• WHAT IS DRAMATURGY? Dramaturgy is a specialized art of the theatre that is becoming as essential to American theatre practice as it already is around the world. Dramaturgy is the collection of analytic and production techniques employed to bring a script to life as a powerful, relevant, moving piece of theatre. All theatre practitioners do this to some extent, but dramaturgs are specialists who employ their high intellectual prowess and dedicated artistic passion to enrich productions with research and innovative thinking. Play translation and adaptation, new play development, and production support are all part of the dramaturg’s skill set; in the new media, dramaturgs are often called upon as guides and map-keepers for devised theatre projects and coordinators of multimedia and internet interaction.
• PROGRAM GOALS. Our graduates are prepared to enter the professional world as production dramaturgs, literary managers or agents, film or tv script consultants and researchers, and developers of new plays, but we also prepare students for graduate study in theatre history and theory, cultural studies, more specialized dramaturgy, and many other fields. Our program’s flexibility makes it an excellent starting point for a career in playwriting or directing.
• PEDAGOGY. At Carnegie Mellon, we train dramaturgs according to the “Ghost Light” concept, based on classical models of dramaturgs as pragmatic aesthetic philosophers. Our flexible program is based on a rigorous core sequence of dramatic literature courses emphasizing content, history, interpretation, and performance theories, founded on principles from social psychology, cultural anthropology, philosophy, and professional practices. Our program requires a strong background in history and critical theory, virtuosity with interpretive practices, facility with translation and adaptation, and constant involvement with production. Because our program is part of one of America’s most prestigious conservatories, our students spend as much time in the rehearsal room as they do in the library, working in an integrated environment that employs them as full members of the creative teams of our productions. Our program is academically very flexible, permitting students leeway to pursue their own interests and bring them home to our School’s artistic work.
• CURRICULUM OVERVIEW. Apart from basic university-wide requirements, dramaturgs take a complete sequence of specialized dramaturgy courses which begin with intensive in-class training and then become integrated with School of Drama productions, increasing in size and complexity every year. They must also take the Foundations of Drama sequence (3 courses) and six special history of drama half-term mini courses. They must exhibit proficiency in one or more foreign languages. They also take a wide variety of courses in English, History, and other Fine Arts units. Still, dramaturgs have room in their schedules each semester to pursue at least one course of their own choosing, in any topic or field. Finally, dramaturgs are encouraged to spend a semester abroad, and we have many connections to theatres and schools around the world who give our students exciting opportunities to put their training into practice.
