Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Dramaturg

🎯 Role Definition

A Dramaturg is a literary and research specialist who supports the artistic development of plays and performances from earliest drafts through production. Working closely with directors, writers, designers and producers, the Dramaturg provides historical and contextual research, dramaturgical analysis, editorial feedback, and audience-facing materials. This role requires deep knowledge of playwriting and theatre history, strong editorial judgment, excellent communication skills, and experience shepherding new work and revivals from page to stage.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Assistant Dramaturg or Literary Assistant supporting season planning and submission management.
Literary Intern or Emerging Writer/Assistant in a development program.
Production Assistant or Stage Manager with strong text and research experience.

Advancement To:

Head or Principal Dramaturg responsible for season-wide dramaturgical strategy.
Literary Director / Manager overseeing submissions, commissioning, and writer relationships.
Associate Artistic Director or Artistic Director with programmatic leadership.

Lateral Moves:

Script Editor / Development Editor for publishers or theatre companies.
Artistic Producer leading new-play development programs and touring strategies.

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Lead detailed script analysis and dramaturgical reporting for each project, providing directors, writers, and producers with clear notes on structure, character arcs, thematic clarity, pacing, and dramaturgical risks and opportunities.
Serve as primary researcher for production context—conducting archival, historical, cultural, and theoretical research that informs design, performance practice, and directorial concept and communicating findings through concise research briefs.
Collaborate directly with playwrights during commissions, rewrites, and workshop phases to offer editorial feedback, structural suggestions, and development strategies while maintaining the writer’s voice and intent.
Facilitate and design writer-development workshops, staged readings, and dramaturgical labs, coordinating logistics, securing participants, preparing materials, and running productive feedback sessions that advance the work.
Act as an intermediary between creative teams and organizational leadership, translating artistic needs into production timelines, budgetary implications, and season planning considerations.
Prepare and edit audience-facing materials including program notes, talkback prompts, lobby displays, educational guides, and marketing copy that contextualize the work and deepen audience engagement.
Manage the literary intake process: read and assess unsolicited submissions, provide coverage, maintain submission databases, and make programming recommendations to the literary team and artistic leadership.
Advise directors and designers on dramaturgical continuity and fidelity to text during rehearsal, pointing out textual subtleties, historical performance conventions, and dramaturgical choices that affect the production.
Track and clear rights, adaptations, and translation permissions for scripts or source materials, liaising with agents, publishers, and rights-holders to secure legal and ethical use of texts.
Produce comprehensive dramaturgical packets for creative teams—including annotated scripts, contextual research, source materials, and recommended dramaturgical exercises—updated throughout the rehearsal process.
Run dramaturgical rehearsal-room sessions, offering scene-by-scene analysis, line edits for clarity or intent, and exercises to explore subtext, objective, and physicalized action.
Support casting conversations with insight into character development and textual requirements, preparing breakdowns that clarify intent, dialects, and age ranges for casting directors and directors.
Contribute to production design conversations by supplying research on period details, cultural signifiers, or performance traditions that inform set, costume, sound, and lighting concepts.
Coordinate and lead post-show discussions, community talkbacks, and public programming that link artistic work to civic conversations, ensuring accessibility and diverse perspectives are represented.
Mentor junior dramaturgs, interns, and assistant staff—structuring learning objectives, providing editorial feedback, and supervising practical dramaturgical tasks and research projects.
Curate and present dramaturgical resource libraries and digital archives for company use, ensuring materials are indexed, accessible, and continually updated.
Analyze audience and critical feedback to refine programmatic approaches, assist marketing with messaging priorities, and help the institution iterate on engagement strategies.
Write, edit, and deliver grant narratives, project descriptions, and artistic statements that communicate dramaturgical approach and development plans to funders and stakeholders.
Lead commissioned translation projects, collaborating with translators and playwrights to ensure idiomatic clarity and dramaturgical fidelity across languages.
Partner with education and community engagement teams to design curriculum-aligned workshops, school matinees, and outreach programs that use dramaturgy to build cultural literacy.
Monitor and apply contemporary dramaturgical theory, diversity and inclusion principles, and best practices to ensure programming reflects equitable representation and culturally competent research methods.
Maintain production schedules, budgets related to dramaturgical activities (research, rights, visitor artists), and procurement of archival or licensing materials, reporting on spend and deliverables to production managers.

Secondary Functions

Support long-range season planning by researching potential playwrights, themes, and cultural trends and presenting strategic recommendations to the artistic team.
Assist marketing and communications with targeted dramaturgical content to improve SEO, program discoverability, and digital engagement (program notes, blog posts, and educational content).
Compile, synthesize, and present qualitative and quantitative metrics about audience engagement from talkbacks, surveys, and focus groups to inform dramaturgical and programming decisions.
Maintain and update the digital submissions and archival management systems, ensuring metadata and rights information are accurate for each project.
Participate in cross-departmental committees (education, marketing, development) to align dramaturgical initiatives with institutional goals and community partnerships.
Represent the organization at conferences, panels, and community events to build networks with playwrights, translators, and peer institutions.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Advanced script analysis and dramaturgical reporting: ability to create clear, actionable dramaturgical notes, annotated scripts, and development plans.
High-level research skills including archival research, primary-source analysis, and synthesizing academic and cultural scholarship for creative teams.
Editorial and copy-editing proficiency for playwright collaboration, program texts, grant narratives, and public-facing content.
Rights and licensing knowledge: working with agents, publishers, and legal teams to secure performance and adaptation rights.
Workshop facilitation and rehearsal-room dramaturgy: designing exercises, leading readings, and structuring feedback cycles that advance text development.
Translation oversight or collaboration: experience working with translators or producing bilingual dramaturgical materials.
Database and submissions management: familiarity with submission platforms, Google Workspace, and basic CMS or archival systems.
Project and production management skills: scheduling, budgeting for dramaturgical needs, and coordinating with production managers and company calendars.
Familiarity with theatre production practices (stagecraft, design processes, casting workflows) and how they intersect with textual choices.
Content creation for audience engagement: writing program notes, marketing copy, educational content, and SEO-optimized web copy.

Soft Skills

Exceptional written and verbal communication, with the ability to explain complex research and editorial choices to non-specialist stakeholders.
Collaborative spirit and diplomacy for mediating creative differences between writers, directors, and designers.
Strong critical thinking and syntheses skills—able to distill large bodies of research into concise recommendations.
Creative problem solving and adaptability in fast-paced rehearsal and production environments.
Cultural competency and sensitivity when researching and representing diverse communities and source materials.
Mentoring and leadership abilities to support junior colleagues and manage external artists.
Time management and organization to juggle multiple development tracks, rehearsal schedules, and administrative tasks.
Resilience and constructive feedback delivery to maintain productive creative relationships under pressure.
Negotiation skills for rights, commissions, and partnership agreements.
Curiosity and lifelong learning orientation to keep abreast of new dramaturgical approaches, technologies, and scholarship.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree in Theatre, Dramaturgy, Playwriting, Comparative Literature, or related humanities field.

Preferred Education:

Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Dramaturgy, Playwriting, Theatre Studies, or a related advanced degree (MA, MPhil) or equivalent professional experience in dramaturgical practice.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Dramaturgy / Dramatic Studies
Playwriting / Creative Writing
Theatre History and Performance Studies
Comparative Literature / Cultural Studies
History, Anthropology, or other contextual humanities fields

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 3–7 years of dramaturgical, literary, or development experience in theatre, festivals, or cultural institutions.

Preferred:

5+ years experience as a professional Dramaturg, Literary Manager, or equivalent, with demonstrated credits on productions or significant development programs.
Proven track record of shepherding plays from workshop to production, running writer development initiatives, and managing rights/licensing.
Experience working with diverse playwrights, community partners, and producing organizations; examples of successful commissioning, translation, or curatorial projects preferred.