Defining the Dramaturg - para dramaturgia D

The Dictionary defines dramaturgy as "the art or technique of dramatic composition and theatrical representation". But perhaps the best way to think of a dramaturg is someone with varied skills and broad intellectual oversight, or simply, a resident scholar. In Europe, the dramaturg’s role may diverge from that of the American counterpart. Here are some of the duties dramaturgs have been known to assume:

• resident playwright
• critic
• liaison with other playwrights
• verifier of authenticity
• deconstructionist
• adviser on repertory
• text preparation and oversight
• translation and adaptation
• pre-production and rehearsal work on issues of design, direction and performance
• contextual research
• program and study guide notes and preparation
• conducting audience discussions and related work in conjunction with the marketing and media departments
• script evaluation and communication with writers and agents

In her very definitive and comprehensive work in the field of dramaturgy, Dramaturgy in American Theater, A Source Book, Susan Jonas states the following in defining the dramaturg:

The primary job of a theater’s production dramaturg is to focus his or her energies and those of the artistic director on long-range research and development and on artistic planning. The dramaturg must ask important questions -- of both the theater and his or her artistic collaborators. These questions will determine what lines the theater plans along and what kind of plays the theater will eventually develop and produce. These important questions begin with the most fundamental ones: Who are we as artists? What are our theatrical or extratheatrical models and our ideals? What kinds of work do we respond to? Who is our work for? What is our theater’s community in terms both of artists and audience? As these questions are discussed and addressed, an artistic philosophy will be shaped and discerned. In the end, artistic policy is of course defined by the repertory itself. It may or may not be stated in programs or grant applications, but it is always evident on the stage.

The production dramaturg’s role is to develop repertory material that will express the theater’s artistic purpose. The dramaturg will need to find, develop, and possibly even create plays by contacting writers, commissioning plays, researching lost or little-known plays in libraries or archives, and occasionally compiling texts as an editor would from other existing library or non-literary sources. The aim of this work is to present the artistic director with a slate of plays for inclusion in the season that embody the theater’s artistic purpose. The creation of this slate of plays requires experience in two areas of the repertory: the first includes classical plays and revivals, and the second area comprises work on new plays.

Terms To Know

Chronicle Play. A play with a historical basis, told as a series of episodes rather than as a complete story with a structured plot. Shakespeare’s Richard II, based on Raphael Holinshed’s Chronicles is an example.

Concept Meeting. A gathering of the producer, director and casting director to reach an agreement about the look and quality of each character in a script.

Co-Writing. Joint authorship of one work by two or more writers.

Dramaturg. One who studies a play to interpret it for a company of actors, answering questions about the text, the language, the period, the manners and mores of the characters, the clothing, and the customs. He or she may share in selecting plays, their revisions, or adaptations; choosing translations; writing program notes; and advising technicians.

Dramaturgy. The study and interpretation of plays with special attention to the difficulties plays from another period present for the acting company of today. Sometimes a component of playwriting MFA programs, the University of Michigan, among others, offers a doctoral program in dramaturgy.

Pen. To compose or write.

Subtext. The subtleties between the lines of a scene.

fonte do texto: http://www.actorschecklist.com/resources/dramaturg.html