A dramaturge or dramaturg is a literary adviser or editor in a theatre, opera, or film company who researches, selects, adapts, edits, and interprets scripts, libretti, texts, and printed programmes, consults authors, and does public relationswork. Its modern-day function was originated by the innovations of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, an 18th-century German playwright, philosopher, and theatre theorist.
Responsibilities
One of the dramaturge's contributions is to categorize and discuss the various types of plays or operas, their interconnectedness and their styles. The responsibilities of a dramaturge vary from one theatre or opera company to the next. They might include the hiring of actors, the development of a season of plays or operas with a sense of coherence among them, assistance with and editing of new plays or operas by resident or guest playwrights or composers/librettists, the creation of programmes or accompanying educational services, helping the director with rehearsals, and serving as elucidator of history or spokesperson for deceased or otherwise absent playwrights or composers. At larger theatres or opera houses, the dramaturge works on the historical and cultural research into the play or opera and its setting. In theatre companies, a dramaturge will create a workbook for the director and actors and work extensively with the director prior to the first rehearsal.
History
was hired by the Hamburg National Theatre in 1767, to serve as the theatre's critic of plays and acting, a position which would later be named dramaturge. This position grew over time to what it is today, encompassing the wide variety of tasks seen by modern dramaturgies.
Discrepancies with definition
The modern definition of dramaturge is often debated as to what specific tasks this job does, with some defining it as the bridge between the director and the actors, others defining it as one who determines the meaning of plays and shows for the actors, and others claiming that even they don't quite have a complete definition for their job. This discrepancy between dramaturgies is likely due to the lack of an official historical definition, and the wide variety of tasks that dramaturgies could be asked to work on, depending on the theatre, director, the show being produced, and the actors. Since Gotthold Ephraim Lessing didn't create an official definition for his own position at the Hamburg National Theatre, modern dramaturgies have to infer their tasks based on what Lessing did during his career, and adapt to the current needs of modern theatre.
Since the year 2000, the number of dramaturgies working around the world has increased, albeit it still remains a fairly rare job to have. In 2000, 400 dramaturgies were recorded to be active in the United States, with that number growing. There are various possibilities for what is causing this growth, but some dramaturgies attribute the growth to the fact that dramaturgy combines two popular studies for young students: the liberal arts and theatre. Some dramaturgies are worried, however, that this growth may slow down, due to a decrease in the number of modern plays being written.
