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dramaturge

dramaturge

1 9.3
A person who helps choose plays and explains scripts for a theater
  • noun
  • /ˈdræməˌtɜrdʒ/
  • Specialized
translation icon : dramaturgo
  • In New York City, an eighteen-year-old playwright works with a top professional director, a dramaturge, and a cast of seasoned professional actors to produce her first off-Broadway play, The PC Laundromat, a "political poem set to the rhythm of washers and dryers."
  • dramaturge and director

Examples

  • Of eight professional actors, a playwright, director, dramaturge, and a team of designers and theatre technicians are in the final stages of rehearsal for The Yellow Boar, a new play based upon the life and artwork of a very young artist who was the first child in the state of Arizona to be diagnosed with the AIDS virus.

    Academic text (1993)
  • At the theater workshop, the dramaturge helped the actors understand the historical context of their characters.

  • I had developed this piece sort of as Henry's dramaturge for over a year.

    Blog text (12)
  • He now holds a doctorate in theater studies, and I gather he wants to be a dramaturge, an actor, or a professor.

    Academic text (2007)
  • Atheist's Paradise could work as a play, but it is in desperate need of a dramaturge, and without a strong leading man, I have to say Atheist's Paradise is god-awful.

    Blog text (22)
  • The dramaturge provided valuable insights on the script during the rehearsal process.

  • Before the performance, the dramaturge gave a presentation about the themes in the play to the cast.

How Senior

theater director
  • US
4 4.1
dramaturge
  • Specialized
1 9.3
scripter
1 5.2

Surface Forms

dramaturge singular
dramaturges plural

Morphology

dramaturge = drama (semi-transparent) = drama + turge

The element 'drama' clearly signals theatrical work, but the suffix '-turge' is an uncommon, non-productive agentive form that many learners will not recognize.

Etymology

Dramaturge comes from the Greek root drama meaning 'play' and a part that means 'worker', so it literally meant a 'worker on plays'. That's why a dramaturge today helps with scripts, picks suitable plays, and gives background or context for a production.