Dramaturgy, plainly, is the study of how drama works. It is the theoretical and practical investigation of the full life of a dramatic work; from ideation & production to critical response & historical legacy and the various steps and processes in between. Dramaturgy explores both the making of and the afterlives of embodied dramatic content, as well as the ways in which drama or its principles show up in our real lives.
On a more granular level, the study of dramaturgy can - and in this minor will - entail a deep engagement with the creative process, dramatic structure, historical context, theoretical inquiry, research methodology, adaptation, interdisciplinarity, curation, world-making, and criticism. We will read across a multiplicity of languages: spoken, written, visual, and body. And think expansively about Dramaturgy’s potential as a bolster to primary practice. In short, we will take on the study of dramaturgy as a way of thinking, seeing, and arranging the world around us, rather than a role to fill on any given production.
The Dramaturgy Minor is only accessible to Undergraduate Drama students. It is a place for students to underpin their studio training with research and a theoretical understanding of how drama works. The goal is to encourage students to think critically, collaboratively, and artistically all at once. It was created by Lauren Whitehead and Mauricio Salgado.
Everything you do at NYU can be considered an engagement with dramaturgy: your studio work, your academic work, your walks around the park and your nights out with friends. All of it is fodder for dramaturgical thinking. More specifically, though, any time spent making, enacting, designing, criticizing, studying, or supporting the creation of dramatic worlds is an engagement with dramaturgy.
Beyond that, there are a few formal ways that you can participate. These include, but are not limited to: