Dramaturgy in the Making: A User’s Guide for Theatre Practitioners

Dramaturgy in the Making maps contemporary dramaturgical practices in various settings of theatre-making and dance to reveal the different ways that dramaturgs work today. It provides a thorough survey of three major areas of practice - institutional dramaturgy, production dramaturgy and dance dramaturgy - with each illustrated through a range of case studies that illuminate methodology and which will assist practitioners in developing their own ’dramaturgical toolbox’.

In tracing the development of the role of the dramaturg, the author explores the contribution of Lessing, Brecht and Tynan, foundational figures who shaped the practice. She excavates the historical and theoretical contexts for each strand of the work, uniquely offering a history of dance dramaturgy and its associated theories.

Based on extensive research, the volume features material from the author’s interviews with fifty eminent professionals from Europe and North America, including: Robert Blacker, Jack Bradley, DD Kugler, Ruth Little and Hildegard De Vuyst. Through these, a detailed and precise insight is provided into dramaturgical processes at organisations such as the Akram Khan Company, les ballets C de la B (Gent), the National Theatre and the Royal Court (London), the Schaubühne (Berlin) and The Sundance Institute Theatre Lab (Utah), among others.

Dramaturgy in the Making will prove indispensable to anyone working in theatre or wanting to better understand the dramaturgical processes in performance-making today. The book features a foreword by Geoff Proehl, author of Toward a Dramaturgical Sensibility: Landscape and Journey.

Katalin Trencsényi is a London-based dramaturg. She was trained at the Academy of Drama and Film, Budapest, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London, and the EötvösLoránd University, Budapest. As a freelance dramaturg she has worked for the National Theatre, the Royal Court Theatre, Deafinitely Theatre and Corali Dance Company among others. For her research on contemporary dramaturgical practices, she was a recipient of the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas’ Dramaturg Driven Grant. From 2010 to 2012 she served as president of the Dramaturgs’ Network.