So several of you wonderful people who read this blog were wondering about a term I used in a post yesterday. Said term being “dramaturg” and all the derivations thereof. Now if you look up dramaturg at dictionary.com, as I just tried to do, you are going to come up with bubkes. You will get a whole bunch of derivations of the word that really have nothing to do with the current, American meaning of the word. You’ll get “dramaturge,” among others, which is French for playwright. That is not what I do. I am not a writer of plays, although I have great admiration for people who can write plays.
No, I’m a dramaturg in the German sense of the word, which is pronounced with a hard -g at the end, and should never be pronounced “drama-turd,” which Rick’s kids do because they think it’s funny. You can call me a ‘turg for short, though. Dramaturgs are among the most recent additions to the theatrical community, and have only really hit it big in the Americas during the last 30 years or so. And by hitting it big, I mean that there are about 500 of us throughout the country, mostly at the large theatres.
Which is all well and good, but I still haven’t told you what a dramaturg does. It depends. I have spent a lot of the past three years working on new play development, where I am a sounding board for the playwright. I ask questions that hopefully make the play a more focused work. I try to make sure that the play is a cohesive arc through beginning, middle, and end, and has a definite journey. I also try to make sure that all loose ends are tied up, and not just plot-wise. If a device is used in the beginning of the play and then gets dropped, I’m the one saying “Why didn’t you use this ever again? Why don’t you do it and see what happens?” So I’m not a playwright, but I work with them.
I also work on revivals, and when I’m doing that, my role differs a bit. For instance, for the Moliere piece I’m currently working on, I worked with the translator (who is also my director) to make sure that it makes sense, and that references to things in the French which an American audience might miss are less obscure. I gave him historical references for the relationship between France and the Ottoman Empire. I’m writing a study guide for the students who will come from area schools, to make sure that they are prepared for the show with information that will help them enjoy it, and leave the show having learned some things about the play and the theatre. On occasion I have made “image walls” with many pictures to immerse cast and audiences in a specific time period or place. I have co-ordinated panels after shows that give audience members a chance to talk with the artists who worked on the play. I answer (or try to) any question that an actor can possibly come up with about the world of the play. In general, I try to make the revivals just as clear as the new plays, just in a different way.
Oh, and occasionally I teach college kids about theatre. Going to be doing that again this June when I go to Nebraska to work on a two week playwrighting seminar.
That’s my evening job, and one I often don’t get paid for, even though it’s what I have my MFA in. My day job is a whole other subject, and much less interesting. Scroll back to some of my earlier posts and you’ll find a mind numbing description of that job.
As for “dramaturging,” that’s the verb form of the word that dictionary.com says doesn’t exist. Gotta love language!
