Jarkko Lehmus, The director of Cirko – Center for New Circus, together with David Harris and Katalin Trencsényi have won the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs’ of the Americas (LMDA) 2023 Elliott Hayes Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dramaturgy. The complex work of a dramaturg is in need for definitions, especially in circus and dance sectors.
This year’s Elliot Hayes Award winners – Jarkko Lehmus, Katalin Trencsényi and David Harris – worked in collaboration as the British Dramaturgs’ Network’s Contract Working Group. As a result of the team’s dedicated volunteering work, the d’n Dramaturgs’ Contract Package was created.
At the heart of the project was a desire to enhance the visibility of the dramaturg’s contribution by identifying the many concrete tasks that the role embraces, and making the dramaturg’s invisible labour visible.
The awarded contract package contains recommended practice documents designed to help freelance dramaturgs, producers and managing directors create fairer and better-informed employment contracts.
The package specifies what a dramaturg’s contract should include in order to ensure that the job description is clear to all parties: For instance, how many rehearsals will the dramaturge attend and what is their role in them, how many working hours can be spent on certain parts of the work, and how many meetings and with whom will the dramaturg attend.
Dramaturg’s work is more multifaceted than traditionally understood. Defining dramaturg’s work has been seen difficult, as the tasks vary greatly from project to project, and the requirements may change during the process.
The package identifies the different tasks included in dramaturg’s work, whether it is creating a new play, adapting a text or script for stage or non-textual dramaturgy, such as dance or other process based dramaturgies (eg. devising).
Dramaturgs are still luxury in Finnish circus and dance sectors according to Lehmus.
“The working groups are small and operating with such small budgets, that there is no money to hire a dramaturg for a project. Most of the dramaturgical work is done by persons, who are not dramaturgs by profession”, Lehmus says.
Another reason for the absence of dramaturgs is that the role of a dramaturg doesn’t seem clear in the circus and dance sectors. Definitions and guidelines are needed.
Earlier the definition of dramaturg’s profession was narrowly focused on the work of a theatre dramaturg working with text. In the new collective agreement for the Finnish theatre sector the titles of “performance dramaturge”, “process dramaturge” and “advising dramaturge” are mentioned, but not explained.
“For instance my task at Cirko is to support the artists, to guide them or help them with essential questions. I’m not the one to tell how things should be done, but help others make the decisions”, says Lehmus, who graduated as a dramaturg from London University’s Goldsmith’s college.
“Dramaturgs rarely do anything by themselves. The work is collaborating with artists and the working group – just like collaboration was at the heart of creating the d’n Dramaturgs’ Contract Package with Katalin Trencsényi and David Harris, Lehmus reminds.
“I am honoured and humbled by this recognition from the global community of fellow dramaturgs.”
BRITISH DRAMATURGS’ NETWORK’S WORKING GROUP
Katalin Trencsényi is a dramaturg, theatre-maker, and researcher, working in the fields of contemporary theatre, dance and performance in the UK and internationally. She has edited and authored many books, including Dramaturgy in the Making (Bloomsbury, 2015). Currently, Katalin is working as a lecturer on the Comparative Dramaturgy and Performance Research programme at the University of the Arts Helsinki.
David Harris worked as a stage manager and company manager before becoming a Company Secretary and an MBA. He was Business Manager at Company of Angels for nine years and Finance Manager at Told by an Idiot. He is now Business Manager for Simon Spencer Productions Ltd and co-producing the musical Starr!
Jarkko Lehmus is the director of Cirko – Center for New Circus in Helsinki, Finland, and a freelance dramaturg. He has worked internationally both on and off the stage in over 30 countries. His experience ranges from physical theatre to neoclassical ballet and conceptual performance art to commercial television productions.