Also inherent in the guidelines is the belief that the dramaturg should participate fully and uniquely in the collaborative act of making theater and in promoting social discourse around the theatrical event. To validate the significance of the dramaturg's contributions – and to raise awareness of dramaturgy in the academic field – the Kennedy Center requires a letter of nomination from a faculty member.

This award is the result of a unique collaboration between Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA), the professional association of dramaturgs and literary managers working in North America, and the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF), a national program dedicated to improving the quality of college and university theater in the United States. Additional support is provided by the Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE). Professional dramaturgs, members of LMDA who live in each region, will select the winner of that region's LMDA/KCACTF Student Award in Dramaturgy.

Who is eligible?

Undergraduate and graduate students who work specifically as the dramaturg on a production or workshop, or who submit work created for a dramaturgy class. If the project is a workshop or production, the student must be credited as the dramaturg. A student who also writes, directs, designs, performs in, or otherwise collaborates on a project will be responsible for articulating the boundaries of the dramaturgical work and speaking on its behalf. The student need not be enrolled full-time to submit work for this award, but we do encourage dramaturges to attend the regional festival to represent their works.

How to apply

•Put together a title page, identifying the dramaturg, the project, and the school. Include your address, phone number, email address, and date of the project.

•Include two statements written by the dramaturg, one describing the breadth and scope of the project and its challenges, the other detailing the process from start to finish.

•Enclose a letter of nomination from a faculty member. If you wish, you may include more letters of support from persons directly related to the project – collaborating artists or audience members for a workshop or production, or fellow students/teachers in a classroom project. But we only require one.

•Include all materials that seem relevant, but not to exceed 100 pages. This may include emails between the director, the cast, the designers, etc and the dramaturg; pictures of the display; information from websites created; questions asked during the process; and information gathered for individual packets. We are not interested in your Xeroxing all that you researched, but in your analysis and compilation of materials researched.

•Submit two copies of the entire application packet in the mail or electronically as a PDF file to the Regional Director of Dramaturgy in your particular region (check the websites for dates and particular regional requirements. Do understand that the national festival will require a PDF version of your packet.

AWARD CRITERIA:

Distinctiveness: what is creative about the dramaturg's approach and/or analysis?

Contextualization: how is the production or project enhanced by dramaturgical analysis or research; alternatively, how is the academic project in dramaturgy imaginatively projected into a larger social, political, academic or artistic setting?

Impact: in what ways are the audience, artists or institution enriched by dramaturgical ideas and execution

Process: how much and in what ways is the dramaturg involved with the entire process. How did he or she contribute to the process outside of initial research and putting together packets?

Ethics: how are issues that might be raised by the terms of the collaboration or changing responsibilities dealt with and/or resolved?

FELLOWSHIP OPPORTUNITIES:

Regional fellowship recipients will receive membership in LMDA, an all-expense paid residency at the National Festival at the Kennedy Center in Mid-April, and multi-day workshops with leading artists in both production and new play dramaturgy.
 
The recipients of the National LMDA/KCACTF Fellowships receive residencies with the O’Neill Playwrights Conference, The Playwrights’ Center in Minneapolis and/or the Kennedy Center/National New Play Network’s MFA Playwrights’ Workshop in the summer.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:

Please feel free to contact me at cmark@clemson.edu if you have any questions. Do not miss the opportunity to represent your work at your regional festivals as a dramaturg, with the possibility of the fellowship opportunities listed above. For information specific to each region, please contact your regional chair, who will put you in touch with the Regional Dramaturgy Coordinator:

Region I: Teresa Lang langta@bc.edu

Region II: Robyn Quick rquick@towson.edu

Region III: Tyler Smith tasmith2@bsu.edu

Region IV: Mark Charney cmark@clemson.edu

Region V: Cheryl Black BlackC@missouri.edu

Region VI: Cynthia SoRelle csorelle@mclennan.edu

Region VII: Michelle Phillips phillipm@wou.edu

Region VIII: Bob Nelson bob.nelson@utah.edu

Thanks so much,

Mark J. Charney

National Coordinator of the Dramaturgy Initiative