dramaturgy: the invisible art shaping every great play (part two)
- Michael David
- 7 days ago
- 2 min read
Here are a few real-life ways playwrights and dramaturgs relate to each other, with concrete examples of how it actually plays out (titles are links to accompanying articles):
A dramaturg reads an early draft, gets what the writer is doing, then becomes a long-term advocate — connecting the playwright to theatres, keeping the play alive across years and productions.
Example: Dramaturg Lauren Halvorsen read an early draft of Kimberly Belflower’s John Proctor is the Villain, messaged her enthusiasm, introduced the play to colleagues and pushed for it to be programmed.
The dramaturg helps tighten structure and pacing with precise edits — cutting minutes without changing the play’s identity.
Example: Belflower brought Halvorsen in specifically to streamline John Proctor is the Villain (including removing over 12 minutes) through “small, precise cuts” that preserved the play’s voice.
Some pairs treat the work like ongoing text study: non-hierarchical, conversational, built on trust — where it’s sometimes hard to tell whose idea is whose because the thinking is genuinely shared.
Example: In “Chevruta Partnership and the Playwright/Dramaturg Relationship,” playwright Jared Rubin Sprowls and dramaturg Becca Levy describe a process rooted in dialogue, shared authorship through revision and a partnership that becomes friendship as the script develops.
When the playwright can’t be in the room, the dramaturg becomes the proxy observer: tracking what lands, taking notes, feeding back what the audience will experience and sometimes staying up late hashing out rewrites.
Example (described from practice): A producer recounts a dramaturg who was in rehearsals and previews, debated rewrites late with the playwright and served as the playwright’s “eyes” when the writer was away.
Because the work can look like “editing,” “co-writing” or “doctoring,” some relationships run into hard questions: Where does dramaturgy end and authorship begin? Who gets credit and compensation?
Example: In the Rent dispute, dramaturg Lynn Thomson claimed substantial writing contributions; the estate described her role as shaping and polishing the show “as an editor would serve a novelist.” Thomson also described Jonathan Larson as her “best creative relationship,” even amid the conflict.
Sometimes the relationship is enabled by a theatre: the dramaturg is staff (or attached) and becomes the playwright’s main continuity thread across workshops and productions.
Example: In the Belflower/Halvorsen story, Halvorsen’s position at a theatre helped her connect Belflower to colleagues and support the play’s path toward production.
Tell me about any relationship you’ve had with a dramaturg and how it was beneficial.
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