Using Dramaturgy FAQs

The workshop is designed for theatre makers (playwrights, directors, devisors, designers) with an interest in refining their knowledge of dramaturgy as a process and practice. Experience as an actor alone will not be sufficient for this workshop.
In addition to experience, skills and artistic inclination, we are also looking for creators who are able to devote their time and energy to support other artists to fulfill their visions. So a strong affinity for collaboration, for working in a team towards a common goal, would be positive factors in an application.
 

This workshop is designed primarily for people who are interested in bringing dramaturgy into theatrical practice here in India, alongside existing creative work they are already involved in. As such, experience of working on someone else’s project will be a huge bonus.
At a minimum, candidates with a significant experience in active theatre making (read above) will gain the most out of this workshop.

The course will be taught by German dramaturgs Götz Leineweber and Sophia Stepf, and will also involve guest lectures by Indian theatre-makers of repute.

Götz Leineweber (Course Teacher) holds an MA in ethnology, theatre studies and philosophy. He worked as an editor and journalist and got his postgraduate degree in cultural journalism from the University of Arts, Berlin. From 2004 he has been working as a full-time dramaturg, first at Volksbühne (2004-07, Artistic Director: Frank Castorf), Schauspiel Köln (2007-2013: Artistic Director: Karin Beier) and Residenztheater Munich (2013-2019, Artistic Director: Martin Kusej). He has worked as a dramaturg with Directors like Karin Beier, Martin Kusej, Christoph Schlingensief, Dimiter Gotscheff, Gintersdorfer / Klaßen, Alvis Hermanis and Gob Squad. Since 2015 he has been teaching 'Theatre History and Dramaturgy' at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. As of july 2019 he is a freelance dramaturg for Burgtheater Vienna and others. He is married and has two children.
 
Sophia Stepf (Course co-designer and Teacher) holds an MA in dramaturgy for theatre and media from the University of Music and Theatre Leipzig and York University Toronto. She is also a qualified Anti-Bias and Betzafta trainer. Since 2001 Sophia has been writing and directing contemporary theatre, exploring the friction between globalisation, cultural identity and local realities. With her company Flinn Works (Kassel/Berlin) she has won awards for INDIA SIMULATOR™, three META awards for C SHARP C BLUNT in Delhi, as well as the ZKB Patronage Prize at Zürcher Theaterspektakel in 2014.  She has created international works with partners like Asedeva (Dar es Salaam), Staatsheater Kassel, Theater Krefeld-Mönchengladbach, Schnawwl Mannheim & Ranga Shankara Bangalore, National School of Drama, Delhi amongst others. She has developed and taught the course ‘Intercultural Dramaturgy’ at the University of Music and Theatre Leipzig as well as many intensive workshops for professional performers and non-actors, mostly on devising theatre. Since 2003 Sophia has been developing & curating theatre projects for Institutions like Goethe-Institut MMB in India, international theatre festivals (Linz 2009, Vienna Festwochen 2007, Theater der Welt 2005, Schwindelfrei Mannheim). She lives in Berlin with her family.
 
Jehan Manekshaw (Course Co-Designer) is the Head of School at Drama School Mumbai and co-founder of Theatre Professionals. 
Jehan leads pedagogy and course design for the 30 faculty and guest faculty, comprising of some of the most notable names in Indian Theatre. The DSM’s one year PG course in Acting and Theatre Making is in its 6th year, having graduated 70 students who are all active in the fields of theatre, film, tv and applied theatre.
Jehan has co-designed and developed tailor made programmes and engagements that provide schools with a robust drama strategy for their school, weaving drama-in-education methods and strategies into the schools teaching and learning practices, and has co-designed workshops and training in pedagogical methods for Drama in Education for Goethe-Institut MMB in India. Jehan has taught as guest faculty at universities and performing arts institutions across the country and abroad. He also has directed numerous plays in different languages in India, the US, UK, and Japan. He holds a MFA in Theatre Direction from Birkbeck College, University of London and a BA in Theatre and International Relations from Wesleyan University, CT, USA.
 

The workshop is actually Phase One of a two-phase project. After the workshop, there is an Interim Phase where the participants will be required to work on applying the skills and learnings on a project they are involved in. (If you are not already involved in a project, don’t let this stop you from applying now.)
In this interim period from January to June 2020, the candidates will be required to share their findings and progress through intermittent reports.
 
Participants from the first phase who have completed and submitted their findings during the interim phase may be invited back to the  3-day Evaluation Conference in Bengaluru in August 2020. These invitations will be based on the quality of the dramaturgical experience they have been able to have.

The workshop in Bengaluru will primarily cater to candidates from Karnataka and Kerala.
The workshop in Kolkata will primarily cater to candidates from Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Sikkim, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Manipur, Tripura, West-Bengal and Bangladesh.
 
Candidates from other parts of India may of course apply, but we would ideally prefer that there be at least 3 from a particular region (with access to each other during the Interim Phase), so as to allow for effective peer review and development in your individual journeys, going forward.

The workshop itself – the tuition, the course material – is free, as is your accommodation and meals for the 10 days. 
 
All you need to do is to arrive at the venue by the appointed date, by whatever means you prefer. We will require proof of this journey (a plane, train or bus ticket or any equivalent) in order to confirm your spot.

Kolkata
Dates: November 18 to 27, 2019
Venue: ArtsAcre Foundation.
http://artsacre.org/
Candidates will be staying in rooms on a twin sharing basis.
 
Bengaluru
Dates: December 3 to 12, 2019
Venue: Visthar Conference and Retreat Centre
https://www.visthar.org/
Candidates will be staying in single rooms.

You may be asked to provide a reference before you are shortlisted.
We may schedule a face to face conversation (Skype or in person) in order to better understand your expectations and whether or not the workshop can fulfil them.