Germany is renowned for acknowledging the vital role that dramaturgs play in the shaping of theatre. In Wales this has often been a role shared by the director and writer. But how do we empower a new wave of dramaturgs, dedicated solely to offering the outside eye that is pivotal in creating theatre of exceptional value and quality?
National Theatre Wales and the Goethe-Institut London have invited leading German dramaturg Dr. Stefan Bläske to lead a two-day research group with dramaturgs from Wales and Germany in October 2019 to answer this. This research group will offer a platform to exchange ideas around approaches to dramaturgy and open up potential future collaboration between Wales and Germany.
is head of dramaturgy at NT Ghent, Belgium. He studied theatre and media studies, philosophy, politics and administrative sciences, and worked as research associate at the universities in Erlangen-Nuremberg and Vienna, where he completed his PhD on ‘Self-reflection and Media Reflection in contemporary theatre’. From 2009 to 2014, he worked as theatre critic and then as dramaturg at Bavarian State Theatre (Residenztheater). Since 2014, he has worked closely with Milo Rau, as part of Rau’s company International Institute of Political Murder (IIPM), and since 2018 at NT Ghent. In 2017, he was voted by the jury of German-speaking theatre critics "dramaturg of the year" in the annual theatre award listing of Theater heute magazine.
