like many others, I never understood what dramaturgy was before I came to CMU. Dramaturgs are so important to the entire production process. This article was extremely useful in helping me understand that dramaturgy was much more than doing research on a play or musical. Dramaturgs need to truly understand the work and what the author is trying to say in order to accurately represent the story. I feel like a huge part of a dramaturg’s job is to maintain the integrity of a play which is so incredibly important. I love all of my dramaturg friends, and I love hearing them talk about their different projects. I admire the amount of work they do, and I wish the role of dramaturg was more well known. Without these hardworking individuals, I believe everyone’s lives would be made so much more difficult.
Oh boy, this is a fun question! I happen to have just transferred into the dramaturgy program at our fine institution of higher learning, Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Drama. I had no real idea what a dramaturg was before coming here, but when I learned more about it, something started making sense to me: that’s what I wanted to do! It’s a fairly unknown position, and doesn’t get a lot of press in general. I think Cerniglia’s analogy to the role of a book editor is pretty apt. It’s really important, and provides vital support to the writers, producers, directors and design team of a production, but their work is fairly invisible. I’ve been inspired to try and take up dramaturgy, and I hope to become really good at it. Theatre is and always will be very important to me, and now I think I know what I want to do for my part!
Although I am familiar with what a dramaturg is and what their role entails in the theatre world, I often find it difficult to explain the position to people not so immersed in theatre. The author of this article mentions that as a dramaturg working with a playwright, they help “unlock the full potential of their work”. I think this is a great way of putting it because yes you can write a piece or put on a show without a dramaturg, but there will be some major holes in the depth of the final product. I also like how the author mentioned that he is just the “suggester” and the creative team are the “deciders”. I believe this to be a very accurate representation of the environment created by dramaturgs I have worked with as they are there to guide and make sure everything makes sense on an accurate scale.
I had to laugh when I read the title of this article. Dramaturgy is such an underappreciated artform, and is absolutely vital to the production process. And yet, most people will look at you funny when you say “dramaturg,” “turg,” or “dramaturgy.” They might even say “bless you.” There are even actors (potentially even students in our own School of Drama!) who do not know what a dramaturg is or what they do. I will admit, I knew of dramaturgy since early high school days, as my director drilled it into our heads that dramaturgs were an important keystone in the carefully balanced arch of theater. That being said, they never really went into depth about the entire job and duty of the dramaturgy department on a production, just a vague idea of what it is they do. Since beginning my studies here, I have gained a massive amount of insight into what exactly dramaturgy is and how important it is for our overall process in every department. One could say that the work of a dramaturg is not visible onstage but that is completely false. Dramaturgy percolates its way through every single department and can have a massive effect on any and every aspect of s show. Dramaturgs deserve more recognition in the industry.
As someone whose partner is a director/dramaturg, I would love it if every week there was an article with a different dramaturg explaining their career and what they do. I used to think that the dramaturg was just the research person who made sure the creative work understood the historical context of their show. I don’t know how his book editor metaphor works for productions where the playwright is not involved. I guess the director is the author in that scenario. I also for a bit thought the dramaturg’s job was just making sure the audience knew the context of the show through the program and any front of house set up. I think it’s interesting that theater seems to have a role for every kind of person. If you like theater but also really like building things and using your hands, be a TD/carpenter. If you like theater, but also really like research and asking questions about the show, be a dramaturg
Like many have said, I do not think I really knew what a dramaturg was or what it is that they do before I arrived at Carnegie Mellon School of Drama. At first, I had thought them walking Wikipedias for all things related to whichever show they happen to be working on, but they are so much more than that! They are knowledgeable, they are reliable sounding boards, they are collaborators and artists and academics and researchers. The author and book editor analogy really worked for me because that is a very clear relationship that I know how to envision. The insight of the dramaturg shapes the story and the way it presents to an audience, even if we as an audience do not realize it. The context and wisdom dramaturgs bring to the table are invaluable and I am very glad that at Carnegie Mellon, I get to work closely with them to bring out the full potential of a show.
Being a grad student, I feel as if I should have a much better understanding of what a dramaturg does but in reality, I had minimal exposure before arriving at Carnegie Mellon. I had some minimal exposure during undergrad but there was no specific undergrad degree in dramaturgy so it was always something that someone who was interested in it did on the side of all the other things they were juggling with. I recently had the unique opportunity of working with a dramaturg on the first school of music opera of the season and it was a great experience. They also held the first talkback that the school of music has had in recent history, if ever. I have been a part of many talkbacks but none with a dramaturg leading the way so it was a truly great experience and I'm thankful that Carnegie Mellon has a degree specifically for dramaturg's because I feel that if they didn't, the program would be truly lacking something.
I really enjoyed reading this. An engineering friend of mine asked what dramaturgy was and I had to pause for a second. Over the past few years I have become more aware of the role of a dramaturg, having worked with many, and understand their role on a basic level. When I was asked to explain it though I really had to pause for a second. I think that like most jobs within the entertainment industry there isn’t a clear line of what our roles are as creators. With dramaturgy I like to call them the Gods of the production. Like they said in article they aren’t there to make the decisions they are there to ask the right questions and lead the teams (sometimes without others knowing the influence they hold within the production) whenever I meet with a dramaturg I am always blow away by the knowledge and curiosity they have within their role. Sending love to all the dramaturgs out there, you are amazing and the shows here wouldn’t be what they are without you :)
As the same thing with the other commenters, I have never heard of a dramaturg or what they did until I came to Carnegie Mellon University. And now that I personally know them and know what they do, I feel like every production should have a person like that. It’s a different kind of work because in my opinion they help so many people not only just the actors but also perhaps the creative behind the show. It’s a shame that they don’t get the recognition that I believe that they deserve and that is so much of the research that often goes into a production should be credited towards dramaturgs but are not and I feel like that’s really unfair, and that it should be something that should be more public and should be made more aware to the people watching the show. Dramaturgs have such an interesting job, but since they are not as recognized, i feel like it is such a shame.
I had never worked with a dramaturg prior to arriving at Carnegie Mellon (I'm not sure I even really knew that it was a field all its own, I just thought it was something that directors and designers were expected to do on their own), and at first I think I was a little dubious that that should be a separate person. Each time I've had the opportunity at CMU to work with a dramaturg, though, I've absolutely been convinced. Yes, of course the director and designers should do their own dramaturgy. But having a dedicated dramaturg there that has reach across all of the design disciplines, and who has a little bit more of an outside perspective and a more focused responsibility set than the director is incredibly helpful and incredibly valuable. Dramaturgs definitely add a ton of value to a process, and I think all kinds and all scales of productions benefit from having them around.
If you are paying close enough attention you can tell when a dramaturg has been involved with a production without looking at the program. Usually I find that a dramaturg has helped the director, design team, and actors better understand the materials they are performing on a deeper level. When they “get it”, it is more likely that an audience will “get it.” I love hearing stories about people trying to find their place in the theatre industry. Often times people are drawn to the art form as a whole or through the people in it but sometimes it takes a few attempts at trying something new to see what they love. I truly believe that there is a place for everyone in the theatre industry. The art form is so wide and encompassing that you are sure to be able to find some aspect you are interested in. I am grateful that positions such as dramaturgs and managers are being offered at an education level so that people can find their passion earlier on.
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