Thinking No-One’s Thought

Abstract

What is it that dramaturgs do? Is there a dramaturg that has never been faced with this question? Contemplating possible answers, I am reminded of lists provided by former teachers of the activities performed by a dramaturg: background research, analysis, observing rehearsals, being a first audience, writing program notes and grant applications, and so on. While such lists may indeed provide an initial impression of the kind of activities with which dramaturgs often occupy their time, they do not offer insight into the specificities of the dramaturg’s role in the creative process. Importantly, the use of the term specificities here does not in any way imply an argument for an essential or singular way of doing dramaturgy; on the contrary, we might suppose that there exist almost as many ways of doing dramaturgy as there are dramaturgs. Nonetheless, if we examine the dramaturg’s function within the creative process, instead of considering the particular manner in which each dramaturg individually fulfills a preordained role, we can begin to distinguish some common characteristics that make an appearance time and again.