Dramaturgy

Tell your story….really well.

Good stories don’t just tumble out. Well, they can, but it’s rare. Most good stories are crafted. They take time and thought and lots of writing to get it right.

A dramaturg helps you tell your story really well.  They help you see your story clearly.

You have a story in mind. Great. You don’t know where to start. Not so great. So you sit on it for weeks, months, years and that story never gets to be told. The agony! A dramaturg will help you tease out what it is that is essential to the story and give you a place to start.

Or maybe you have a story and you get all excited and write like mad, then half-way through and you realise you lost your way.  The frustration! A dramaturg will help you sift through what you have written and help you see where you went wrong.
Or perhaps you write the whole story and then wonder why it’s not as good as you thought it was going to be (or indeed why everyone else who reads it doesn’t seem to think much of it) The disappointment!  Damn. A dramaturg’s job is go back over what you have written and find out what went wrong- making the story clearer, better, more likely to be a successful one.

Dramaturgs ask questions. Lots so them. They will ask questions to make sure you are clear of what your story is about. Because let’s face it, if you can’t understand your story, no-one else will.  Then a dramaturg will look again at what you’ve written and suggest why that story you want to tell isn’t showing up on the page.  It could be structure. It could be character. It could be form. It could be that you are trying to tell more than one story. It could be that you haven’t done enough research. It could be that you just need to nut out the plot better. Whatever it is, a dramaturg will chivy it out and give the problem a good talking to.

One thing dramaturgs don’t do- and should never do-take any ownership or credit for your story or any part thereof. Just because a dramaturg helped you see your story clearer, and gave you insights that you used to make the story great, it doesn’t mean a dramaturg has a right to claim any of the glory. We are strictly backstage, behind the scenes, support crew.

Think you need a dramaturg?

Great. Drop me an email. I will give you a quote before we start so you will know what you are in for and what to expect.