Arts Professional Story: Maren Robinson

“I’m a dramaturg.”

“A drama-what?”

It is the hard “g” on the end of the word (without an “e”) and confusion about a word with which even many performing artists aren’t familiar. The answer to the question, “What is a dramaturg?” can be just as confusing.

When dramaturgs get together, which they do, the discussions frequently revolve around what their work is. Broadly, dramaturgs may work to help a playwright develop or shape a play, or they may do production research on a published play to help inform the director and actors, create program notes, lobby displays and study guides, or they may be in charge of educational outreach, or a combination of any or all of the above.

The work of a dramaturg resists easy classification because each project (or each collaboration) is different. I find working with a playwright is completely different than working on an existing play and working with dance is different in other ways altogether. The details of the project, the subject, the actors and director or choreographer and their individual processes change what I do as a dramaturg.

As a result of this variety, I try to approach each work as though I am a first-time dramaturg. I ask lots of questions: what would I want to know if I were acting, or directing, or designing, or choreographing this piece? What are the playwright’s goals? What kind of information would I want if I were an audience member? I find that sympathetically placing myself in the role of others and trying to understand their needs is as important as my solitary research in a library. This is not to say that there aren’t many discussions with directors and designers that also guide my research and work.

One thing is consistent; I always find my arms full of “stuff” at the start of any process regardless of whom I am working with. It may just be books or packets of information but I have also brought physical objects like a sprig of nightshade or a recording of a nightjar (a type of bird). I have recreated turn of the century French dance performance, created a collage of art representations of Shakespeare’s female characters, and familiarized myself with theoretical physics enough to teach it to actors. One of my most rewarding moments came when some Fermilab physicists seeing Copenhagen were surprised that I had not previously studied physics.

The poet John Keats described something he strived for in his poetry as, “negative capability,” which I interpret roughly as: to be as comfortable in a state of doubt as possible so artistically the work may become more. This is something I have thought about both as a performer and as a dramaturg. I think of it as an ability to let go of things I may want – for the sake of the performance. Frequently, a good dramaturg has to let go. A great bit of historical research may be interesting but it may not help an actor or push a performance forward. It is the truth of the moment or, the truth of the artwork superceding the fact. I imagine the materials I prepare as skipping stones – some travel far and others sink to the bottom with a plop.

How one becomes a dramaturg?

Most performers or directors perform little acts of dramaturgy all the time. Any research, looking up an unknown word or quote and finding images are all acts of dramaturgy.

However, there are people who, through happenstance and proclivity, become dramaturgs. Most of them seem to have an interesting story about how they ended up where they are. From my experience, it seems that divergent interests and a circuitous route (like mine) might be a prerequisite and is certainly helpful in developing a career in dramaturgy.

I trained in classical ballet but abandoned it at sixteen when I knew I would have to leave my family and move to a big city to continue my training. I continued to perform in theater and modern dance as an undergraduate but got my degree in English literature. I performed a season with Montana Shakespeare in the Parks, which hires most of its actors out of Chicago. I moved to Chicago thinking of either performing or going to graduate school but found myself daunted by auditioning. An actress friend who knew of my background in literature said, “You should be a dramaturg” and I asked, “A drama-what?”

Because of my background in literature, I started with the text and did what is called “close reading” in schools of literary criticism, that is, carefully reading the text and understanding every word or reference. Then I expanded my research to include to historical or social context. It helped that my first two projects were both theatrical adaptations of literary works, so I read the originals as well as the adaptations and started asking myself questions. Being open, curious and a bit of a dilettante helps.

Other projects seemed to roll out from there as people started to identify me as a dramaturg, or when a director found he or she enjoyed working with me.

I did go back to graduate school, but I did not choose a dramaturgy program. There are only a few of them. Instead I chose the University of Chicago Master’s in Humanities Program that allowed me to take classes in a broader range of topics. I did study more theater history but also studied Petrarch, Heidegger and playwriting. There I was also able to write both a play and a slightly more traditional thesis as part of my degree program.

I was also fortunate to be an artistic intern at Steppenwolf Theatre after my graduation. It was an incredibly useful summer because of the intellectual exchange fostered by then Literary Manager Ed Sobel. As well, the chance to read numerous plays, watch rehearsals and generally see the workings of a big theater was a great help.

I still enjoy performing from time to time because it keeps me from becoming too academic in my approach to the work I do.

The History Boys: A Dramaturgy Case Study

A dramaturg is perhaps better defined in practice, so I thought a brief case study of the recent work I did on TimeLine Theatre’s recent Chicago premiere of Alan Bennett’s play The History Boys might be instructive.

The play is set in the 1980s and focuses on eight sixth-form British schoolboys at a state-funded school in Sheffield as they prepare for the entrance examinations to Oxford and Cambridge. It is full of literary, historical and philosophical references as well as two scenes in French.

I began working on The History Boys about 6 months before the first rehearsal. I read the script and then read it a second time and the third time marked everything I thought might need more explanation or looked like a literary reference. The director, Nick Bowling, assistant director, Bridget Dehl, and I did a slow read of the play over 3 or 4 evenings in which I expanded my list of references for further research and which led to me creating a “packet”.

The “packet” was just a rough beginning in which I found the source of quotations or literary references in the play and gave the full poem and a biography of the author (with a picture if possible) as well as links to reputable websites for additional information. I also translated all the French scenes (fortuitously, I studied French as an undergraduate), found films, music and art referenced, researched historical information about life in the North of England in the 1980s, and contacted a headmistress friend who answered numerous questions about the British education system in the 1980s. When the packet was complete it was about 94 pages long. This is the packet the actors used; however, I also compiled a 42-page study guide for audiences from this same material. In addition, I brought relevant books in to use in rehearsal that eventually became props on stage in the boys’ rooms.

I was frequently on hand in rehearsal to go over the French sections and to provide French adlibs. The director also wanted me to give feedback on how the actors recited the many poems in the play and their performances in general.

Additional work included writing program notes for the audience, which included key information about the poets, education system and 1980s England. Normally, I would have created content for lobby displays on the issues of the play, but the set design called for the boys rooms to fill the lobby, so the dramaturgy was incorporated into the rooms in collaboration with the set and props designers. The books, songs and movies the boys mention in the play all find their way into their rooms. For example, at one point a character talks about Tudor Economic Documents, Vol. II. All three volumes are in his room and the books turned out to be from Sheffield, the city in which the play is set. These details may or may not be readily apparent but nonetheless exist to provide added richness for the actors and are a treat for the audience.

Finally, I still go back to certain performances for post-show audience discussions. I find it extremely valuable to follow the ephemeral lifecycle of a play and to see that wider vista.



Maren Robinson is a dramaturg and performing artist. She has trained in ballet, modern dance and theater. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Montana State University and a Master’s degree in Humanities from the University of Chicago where she received the Catherine Ham Memorial Award for her play Anonymous and accompanying thesis on Peter Brook and Virginia Woolf. She was a literary intern at Steppenwolf Theatre Company. She has performed with Montana Shakespeare in the Parks, Luna Troop, Eclipse and Caffeine Theaters. She has been a dramaturg for: Greasy Joan, City Lit, Chicago Dancemaker’s Forum, Camenae, Caffeine, Eclipse, and TimeLine, where she is an Associate Artist. She has taught at Loyola University, the Newberry Library, lectured on Women in Theater for the Chicago Public Library and guest lectured at Columbia College and DePaul University. She is a member of the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas.