The term "dramaturg"

[keen on kean]

Posted: 4/24/07 at 11:36am

I had not seen this word used much until the past few months. Does it have a particular meaning different from "director" ? Does the term "assistant dramaturg" mean something specific or does it vary from one production to another?

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 4/24/07 at 11:45am

A dramaturg works with a director. What he or she would do, exactly, varies greatly depending on the production, though. Dramaturgs often compile things to help create the director's vision... one of the most concrete examples of dramaturgy is looking into historical context, but obviously that's not applicable to every show.

[Kringas]

Posted: 4/24/07 at 11:47am

Generally, a dramaturg and a director are two separate individuals. This page here seems to have a fairly concise definition, though I think dramaturgs serve different purposes at different theatres.
What is a dramaturg

[sweetiedarlinmia]

Posted: 4/24/07 at 11:57am

There is also a relationship between a dramaturg and the playwright when a playwright is working on a new piece

[Gothampc]

Posted: 4/24/07 at 12:00pm

In some of the productions that I've worked with, the dramaturg is fluent in a foreign language and can help clarify meaning of text. For example, I worked on a Moliere play that had a dramaturg who helped express ideas from the French.

Also a dramaturg does research and helps the actors with things like customs of the time period, culture and politics, etc.

In all the productions I have worked on where a dramaturg was used, the dramaturg was given a few pages in the program to write an essay that set the background for the play.

[sweetiedarlinmia]

Posted: 4/24/07 at 12:37pm

Basically, and this gives no specifics, A dramaturg is what the playwright and director need them to be to help the piece come to life.

I've dramaturged a production where my duties were to get all the information about the pieces and within the pieces. My job as dramaturg was to be an expert on the world of the plays. So that meant for one piece where there were like at least 6 references on each pg of dialog, many obscure, I had to find that and provide it for the director, TD, and actors. I now know what nepenthe means both in general and as it pertained to the production. Another piece was about plastic surgery, soooo I learned a LOT about that subject. It was fun for my researchers/know-it-all mind.

On the other side, I work for a playwrights org where we employ dramaturgs to help our playwrights develop their pieces. Some have good experiences, others not so good. That kinda depends on the individuals and how they approach it.

Fluid is the best way to define a dramaturg. Updated On: 4/24/07 at 12:37 PM

[keen on kean]

Posted: 4/24/07 at 2:50pm

Thank you, everyone, for your help! The term now makes enormous sense given the places I have seen it used, namely, The Coast of Utopia trilogy, and the recent Princeton University world premiere of Pushkin's Boris Godunov with newly-discovered Prokofiev music.
(And, yes, you might call recent weeks my Russian period!)
Updated On: 4/24/07 at 02:50 PM