Dramaturgy

 

To read more about the projects I am currently involved in click here

 

My role as a dramaturg:

 

Dramaturgs find homes in the spaces between directors, writers, performers and crews.

 

Some dramaturgs live just behind their director, always ready to whisper a response to an idea or make a proposal at the appropriate moment. The relationship can be quite exclusive and private, sometimes with the performers receiving no invitation to become part of the creative dialogue.

 

For me, with my background of directing devised theatre with performers, this approach closes doors that might otherwise lead to positive and exciting contributions to and developments in the piece.

 

So I choose to position myself in the spaces not only between the director(s) and the piece, and the piece and the audience, but also in the spaces between the performers, the creative team and their relationships with each other and the directors.

 

This means I listen and watch, and talk. I like to hear how people are feeling, what they are seeing, what they perceive themselves to be doing.

 

Part of my role is to help people see what it is they are making, and help them recognise when they have made what they intended to make. Or not.

 

And as someone who chooses to work in devised processes where the product is always multiply authored, (even if singularly signed) and who believes that the process is always entirely present in the product, I think it is crucial to pay attention to the detail of the making process to ensure that the best possible piece gets made in the best possible circumstances.