What is dramaturgy in a nutshell?

"connecting knowledge with practice to make informed choices."

Degree programs in dramaturgy

The university of Iowa offers a MFA in Dramaturgy.

An MFA and DFA in dramaturgy and dramatic criticism are offered at Yale school of drama.

Columbia university offers an MFA in dramaturgy and dramatic criticism.

Online Treasure Hunt

1 The full text in German can be found here courtesy of Spiegel Online.

2 Here is the original set design for Spring Awakening in Germany, 1906. Set design by Karl Walser. This picture is from the Global Performing Arts Database. The picture can be viewed here.

3 Spring Awakeing came to New York in 1917 for the first production of the show in english. The play was threatened with closer when it was claimed to be pornographinc. The picture from this production is at the top of this post.

4 "For some 21st-century Americans, teenage pregnancy may not have precisely the same scandalous — or sorrowful — significance it did just a couple of weeks ago. But in provincial 19th-century Germany, the prospect of an unmarried adolescent giving birth was definitely a family calamity."  This is the opening paragraph of a review by Charles Isherwood. It was posted in the New York Times. Here is a link to the whole review.

10 Here is a link to youtube where you can watch a scene from Spring Awakening when they performed on A&E's breakfast with the arts. 

The Play: Artifacts: 1892, Hamburg, Germany

The first picture shows girls in the 1890's at dance lessons. It shows the clothes they wear and how they were trained in manners.

The second picture shows typical clothing styles in Hamburg Germany in 1892.

The Play: Basic Facts

There are two versions of Spring Awakening, a straight play and a Broadway musical.

The play:

-written by Frank Wedekind in 1891

-original text in german

What is dramaturgy?

"Working in theatres and playwrights' organizations, in colleges and universities, and on a project-by-project basis, dramaturgs contextualize the world of a play; establish connections among the text, actors, and audience; offer opportunities for playwrights; generate projects and programs; and create conversations about plays in their communities."

from LMDA (Literary Managers & Dramaturgs of the Americas)

http://www.lmda.org/blog/WhoWeAre/AboutDramaturgy

"The goal of dramaturgy is to resolve the antipathy between the

intellectual and the practical in the theatre, fusing the two into

an organic whole."

-quote by Leon Katz

http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=35342941

Dramaturgy is the art or technique of dramatic composition and theatrical representation.

-Merriam-Webster dictionary

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dramaturgy