Directing and Dramaturgy

Founded as Directors/Collectives by the late David Bradby, the Directing and Dramaturgy Working Group was renamed to reflect our members’ widespread interests. We aim to examine the changing artistic, social and ideological contexts in which directorial practices and dramaturgical approaches in theatre take place. We explore and articulate directing and dramaturgy by focusing each year on a theme, for instance adaptation, tragedy or the contemporary. We welcome analysis from across the preconceived categories of‘playwright’s theatre’, ‘director’s theatre’, ‘dance’, ‘devised performance’ and ‘performance art’, and have widened our understanding of ‘collective creation’ to include the spectator’s role in the performance event. Our group comprises early-career and established academics and practitioners, and it is central to our ethos to facilitate interactions based on support and sharing. Internationalism is also key to our group, and we welcome members from around the world. We work closelywith theatre professionals, having held interim events at the Almeida Theatre London and Citizens Theatre Glasgow, with invited playwrights, directors, producers and critics including David Greig, Zinnie Harris, Simon Stephens, Ivo van Hove, Sebastian Nübling, Ramin Gray, Lizzie Clachan and Toni Racklin.