Initiatives
Conferences: Digital and In-Person
The LMDA conference is the highlight of our year! While LMDA offers year-round virtual programming as well as regional get-togethers, the annual conference offers the chance for ALL of us to get together and talk dramaturgy! There is something quite magical about having dramaturgs from across the world descend on a location and experience all that our host cities have to offer.
Conference programming is extremely varied, which reflects the many interests of our membership. Recent past offerings have included discussions of dramaturgy for video games, dance dramaturgy and ASL, teaching dramaturgy in higher education, the International Dramaturgy Lab, and so much more. We value the creativity of our members, and are always delighted and amazed by the different offerings each year.
We recognize that travel and conference attendance can be prohibitively expensive. We are committed to accessibility, so our first post-COVID conference featured a robust offering of asynchronous, digital offerings, available to attendees at a lower cost. Because this has proven to be so successful, we will offer a mid-year digital conference to augment our annual in-person conference. Our first of these mid-year digital conferences (but hopefully not our last!) will occur in February 2023, and is sure to include some amazing pieces!
For our in-person conference, which in 2023 will be held in Banff, Canada, we also offer scholarships and volunteer opportunities for our members (with an emphasis on funding ECDs), allowing them to attend the conference for reduced costs. We will continue to offer different ways for people to participate with LMDA, at different price points. Do not hesitate to reach out to us and inquire about ways to contribute!
Read an overview and download the initial info packet.
Dramaturging the Phoenix Forums
In April 2020, LMDA asked its members to contribute short essays to boldly inspire, provoke, and explore theatre’s potential to transform through global crisis. The Dramaturging the Phoenix call challenged writers to imagine the “radical dramaturgy” that will lead theatre and performance into the next year, decade, and century. What ideal theatre-making will heal the communities, nations, and the globe during the long recovery ahead? How can dramaturgical imagination and practices shape the theatrical phoenix that will rise?
The first round of responses – over 50 of them – were overwhelming. They are musings, manifestos, meditations, poems, song lyrics, calls to action, lesson plans for teaching dramaturgy during COVID-19, program notes without a show, recipes for the future, and eulogies for the dead.
They are views on dramaturgy from the floor, from a window, from a forest, from a narrow sidewalk and more. Views on classical literature and past plagues. Views from an audience on an unexpected closing night – and new views of what an audience means now. Views on silence and the meaningfulness of rest, and reminders that we need time and space to fuel the imagination. Views on commercial and regional theatres – as well as what community theatre should mean.
Dramaturgs don't want the same working conditions in theatre that we had before. There's a heartfelt, passionate desire for systemic change, and these reflections imagine so many possibilities of what theatre could be and should be when we're allowed to gather again, and capture a moment in time and present the voices of dramaturgs in process.
We invite all LMDA members to read the collected work here. (For access, make sure you're logged in and your membership is current.) Our unique experiences and visions, expressed in diverse essays, constitute an invaluable archive of dramaturgical thought and feeling in this paradigm-busting era. Please make your mark, and send your essay to phoenix@lmda.org today!
These creative dramaturgical reflections are merely the springboard for Dramaturging the Phoenix. The roundtable discussion of essay authors that kicked off LMDA's first virtual conference on June 19, 2020 was accessed by over 2000 people in 42 countries via HowlRound. Offers to publish essays have rolled in from Howlround, Page-By-Page, and The Flashpaper. As we pursue more opportunities for the work, we encourage authors to share their essays where they see fit.
Our Dramaturging the Phoenix Forum (the second and fourth Tuesday of every month at five pm ET on Zoom) has been extended through 2022 as an essential community check-in as we face the challenges of past, present, and future together. The extension will allow us to feature a diverse rotation of essays and related projects for deeper discussion. Those unable to attend the Forums will be able to access a video archive of the Zoom sessions on the website. Upcoming speakers will be announced on the listserv and social media as they are confirmed.
Regional Meetings
One of the best ways to get involved with LMDA is by attending a regional meeting. These introduce you to other dramaturgs in your area and are geared to foster community and conversation. Get registered in your region for more information.
Affinity Spaces
LMDA hosts Zoom and in-person Affinity Space gatherings! Current offerings include: the Dramaturgs with Disabilities Affinity Space (Andrea Kovich and Lauren Sullivan), the Latinx Dramaturgs Affinity Space (Daniel Mesa), and the BIPOC Affinity Space. These are member-led spaces, so please reach out to the contact listed to find out information!
Do you see a vacancy for an Affinity Space that you would like to be a part of? Why not suggest it! Contact Lynde Rosario at president@lmda.org about setting up a meeting, use the listserv and social media to reach out, and let us know what else we can do to support you!
Puentes: (conversaciones sobre) el dramaturgismo en México
Puentes: (conversaciones sobre) el dramaturgismo en México es una serie de charlas sobre la labor del dramaturgista y su vinculación con el hecho escénico y las artes. Indagaremos sobre su práctica, sobre sus funciones y sobre las diferencias que esta labor presenta a partir de su situación geográfica y temporal.
La labor del dramaturgista es relativamente nueva en México; sin embargo, es posible identificar algunas de sus funciones puestas en práctica desde los inicios del teatro mismo, ya que lxs dramaturgistas pensamos en la práctica, en la teoría, en la escena y en el convivio con espectadores.
Esta es una oportunidad para lxs artistas y creadores de artes escénicas mexicanxs de conocer la labor que lxs dramaturgistas llevamos a cabo, así como de re-conocer nuestra profesión en México y reunir una comunidad de práctica. Aprende más aquí.
The LMDA Dramaturgy Bibliography
The LMDA Dramaturgy Bibliography is a comprehensive listing of English-language articles, essays, and books on dramaturgy, production dramaturgy, literary management, and new play development. Check out an amazing record of dramaturgical thinking here!
Grants and Awards
LMDA offers a wide array of grants and awards to serve members at all stages of their careers. Detailed descriptions can be found here.
Employment Resources
LMDA believes that we all benefit from professional practices where dramaturgs are valued. We offer a robust offering of employment resources, including job listings, sample contracts, a Dramaturgy Market Rate calculator, and a negotiation checklist.
Past Initiatives
International Dramaturgy Lab
Between November 2020 and June 2021, 7 partner organizations facilitated members in 14 groups of dramaturgs, playwrights and theatremakers, to meet regularly online in the inaugural International Dramaturgy Lab (IDL). The group’s aims were to explore what it means to work dramaturgically across borders, around whatever theme, project, interest the group expressed. There was no other request for outcome and output then that they shared their journeys, discoveries and ideas at the end of the process.
The project was initiated in an effort to foster collaboration and communication among dramaturgs across the world in the age of a global pandemic. Uniquely the IDL is a dramaturgy-driven initiative designed to facilitate open-ended artistic collaboration, international networking, professional development and inspiration. Learn more at the IDL page here!