I am also a dramaturg.

The following statement is fundamental for me and informs the way I work.

Theatre is a three-dimensional, live, kinetic, time-bound performance, existing only in the present. A play text should reflect this.

Here are some of the ways I engage with writers as a new writing dramaturg:

I can help the writer / maker to consider different aspects of the piece being created – characters, world, logic, themes, the dramatic form that will best suit the content.

I can help to unpack ideas and suggest working methods and strategies.

I can read drafts of scripts / texts and give feedback in person and / or in writing.

I can ask questions about intention, and reflect back on how ideas and text will be experienced by a live audience in performance.

I can help to plan process-based workshops.

If I work with the writer from the beginning of a project, I can help to frame their area of exploration and the story they want to tell. In some instances I can do additional research for the writer. It is important to note that my role is to reflect and interrogate not to collaborate.

My approach draws on the Liz Lerman Critical Response methodology, which asks the writer to be actively engaged in the analysis of their own text. I base my feedback on the writer’s vision for the work – what they are trying to do – and whether this is being manifested in the writing.

My definition of a script or text is a document that contains everything the writer or maker intends to be presented to a live audience. As it evolves it contains more clarity and more detail. Ultimately it manifests a created world that reflects the world we know in some way - from the wholly recognisable to the entirely surreal - whilst also bringing an audience beneath the surface of that world. As the text is brought into production it gathers detailed technical instructions, which create a complete theatrical experience. Effectively, it becomes a map to be interpreted by an ensemble for the production and re-production of a live performance.

I hold Masters degree in dramaturgy from Goldsmiths College, London. I am a member of the Dramaturgs Network Ireland. My credits include: The Scarlet Web (Big Telly, Northern Ireland), Marvel (Elizabeth Moynihan, Project Arts Centre), Dublin Fringe Festival writers’ lab, Gaiety School of Acting Manifesto programme, Portrait of the Artist as a Youngish Woman (Sarah Kinlen, Fishamble), Slapsbohn Brian Fleming, Wicklow Co. Co Arts Office playwright mentoring, Foxy (Noelle Browne), Seen & Heard new work festival (Smock Alley Theatre), Mavens new work development Programme (Mill Theatre, Dundrum).