2026 Retreat:
Re-Engage. Re-Imagine. Retreat.
Dates: June 12 - 14, 2026
Location: New Haven, CT, USA
40 Years of LMDA. One Transformative Retreat.
The field is transforming and so are we. To honor four decades of LMDA , this year’s conference will be a retreat with a focus on reflection, connection and creative renewal. Hosted at the David Geffen Yale School of Drama (the site of our 1997 gathering), the 2026 New Haven LMDA Retreat is a recentering and a reimagining all in one. We’ll engage with essential topics ranging from sustainable professional practices (including finance and contracts) to innovative pedagogy and the expansion of dramaturgy across audio, film, and themed entertainment.
As we look toward the next 40 years, we are focused on re-engagement, resource sharing, and skill-building. Whether you are a veteran dramaturg, a teacher of the next generation, or a "dramaturgically inclined" artist who has never claimed the title, you belong here.
In the forthcoming call for proposals, we will be looking for workshops and relationship-building sessions that grapple with some big questions:
- How do we continue expanding our practice into producing, dance, film, and adaptation?
- How do we negotiate our worth as freelancers?
- How do we widen the lens of our "small planet"?
Come share your skills and build the future!
Retreat Working Groups
The bulk of our work will happen in Working Groups. These groups will be on a specific topic and will be facilitated by committee members and other experienced dramaturgs. During these ~90-minute sessions, groups will share skills and resources, work together on a particular problem, and build connections across interest groups. We see these as opportunities to bring together dramaturgs who might be working on the same problem but rarely share the same space. For example, what might we get done in focused conversations about financial literacy in contracting or career sustainability for parents? What do those of us who teach theater history or dramaturgy need to discuss to develop our skills and outlook? And so many more options and configurations! Everyone who participates in a working group will be featured in the program as a presenter.
There will also be a number of public-facing Roundtables & Panels curated by the committee around topics including career sustainability, dramaturgy across media, and the legacy of “EF’s Visit to a Small Planet.” Please let us know if you are interested in being considered for sharing your experiences with a wider audience!
Finally, there will be opportunities for connection during affinity meals, social events (welcome drinks, and a party), a keynote, Hot Topics (separate call forthcoming), and plenty of opportunities to observe those working groups that choose to open their doors. If you choose not to apply to actively contribute to a working group and/or roundtable, you are still very welcome to attend the retreat as an active listener and participant and large-group forums–we’d love to have you there!
Apply to the Call for Participation
The 2026 Retreat Planners
Ryan Adelsheim (they/them) is a new play dramaturg, producer, and interdisciplinary scholar of American performance, trans studies, and queer archives. They are currently Assistant Professor of Theatre History and Performance Studies at the University of Iowa. Their recent artistic collaborations include conference dramaturg for the New Harmony Project, co-adaptor for Affinity based on the novel by Sarah Waters with director Alex Keegan, dramaturg and researcher for soldiergirls by Emil Weinstein and Emily Johnson-Erday, and producer on the Emerging Playwrights Commissions with Audible Theater.
Sophie Blumberg (she/her) is a creative producer and dramaturg whose work spans multiple sectors of the entertainment industry, including live performance, themed entertainment, and television. In television, Sophie is the Director of Development for showrunner Patrick Macmanus' Littleton Road Productions, where she has worked across projects at Netflix, Amazon, and Peacock, including Dr. Death (Peacock), The Girl From Plainville (Hulu) and the upcoming Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy.
Phaedra Michelle Scott is a writer and dramaturg based in New York City. As a dramaturg, she has worked in new play development institutions around the country where she exclusively supports living writers. She is the Resident Dramaturg of New Harmony Project. Other dramaturgy credits include her work as a freelance producer with Audible Theater in the Emerging Playwrights Fund; select credits include dramaturgy with: MCC Theater (NYC), American Ballet Theater (NYC) New Victory Theater (NYC), New Dramatists (NYC), MTC Theater (NYC). The Playwrights Realm (NYC); Regional credits include: Geffen Playhouse, Huntington Theater Company, Cleveland Play House, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Salt Lake Acting Company.