Revising, Dramaturgy and the Theatre Workshop

Performance is a collaborative process. A script is written by the writer, but to produce a performance of a play, that writer has to work with directors, actors, designers and theatre technicians to create a final product – a performance to a live audience of the story the writer has created. With this in mind, when it comes to revising a draft of a new script, the process for a writer can also be collaborative. Collaboration for the revising process can range from a simple dramaturgical discussion with a director or dramaturge, to a rehearsed reading or scratch performance, to devising work or improvising around the script. All these processes are aiming for the same endpoint – to explore the script so that a director can get the words off the page and ‘up on their feet’. This process will help the writer to revise the script by observing how other artists, and maybe even an audience, interpret and react their words. This chapter explores a range of collaborative techniques for revising scripts when making theatre, to help the emerging playwright navigate this process and work towards successful and collaborative theatre-making.