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In light of the recent news of Tom Stoppard’s passing at the age of eighty-eight, the Dramaturgs’ Network wishes to express our gratitude to the late playwright for his generous support over the years, share some words of remembrance with our membership, and offer condolences to his family and relatives.

Katalin Trencsényi, co-founder of the Dramaturgs’ Network, says:

“We will remember Tom Stoppard not only as an extraordinary playwright who created many remarkable works exploring the human condition, but also as a generous theatre professional who recognised the importance and value of theatre criticism and dramaturgy. He played a vital role in acknowledging the work of those theatre professionals who contribute significantly to shaping the paths of playwrights. Tom Stoppard’s wit, generosity, and warmth will be greatly missed.”

To find out more about how Stoppard shaped and supported the Dramaturgs' Network over many years, read our latest blog.

TheTheatreTimes (which has a long association with the d'n) has won the 2024 ATHE-ASTR Award for Excellence in Digital Scholarship from the Association for Theatre in Higher Education, and the American Society for Theatre Research!

TheTheatreTimes.com wins the 2024 ATHE-ASTR Award for Excellence in Digital Scholarship from the Association for Theatre in Higher Education, and the American Society Theatre Research. The Joint ATHE-ASTR Award for Excellence in Digital Theatre and Performance Scholarshipis awarded each year to an individual or team that demonstrates innovation and rigor in the use of electronic/digital media for the purpose of producing and disseminating knowledge about theatre and performance.

The award subcommittee composed the following rationale for this recognition:

We decided as a committee to give this year’s award to TheTheatreTimes.com, a mostly self-funded digital portal that seeks to globalize theatre criticism by challenging unequal modes of sharing and accessing knowledge. In addition to being a global platform for theatre news and many forms of criticism, TheTheatreTimes offers digitally innovative services such as Performap (interactive digital map that tracks international theatre festivals happening around the world in real time) and International Online Theatre Festival (free to participate and free to watch). We appreciate their collaborative and decentralized model and the wide range of open access content, especially that which offers coverage for underrepresented regions and people.

TheTheatreTimes is an all-volunteer, open-access global theatre and performing arts portal, which strives to offer global theatre coverage through local sources. Since its launch in November 2016, TheTheatreTimes has published over 5,300 articles and theatre reviews covering theatre in 90 countries and regions. With 32 thematic sections, more than 150 Regional Managing Editors, and over 60 media partners around the world, it has grown to be the most far-reaching and comprehensive global theatre portal today.

The TheatreTimes is also a home to Performap – Interactive Digital Map of Theatre Festivals, which currently lists 340 international theatre and performing arts festivals, searchable by date and location; and IOTF: The International Online Theatre Festival, a yearly event streaming international theatre shows. From 2019 to 2023, in all four editions of the festival, IOTF showcased 140 shows from 36 countries.

In the past, TheTheatreTimes was the second-place winner of the 2021 Culture Online International Award for “Best Online Project” for its International Online Theatre Festival (IOTF); and received the 2018 Elliott Hayes Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dramaturgy from the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA.org).

Magda Romanska  Kasia Lech
 Executive Director & Editor-in-Chief, TTT Executive Director &
 Director of Research and Global Initiatives, TTT

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Our Early Career Dramaturgy working group undertook a survey of script readers in the UK, designed to understand the circumstances in which script reading for theatres and companies is undertaken.

We found that, as a per-hour rate, many theatres pay effectively under minimum wage – some averaging out as little as £5 per hour. 

You can read the article in The Stage here: Dramaturgs 'criminally undervalued' in terms of pay, survey reveals.

And a longer piece can be found on the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA) website: UK Script-Readers Often Work for Below Minimum Wage.