What Is Dramaturgy?; Third Printing (20) (American University Studies Series 26: Theatre Arts) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0820421774 ISBN 13: 9780820421773

Publisher: Peter Lang US, 2004

Synopsis

What Is Dramaturgy? attempts to document, by way of articles, statements, and bibliographies, the dramaturg's profession, which began with Lessing in Germany in the second half of the eighteenth century and was instituted in the United States two hundred years later during the rise of the regional theatre movement. As critics-in-residence (also known as literary managers), dramaturgs perform a variety of tasks: broadly speaking, they select and prepare playtexts for performance, advise directors, and educate the audience; they are translators, theatre historians, public lecturers, even artistic consciences. Dramaturgy literally means the craft or the techniques of dramatic composition considered collectively, and in a sense the dramaturg is the dramatist's representative or advocate in the theatre. That is, he is the guardian of the text - new as well as old - and therefore a person whose work is necessary for the revival of dramatic art in our time. What Is Dramaturgy? is dedicated in the end not only to promoting the dramaturg's function, but also to anticipating his creation of an intellectually illumined American theatre.

About this title

Review

-I believe that the dramaturg has enormous potential as a creative force in our theatre: in developing new plays and playwrights, in devising the repertoires of theatres, and in creating 'concepts' for productions of classics. Bert Cardullo's collection of essays and interviews will certainly speed the integration of the dramaturg into the structure of the American theatre.- (Bonnie Marranca)
-An outstanding and long overdue volume. 'What Is Dramaturgy?' makes history by being the first book of its kind in the critical literature on the theatre.- (A.M. Nagler)
-Bert Cardullo was once described as a dramaturg's dramaturg, and in editing this book he has played that role. The selections are wellchosen, the organization apt, and the thesis irresistible.- (Gordon Rogoff)"

I believe that the dramaturg has enormous potential as a creative force in our theatre: in developing new plays and playwrights, in devising the repertoires of theatres, and in creating 'concepts' for productions of classics. Bert Cardullo's collection of essays and interviews will certainly speed the integration of the dramaturg into the structure of the American theatre. (Bonnie Marranca)
An outstanding and long overdue volume. 'What Is Dramaturgy?' makes history by being the first book of its kind in the critical literature on the theatre. (A.M. Nagler)
Bert Cardullo was once described as a dramaturg's dramaturg, and in editing this book he has played that role. The selections are wellchosen, the organization apt, and the thesis irresistible. (Gordon Rogoff)

About the Author

The Editor: After receiving his B.A. from the University of Florida and his M.A. from Tulane, Bert Cardullo graduated from the Yale School of Drama with a Doctor of Fine Arts degree in dramaturgy and dramatic criticism. He has worked as a dramaturg on theatrical productions at Yale, Cornell, Tulane, and Florida State in addition to having published two collections of criticism, Dramatic Considerations and Theatrical Reflections (both with Peter Lang), and one collection of translations, German-Language Comedy. Mr. Cardullo has taught at Louisiana State University and the University of Richmond, and is currently Assistant Professor of Theatre and Drama at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, where he heads the B.A. program.

About this edition

• Publisher: Peter Lang US
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0820421774
• ISBN 13: 9780820421773
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 3
• Number of pages: 270
• Editor: Cardullo Bert