Dramaturgy

Another reader-prompted post!

Kristinn asked about my dream job, and it took me no time at all to decide how to answer. What I think I’d like to do more than anything is become a dramaturge. The role of a dramaturge varies from theater to theater, but essentially I’d be involved with research and development of new plays and translations. Dramaturges can help shape a season, adding coherence to a company’s offerings. Through extensive research they provide background on a play’s time period, geography, social conditions, etc. to assist the director actors. In a non linear play they might put together a timeline to help actors better grasp what’s happening when and where their characters are. There’s also an element of marketing to dramaturgy, as some dramaturges write program notes or media pieces, produce programs, put together talkbacks, and generally act as a liaison between the company and the audience.

Basically everything about this job appeals to me. It would be an ideal way to be involved in this art form I love and fully appeals to my love of order and research and my natural editorial inclination.

When I was still in Chicago but looking for a way to come back to NYC, I did some half-assed research into the dramaturgy program at Brooklyn College. I never did figure out how to move back to the city with not only no job but tuition to pay as well. In the end, I took the easy way out and stayed with McGraw-Hell...sorry, McGraw-Hill, and suffered through another couple of years with them. In some ways, the mountains of debt seem more appealing in retrospect! Alas, I’m no closer to being a dramaturge now than I was in my Chicago days. And at least now I have a job I like, even if it’s not my dream job.