dramaturgy

[drah-muh-tur-jee, dram-uh-]

noun

1. the craft and techniques of dramatic composition.

dramaturgy

/ ˈdræməˌtɜːdʒɪ /

noun

1. the art and technique of the theatre; dramatics

Other Word Forms

• dramaturgic adjective
• dramaturgically adverb
• dramaturgical adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of dramaturgy¹

First recorded in 1795–1805; from Greek drāmatourgía “dramatic composition,” equivalent to drāmaturg(ós) “playwright” + -ia -y ³; dramatic, -urgy

Example Sentences

The Broadway revival of “Three Days of Rain,” not being as confidently performed, revealed a common frailty in Greenberg’s dramaturgy — the tendency toward structural abstraction.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Professor Fuchs specialized in dramaturgy, or the construction of a play, including its dramatic structure, its characters’ motivations and technical issues about set design and lighting.

Read more on New York Times

At Mu, we started a fellowship program where all our shows have directing, design, acting, dramaturgy, stage management fellows — it’s on-the-job training; we’re paying them to train.

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This is actually a broader phenomenon that sociologist Erving Goffman identified called “dramaturgy.”

Read more on Salon

“Jack hath not Jill” — which if true enough to life, is way too sudden for dramaturgy.

Read more on New York Times

Related Words

• comedy 
• farce 
• melodrama 
• play 
• production 
• scene 
• show 
• theater 
• tragedy