Playwrights + Dramaturgs= Bosom Buddies

I'm in the thick of a conference presentation, so no updates as intended, but I thought this was funny. David was feeling sympathetic to our dramaturgical cause:

"Learning To Love Your Dramaturg' by Deacon MacEvoy

So you've entered another collaborative process. You've got a director (sometimes just for a bit), some actors (that have to call themselves performers) and a bunch of guys that do technical stuff that you don't understand...

But wait! Who's this? In the corner. Whose that rather devilishly attractive stranger? Who are they? What do they do? My friends, it is a dramaturg.

They are not there to assist another role. They are a genuine entity to themselves, as everyone else is. But don't feel bad if you don't understand what they do. No one does.

BUT

Perhaps they can offer more than you realise. Perhaps you can talk to them. Perhaps you can befriend them. Maybe they can go for a sneaky cigarette (and an even sneakier chat) with them. Perhaps they are a cheeky bugger and are actually a better playwright than you. They're probably ginger. Perhaps they're in your Top 5... What Top 5 exactly depends on... Well... Let's just not go there...

If no one knows what a dramaturg is then I would like it stated for the record that as individuals in every project I've done - the dramaturg has been indispensible to ME and I couldn't have got by without them. Always feeling the love and thank you all so much.

So I tell you all to ask your dramaturg questions. Embrace your dramaturg. Use your dramaturg. Heavy pet them. Love them. Spoon them. Be the big spoon. Be the little spoon. Ravish them. They need it. They love it. The filthy sluts.

If loving your dramturg is wrong, I don't want to be right..."

Oh, and on a more serious note, if anyone wants to suggest some questions for the panel discussion I'm holding in June, fire away. It's on the state of political theatre--how, why, and what.