The role of the dramaturg is not widely practiced in Australian theatre, at least not professionally. As an aide to the formation of a script dramaturgy is a useful process, one that can not only improve a production but also guide a writer’s career. Saffron Benner explores how dramaturgy works and the importance of its role in helping shape the arts.

In October, the Cultural Ministers Council (CMC) defined three key areas for collaborative action over the next two to three years: arts and education, Indigenous arts and cultures, and the growth and maintenance of a dynamic arts sector. As part of their arts and education strategy, the CMC, ‘will work with the Ministerial Council for Education, Early Childhood Development and Youth Affairs (MCEECDYA) to promote arts learning in schools and beyond for all Australians’.

While the CMC’s strategy implicitly supports the intrinsic value of arts education, there are still significant questions about the form and content of the arts in schools, how they are taught, and the gap between arts education and training and professional arts practice.

Dramaturgy is one area of arts practice that is still often misunderstood in our schools and training institutions and even the arts industry itself. Yet dramaturgical skills are invaluable to teaching and learning about the arts. They are also crucial to those areas in the arts and education sectors that the CMC, funding bodies and govern…