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The Dramaturgs' Network membership for 2020 costs £25/£15 (student concession) and is valid until the end of the calendar year. It gives you access to a forum of fellow-members to communicate with (exchange ideas, advertise your work, ask for help etc.). It entitles you to free or discounted tickets for d'n events, as well as job offers, industry news, information etc., but most of all: brings you together with like-minded professionals in the UK and beyond.
Your membership fee also supports our work: providing indispensable profession-related resources free of charge, as well as representing dramaturgs industry-wide, and working towards better contracts, payment and acknowledgement of the work of dramaturgs and literary managers.
We look forward to welcoming you to the network!
The winner of the Kenneth Tynan Award 2019 has been announced
The winner of the Kenneth Tynan Award 2019 is Suzanne Bell.
Suzanne Bell received the award for her passionate and committed support for new writing, for her tireless work with writers for many years at Manchester Royal Exchange and previously at the Liverpool Playhouse, and for her thoughtful and efficient administration of the Bruntwood Prize. Suzanne Bell has been working behind the scenes with consistency and rigour, championing writers, developing strategic and innovative means to enable playwrights to have their work read, developed, and platformed. Her contribution to making information, skills sharing, writing resources, and opportunities available for everyone is exemplary.
The winner was announced by Sudha Bhuchar at the Kenneth Tynan Award Ceremony at Soho Theatre on 17 November 2019. Congratulations!
Suzanne Bell is dramaturg at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester, where she oversees the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting. She has worked with playwrights including Simon Stephens, April de Angelis, Rory Mullarkey, Anna Jordan, Jonathan Harvey, Chloe Moss, and Lizzie Nunnery. She has led writers’ workshops at theatres including Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse, Royal Court, Soho Theatre, Birmingham Rep, various universities and overseas. She was a Trustee for Clean Break Theatre Company and has also worked with the British Theatre Consortium, the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain and SOLT in negotiating unionised writer’s agreements.
Sudha Bhuchar and Suzanne Bell at the Kenneth Tynan Award ceremony
The Kenneth Tynan Award 2019 is supported by Oberon Books.
Basic Contract and recommended fees for dramaturgs
Introducing a Basic Contract and recommended fees for dramaturgs in the UK is long overdue – the first dramaturg/literary manager (Kenneth Tynan at the National Theatre) was appointed in Britain in 1963. It is high time to think about improving the working conditions and fees for these highly skilled experts across the industry.
Building on the outcome of a series of negotiations about a Basic Contract and recommended fees for dramaturgs between the d’n and the Independent Theatre Council between 2015 - 2017, and meetings between the d’n and the Writers Guild of Great Britain in 2018; in 2019 a Working Group was formed within the d’n to develop a Basic Contract covering recommended fees, terms and conditions and including the description of the dramaturg’s role in new drama development, production dramaturgy, and collaborative processes. The contract draws on negotiations from 2015, as well as incorporating research and surveys of d’n members.
Currently, the d'n is in consultation with Equity, The Writers Guild of Great Britain, the Independent Theatre Council, and Stage Directors UK to progress the dramaturgs’ Basic Contract and recommended fees being accepted and used industry-wide.
Gallery
“The practice of dramaturgy never stands still. And neither should a dramaturg. A serious dramaturg needs to be constantly learning. A serious dramaturg needs to be keen to explore existing theories of dramaturgy. A serious dramaturg needs to be keen to investigate new ideas. A serious dramaturg needs to have their finger on the pulse of contemporary theatre practice. A serious dramaturg needs the Dramaturgs’ Network: because the Dramaturgs’ Network will always ensure that the continuing professional development of their members is paramount.”
(Paul Sirett)
“A significant landmark in the professionalization of dramaturgical functions was the founding of the Dramaturgs’ Network” - Mary Luckhurst
Your contribution is vital to our work - this enables us to further reach out and achieve our goal of being a hub of dramaturgy in the UK. Thank you for your support.
