What is Dramaturgy? Some Answers From Our Members:

"Brian Quirt, a former president of LMDA, defined it as “the exploration of stories and how they are told in the theater.” I truly like that definition. So I would like to add to it.

Dramaturgy is the exploration of stories and how they are told in the theater, and a dramaturg does this in a number of ways

1) A dramaturg can introduce the story to an audience

a. As a Literary Manager discovering new plays for a theater

b. As a translator

c. As an adaptor

d. As an aid to a playwright who is constructing a new story for the stage

2) A dramaturg can explore the story

a. In rehearsal as a production dramaturg

b. By writing scholarly essays on the story

c. By writing criticism

d. As a teacher helping students discover these stories

A dramaturg has the opportunity (and the absolute pleasure) of looking at a story for the theater from conception, through production, and even reflect upon it after the production is done, and present all those facets to the world. How cool is that?"

-- Debra Cardona-DePeahul, Dramaturg at Classical Theatre of Harlem

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Resources for Dramaturgs

LMDA Dramaturgy Discussion List

The Dramaturgy Discussion Group is a lively online discussion forum for dramaturgs and literary mangers. Known as the "Listserv" and sponsored by LMDA, you can post questions, discuss issues and engage in conversation with dramaturgs, literary managers and other interested parties around the country. To add your voice to the discussion, subscribe to the group by clicking HERE.

Resources for Dramaturgs

Members Only Content

The following content is available for members only:

Resources for Dramaturgs

Employment Guidelines

LMDA is proud to announce publication of the Second Edition of its Employment Guidelines following ratification by the LMDA Board of Directors. The new Guidelines were launched at the organization’s annual international conference in Atlanta, GA, June 28-July 1, 2012.

The mission of Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA) is to cultivate, develop, and promote the fields of dramaturgy and literary management in the United States and Canada. LMDA is committed to improving employment prospects and working conditions for dramaturgs and literary managers, and, in order to fulfill this mission, it has adopted the Employment Guidelines, the use of which it recommends when negotiating contracts and other employment agreements. These Guidelines refer to three broad categories of employment: