Hanna Slattne, Phaedra Scott, Sarah Sigal, Laurel Green, Martha Herrera-Lasso, David Robertson

The International Dramaturgy Lab (IDL) connected over 90 dramaturgs and theatre makers from 7 different partner organisations across the globe. It hosted 14 groups put together across language, culture and timezones to share, explore, create and innovate. The theme and the practice was to work dramaturgically across borders. The project was successful beyond expectations. Reflecting back on the experience and the importance of supporting and nurturing cross-border contacts between dramaturgs, we also look to the future to see how we build on this extraordinary journey. Members of the steering group who shaped, facilitated and made the IDL happen will share the journey, the learnings and the inspirations.

El Laboratorio Internacional de Dramaturgismo (LID) conectó a más de 90 dramaturgistas y creadores escénicxs de 7 distintas asociaciones alrededor del mundo. Creó 14 grupos con participantes de distintas culturas, lenguas y husos horarios para compartir, explorar, crear e innovar. El tema y la práctica fueron el trabajar dramaturgísticamente a través de las fronteras. El proyecto superó todas nuestras expectativas. En esta conversación hacemos una reflexión en cuanto a la experiencia y la importancia de apoyar y nutrir contactos entre dramturgistas a través de fronteras, y vemos hacia el futuro para imaginar cómo podemos seguir construyendo sobre este extraordinario camino. Miembrxs del comité directivo quienes dieron forma, facilitaron e hicieron posible el LID, compartirán esta travesía, los aprendizajes y las inspiraciones. 

Hanna Slattne, Bryan Moore, Martha Herrero-Lasso, Megan Johnson, Catherine Bellachy, Jonathan Meth and Sarah Sigal

UK, US, Canada, Finland, Denmark

Meet the partner organizations behind the The International Dramaturgy Lab. Hear about the background to the project and to the collaboration across borders and time-zones that made it happen. Seven unique organizations worked tirelessly to facilitate an experience for our members that focussed on dramaturgy and the needs and interests of dramaturgs: The Dramaturgs’ Network UK; Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA) USA, Canada, and Mexico; The Fence International Network; STOD Finland; and the Danish Dramaturg Network. Through the IDL we connected 93 Dramaturgs in 14 individual groups of 3 to 8 people each from five different continents-North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Oceania.

Conoce a las organizaciones miembro detrás del Laboratorio Internacional de Dramaturgismo. Entérate del contexto detrás del proyecto y la colaboración a través de fronteras y husos horarios que la hicieron posible. Siete organizaciones trabajaron incansablemente para facilitar la experiencia de nuestrxs miembrxs quienes se han enfocado en el dramaturgismo y en las necesidades y los intereses de dramaturgistas: el Dramaturg’s Network UK; Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA) EUA, Canadá y México; The Fence International Network; STOD Finland; y el Danish Dramaturg Network. A través del LID conectamos a 93 dramaturgistas en 14 grupos individuales de entre 3 a 8 personas de cinco continentes: América del Norte, América del Sur, Europa, Asia y Oceanía.

Walter Byongsok Chon, Davide Giovanzana, Rachel Parish, Tania Santos

U.S.A., Finland, Mexico

Rachel Sinclair, a Canadian journalist and creative writing teacher, disappears from her home after devouring eight watermelon. Her last social media post is a verse from “Arirang,” the Korean folk song. Chris Jung, a Korean detective is brought in to investigate the case (Episode 1). Chris enters Rachel’s home and notices rinds of watermelon, a penis, Frida Kahlo paintings, poems about love and performance, and a manuscript about Mexican female journalists. He wonders if Rachel disappeared in Mexico (Episode 2). He feels he is inside Rachel Sinclair and perceives, in multiple languages, what it means to disappear in Mexico (Episode 3). Rachel is in a farm in an unspecified space. She reads The Farmer’s Almanac and plants seeds. She encounters a farmer who might be Chris Jung. The two communicate while watching the clouds. They harvest the crop and sing “Arirang” together (Episode 4).

Rafael Duarte Oliveira Venancio, David Jiménez Sánchez, Jarkko Lehmus

Brazil, Mexico, Finland

Three dramaturgs from three different continents with a completely open brief of creating a project together. David is from Mexico, Rafael from Brazil and I’m Jarkko from Finland. It’s clear that language or cultural background didn’t connect us. Traditional and verbal was not the way forward, so ẃe decided to give ourselves a challenge to explore our individual working practices and cultural contexts through creating a non-verbal adaptation of a part of a classic we all knew: Henrik Ibsen’s The Lady from the Sea.

Kaite O'Reilly, Pamela McQueen, Merlin Simard, Mark Swetz

UK, Ireland, Canada

A brief introduction to some of the topics we discussed regarding how dramaturgy may address questions of disability and access. The presentation concludes with several short provocations to consider in regard to your own practice.

Finn Lefevre, Neske Beks, Claudia Rodríguez, Alja Gudzevic, Anne Karyna Bakan, Joanne Skapinker

US, Germany, Greece, Spain, UK, Mexico

Our shared glasses became a metaphor for the lenses we wanted to explore—how do we each see the world through our own contexts? What are our shared lenses? We came to focus on gender—the experience of living in a gendered body, performing gender, feminism, gender in language, etc. This video presentation is a collage of the ways each of us has responded to this prompt: some visually, some with poetry, some with prompts or exercises

Laurel Green, Pauliina Hulkko, Elizagrace Madrone, Stefanie Schmitt, Hanna Slattne, David Quang Pham, Dimitar Uzunov

Canada, Finland, US, Austria, Northern Ireland, Bulgaria

We are adjusting to a change of scale and a change of place; we imagine each other as celestial beings, looking for new rituals. We are navigating and telling stories by the stars, imagining and describing our own cosmology. We are preoccupied with sensory elements of dramaturgy and cognitive science. Responding to a feeling of being adrift (where to gather, to work, to perform, to meet an audience, to create, to tell stories), we have re-drawn, and re-centred our maps. This has been a space of expansion, an activated space, a space to practice. We locate and reckon with chaos. How do we use dramaturgy to make meaning, perceive the world, and create new myths? In our presentation, we’ll share the digital wayfinding that has brought us to a thematic exploration on a Miro board and an immersive custom-built Gather space.

Sarah Sigal, Liam Rees, Cassidy Kepp, Daniela Atiencia, Bruno Zamudio, Lewis Fender

UK, Germany, USA, Canada, Mexico

Conceptually, we started by describing our dramaturgical practices, which led to a discussion about dramaturgy and what it means in different countries and cultural contexts. This then led to a shared interest in dramaturgy in unconventional spaces, with some examples being ‘Drag Race’, the US Presidential Inauguration and Putin’s dramaturg. We started to wonder how dramaturgy can and does function outside theatre and performance. What ‘counts’ as dramaturgy? How is meaning made dramaturgically and who makes it? 

We are planning a podcast series on dramaturgy, meaning-making and storytelling outside theatre. There will be between 3-6 episodes, each led by a pair from the group. In this way, we’ll explore how our own identities and perspectives influence our practice. We may invite guest speakers and experts to talk about each topic. This presentation is the first episode in the series.

The podcast will be recorded in English and Spanish.

Conceptualmente, comenzamos describiendo nuestras prácticas dramatúrgicas, lo que llevó a una discusión sobre la dramaturgia y lo que significa en diferentes países y contextos culturales. Esto llevó a un interés compartido en la dramaturgia en espacios no convencionales, con algunos ejemplos como "Drag Race", la inauguración presidencial de Estados Unidos y el dramaturgista de Putin. Empezamos a preguntarnos cómo la dramaturgia puede funcionar y funciona fuera del teatro y la representación. ¿Qué "cuenta" como dramaturgismo/dramaturgia? ¿Cómo se construye el significado dramatúrgicamente y quién lo hace?

Planeamos una serie de podcasts sobre dramaturgismo, creación de significado y narración fuera del teatro. Habrá entre 3 y 6 episodios, cada uno dirigido por una pareja del grupo. De esta manera, exploraremos cómo nuestras propias identidades y perspectivas influyen en nuestra práctica. Podemos invitar a oradorxs invitadxs y expertxs para hablar sobre cada tema. Esta presentación es el primer episodio de la serie.

El podcast se grabará en inglés y español.

Anastasia Polychronidou, Kim Yaged, Lynde Rosario, Olga Macrinici

Greece, USA, UK

The presentation includes reflections and feedback, sharings of art and ideas, as well as our collection of thoughts from throughout our time together during the International Dramaturgy Lab.

Fiona Graham, Maria Kilpi, Fatma Sarah Elkashef, Brian Quirt, Ville Kurki

UK, Finland, Canada

Over the last few months we have engaged in a series of serendipitous conversations. No plan or agenda. Just a commitment to be in the moment together. Through these connections we have made many discoveries, but most of all enjoyed the support generated by sharing our experience in pandemic times. These conversations have included a serendipitous discussion (or two) about the role of serendipity in our creative work.

We've explored the ways serendipity informs our practice as dramaturgs. Why is not knowing important? How can we cultivate the art of finding what we are not seeking?

Riffing on Brian Eno and Peter Schmitt’s Oblique Strategiesand Pagan Kennedy's article How to Cultivate the Art of Serendipity, this conversation will explore possibilities for serendipity in creative development and some of the tools and strategies we each have incorporated into our work to put the focus on and discovery and process rather than certainty and product.

Ulrike Syha, Seda Ilter, Janice Poon, Jihye Kim, Beatriz Cabur, Abraham David Martínez Orozco, Kim Komljanec

Germany, UK, Hong Kong, South Korea, Mexico, Slovenia

After our group finally managed to solve the riddle of time zones, we have been meeting on a regular basis (every week or every other week). Early on, we agreed to focus on the topic of “Digital Theatre“. At each meeting, one of us gave a presentation or devised a workshop revolving around the topic. Soon, a very vivid conversation started to evolve.

For IDL presentation, we decided to put together a short video. We hope to give you not only an overview of the specific aspects we have been discussing in search of a dramaturgy / taxonomy of digital theatre (and our attempt to define the what “digital theatre” really is), but also of the fantastic questions and dialogues that sprung from our IDL experience. We hope to continue our meeting in the future, albeit on a less regular basis. Enjoy our video!

"Dramaturgy of Fragility" on are.na

Intisar Awisse, Sarah Dickenson, Michael Feldman, Henriikke Himma, Eric Kildow

Canada, USA, Finland, UK

As a group, a shared theme we have identified is “The Dramaturgy of Fragility” — what is the role of dramaturgy in healing and rebuilding the sector in the light of the pandemic? How can we serve and support a new generation of theatre makers at risk at being lost? How can we use our skills to reach and empower? How can we reconfigure relationships between audiences, communities and makers? We’re using the following framework as a starting point for the discussion: What did this idea spark off in us? What can we offer others in terms of exploring this subject? What do we request from others in this exploration?

Michele Costantini, Yoni Oppenheim, Cobina Gillitt

Wales, USA

Following the sharing of work, each participant wrote a statement about what had drawn them to translation and how working as a Dramaturg has been an influence. Later Michele and Yoni continued the conversation in a series of Zoom meetings from which Michele began conceiving a translation themed project she will develop once IDL ends.

Conduce/Host: Martha Herrera-Lasso

Tania Santos, Camila Villegas, David Jiménez Sánchez, Abraham Martínez Orozco, Claudia Rodríguez y Bruno Zamudio

Martha Herrera-Lasso González conducirá una charla con lxs participantes mexicanxs de la primera generación del Laboratorio Internacional de Dramaturgismo (LID). Juntxs, reflexionarán respecto a las experiencias y los aprendizajes adquiridos durante la edición piloto del programa que reunió a varias organizaciones de dramaturgistas a nivel mundial.

Martha Herrera-Lasso González will host a conversation with the Mexican participants of the International Dramaturgy Lab (IDL). Together they will reflect about their experiences on the first edition of this program.