Dramaturgy News

Region III

Updated November 28, 2009

First and foremost, congratulations to all who entered last year’s festival, especially regional winner Neal Ryan Shaw (for his work on Illinois State University's Yerma). The caliber of entries at festival last year were the strongest this region has seen in quite some time. A special thank you to all faculty advisors and mentors who pushed student dramaturgs to enter their work for consideration. Let us all keep up the great work.

As you go about filling out the registration material and preparing your entry for the national competition, please make sure to pay special attention not only to the due date given on the registration form but also the number (and type) of copies of materials to be included. Since the entries are sent to outside assessors, any entry that does not comply with all the guidelines may be removed from consideration. For those of you who work on a show that does not open until December 2009, you will still need to send the entry in for review by the given date. See below for further explanation of how to enter the KCACTF/LMDA Student Dramaturgy competition.

Other Ways to Participate

Program Note Competition

After a successful debut at last year’s festival, the Program Note Competition, which is a regional award, will return. This competition is for all student dramaturgs who wrote notes for either a participating or associate entry during this festival year (January-December 2009). Please send four photocopy versions of the note as it appeared in the production program as well as proof of participating or associate status to regional coordinator of dramaturgy at the below listed address. Make sure it is postmarked no later than 13 November 2009. Email questions to the dramaturgy coordinator.

Design Storm!

Updated November 4, 2009

Back for its third festival, Design Storm! is a timed collaborative exercise that teams a director with a dramaturg, a lighting designer, a sound designer, a costume designer, and a scenic designer to create an approach to a classic or contemporary text that is unlike all previous productions. Please sign up prior to arriving at the festival.

DRAMATURGES DESIGN STORM REGISTRATION FORM

Fill out the Design and Technology Registration Form.
Registrations are Due by 5 pm November 16, 2009.

New Play Dramaturgy

This is a pilot project in Region III done in conjunction with the ten minute play festival. Chosen student dramaturgs (application materials forthcoming) will be teamed up with selected student directors, student actors, student stage managers, and faculty advisor/mentors from schools throughout the region. The regional coordinator of dramaturgy will also provide guided instruction and mentorship at the festival to chosen dramaturgs. Meant to emulate the "page to stage" experience of new script development in the professional, this creative-collaborative project will be a regional award opportunity.

NOTE: The following form is a PDF fill-in. It requires Adobe Free Reader version 7 or higher. It will permit printing of filled-in data, but not saving of filled-in data. Please PRINT before closing the form.

TEN MINUTE PLAY DRAMATURG APPLICATION FORM

Submit this PDF form.
Application Materials Due November 15, 2009.
DEADLINE EXTENDED TO DECEMBER 1, 2009.

LMDA / KCACTF Student Dramaturgy Award Information and Guidelines

The LMDA / KCACTF Student Dramaturgy Award is designed to recognize contributions by student dramaturgs to the conception, development, and production of within their colleges and universities, or to educational projects in dramaturgy. The philosophical foundation of this award—like that of dramaturgy itself—rests in the belief that art benefits from examination on the parts of both artist and spectator, and that creative inspiration accompanied by analysis and reflection is most likely to lead to productions and projects that fulfill the spiritual, social and personal potential of the live theatrical event.

Also inherent in the guidelines is the belief that the dramaturg should participate fully and uniquely in the collaborative act of making theater and in promoting social discourse around the theatrical event. To validate the significance of the dramaturg's contributions—and to raise awareness of dramaturgy in the academic field—a letter of nomination from a faculty member is required.

This award is the result of a unique collaboration between Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA), the professional association of dramaturgs and literary managers working in North America, and the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF), a national program dedicated to improving the quality of college and university in the United States. The regional winner is selected by a panel of working production dramaturgs, at least two of whom are LMDA members.

What the Award Entails

The winner of the LMDA / KCACTF Student Dramaturgy Award will receive a cash prize, and membership in LMDA paid for by KCACTF.

Who is Eligible

Any undergraduate or graduate student who served as the lead production dramaturg for an associate or producing entry during the current festival year (January-December 2009) is eligible for the national award. You must hand-deliver your work to the regional festival in Saginaw, appropriately display the project during the specified date and time, and be physically present during the oral feedback in order to be considered for advancement to the national festival in Washington DC. If the project is a workshop or production, then you must be credited as the lead production dramaturg. A student dramaturg who also writes, directs, designs, performs in, or otherwise collaborates on a project is responsible for articulating the boundaries of the dramaturgical work and speaking on its behalf. Entries by dramaturgical teams are welcomed but care must be taken in accounting for the work of individuals on the team. You must have your materials in to the regional coordinator by the given due date. Email questions to the dramaturgy coordinator.

Scott Irelan
Dramaturgy Coordinator
Area Coordinators

How to Apply

STUDENT DRAMATURGY AWARD APPLICATION FORM

Submit this PDF form.
Application Materials Due November 20, 2009.
DEADLINE EXTENDED TO DECEMBER 1, 2009.

Fill out the application form as provided on the website, identifying the dramaturg and the project and including a statement written by the dramaturg that details their process.
Enclose a letter of nomination from a faculty mentor. If you wish, then you may include more letters of support from persons directly related to the project—collaborating artists or audience members for a workshop or production, or fellow students/teachers in a classroom project.
Put together an application packet as directed by the regional coordinator that represents your project as fully as possible. You do not need to reproduce all articles used, but your specific work on the project—your dramaturgy production book, lobby display, production resource packet, program notes, outreach materials, visual research, emails that trace correspondence between you and the director/cast; other materials distributed to the cast and/or crew; websites created; among other items—should be represented. Please include these examples in digital form (CD ROM). Make sure to provide a Table of Contents for the CD ROM. If at all possible, then provide a (digital) journal/log that traces and explains the process, and includes as much detail as possible about how the dramaturg used their skills on a daily basis. In the end, you need to best represent the process as specifically as possible.

Because some of the evaluators will not be in or of Region III, do not send complete, bound copies of your production notebook material and the like. You must hand-deliver these printed materials to the regional festival in Saginaw.

Send CD ROM, Application, and Letter(s) to:

Scott Irelan
Dramaturgy Coordinator
Area Coordinators

Explanation of Evaluative Measures

1. Distinctiveness: What is creative about the dramaturg’s approach and/or analysis?

This is where you should highlight how many intersections of your research were made manifest in the live performance event. This could include directorial or design choices, actor preparation and execution, lobby materials, pre-show/post-show discussions and the like.

2. Contextualization: How is the production or project enhanced by dramaturgical analysis or research; alternatively, how is the academic project in dramaturgy imaginatively projected into a larger social, political, academic or artistic setting?

Expanding on elements of distinctiveness, reflect upon how your work was interdisciplinary. Consider how your ideas changed the course of the visual design of the show. Reflect upon how your outreach aided spectator engagement with the production, and the like.

3. Impact: In what way are the audience members, artists or institution enriched by dramaturgical ideas and execution?

Suggest ways in which your work on the production connected the live performance event to a larger, immediate community.

4. Ethics: How are issues that might be raised by the terms of the collaboration or changing responsibilities dealt with and/or resolved?

Recount moments of tension within the creative-collaborative process and trace out how they were or were not resolved. Perhaps the director is your chair and you felt uncomfortable disagreeing. Maybe you worked with a close friend and issues of artistic interpretation complicated that relationship.

5. Significance: How does this project inform, challenge or advance the field of dramaturgy, in general and/or within the student’s school?

Thinking over your work, are other students going to engage in acts of dramaturgy? Consider your department, have they advanced or rescinded the use of dramaturgy within the production season? What are some steps that can be taken to improve upon work already being done?

You must hand-deliver your project to the regional festival in Saginaw, appropriately display the project during the specified date(s) and time(s), and be physically present during the oral feedback to be considered for high honors.

Final evaluations are based on the material sent in for review and NOT the display at the festival.

Award Presentation

The LMDA / KCACTF Student Award in Dramaturgy will be presented annually on the closing night of each Regional Conference.

KCACTFRegion III