This seminar examines the art and practice of dramaturgy. In addition to surveying the history and theory of the discipline, we will also explore the significance of the dramaturg in and to the theatermaking process. Tracing its roots back to ancient Greece, dramaturgy is a somewhat ill-defined term that broadly alludes to the “making” of drama. In more recent decades, we have come to conceive of the dramaturg as an essential member of the artistic team with important production responsibilities: among them, research, analysis, and practical application. Part of our task together will be to interrogate what precisely a dramaturg is and to investigate what it means to embrace what scholar Geoffrey S. Proehl calls a “dramaturgical sensibility.”
- Teacher: Isaiah Wooden