Re-imagining Dramaturgy: What Can Our Cutting-Edge Research Offer the Theatre Industry ?

What is dramaturgy, really ? And why should producers, playwrights, and theatre companies spend good money to hire a “dramaturg” ? More broadly, how can “academic” theatre folk add value to practical theatre work ? How can we scholars help – in a concrete way – to make better theatre ? If you are a scholar who can offer innovative practical answers to these questions, we are interested in your proposal.

“Re-Imagining Dramaturgy” is a symposium dedicated to the radical expansion of the concept traditionally known as dramaturgy, a concept we believe to be more than just historical research and textual notation. We also recognize that the field of dramaturgy is one of the few established areas in which academic work becomes legible to contemporary theatre practitioners and producers. In other words, dramaturgy is one route by which our work as academics can move beyond the pages of academic journals and into the rehearsal room. We are currently accepting proposals for short (8-10 min.) presentations to be included in a symposium on Friday, October 17, 2014, at the Snapple Theatre Center in Manhattan.

Berenice Abbott, The Science Pictures: Swinging Ball, 1982, Gelatin silver print photograph. Source : Five Colleges and Historic Deerfield Museum Consortium.

Interdisciplinary submissions are welcome and encouraged. We seek to compile strong project descriptions on the widest possible range of topics in dramaturgy — or topics that potentially could be considered under the heading of dramaturgy. Topics may include work in theatre studies, performance studies, psychology, cognitive studies, theatre technology, and arts in education, and may address the following questions:

• How does our research demonstrate new methods of conducting dramaturgy ?
• What are interdisciplinary studies offering to the field and how are projects across disciplines expanding traditional notions of dramaturgy ?
• How are technology and social media expanding the realm of dramaturgy ?
• What new approaches are being taken to audience survey ? Advertising and promotion ? New work selection ?
• Where does education outreach fit in to theatre production and how is our research relevant ?
• How might work in race and gender theory be useful to theatre playwrights, directors, and producers ? And how might we help the theatre industry to incorporate these insights into their practice ?

Please send your 200-word abstracts and contact information to dcalderazzo@yahoo.com and dandinero@nyu.com no later than September 2nd, 2014. For more info and registration, please visit www.re-imaginingdramaturgy.com