Pop Quiz!

A dramaturg is:
a) German for smart-ass
b) a person who does historical research for a specific production of a play
c) a play editor or translator
d) a sociologist*
e) all of the above

Ok everyone, hum the Jeopardy theme song to yourselves while I get my tenth cup of tea for the day. (Earl Grey. Hot.)

I’m back, are you ready for the answer? Excellent. If you answered e) all of the above you would be….wrong. German for smartass is “Klugscheisser”. But all the other ones are correct, so never fear. (So, next time somebody brings out that tired joke about dramaturges being smartasses, you can show off just how much of a “dramaturg” you are by correcting their German.) Ja voll!

Textual Consultant Michael Warren and Dramaturgical Assistant Mara Sherman

My job as Dramaturgical Assistant to The Lion in Winter is winding down – the research portion of my job ended a week or so ago, and with tech starting TODAY (the 15th) there probably wont be more for me to do until previews start or I can see a full run through again.

(Tech, for those happy few of you who haven’t experienced it, is a series of rehearsals where the technical elements of a play – lights, sound, props – are added. Rehearsals last all day (usually ten or twelve hours) while the designers and stage manager work their magic.)

When tech is over and we get in to full dress rehearsals and previews, I’ll probably take a few notes – point out when the actors have their backsides to the audience, correct line flubs, but really my job at this point is to provide moral support and to laugh at the right times during runs.

That’s all for now. See you at the theater!
–Mara Sherman, Dramaturgical Assistant

*I’m serious- there is a branch of Sociology called Dramaturgy. Google it.

Next in The Green Room: Props Master Lydia Bushfield