Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism
Plan of Study
Students in the Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism program receive intensive training to prepare for careers in three areas: to work in theaters as dramaturgs, artistic producers, literary managers, and in related positions; to work in theater publishing as critics and editors as well as in other capacities; to teach theater as practitioners, critics, and scholars.
At the core of the training are seminars in literature, theory, criticism, and history offered by the program’s faculty. These may be supplemented by courses taught elsewhere in the University if approved by students’ advisers. The aim is to impart a comprehensive knowledge of theater and dramatic literature—a knowledge necessary to the dramaturg, the writer and editor, and the teacher. Regarding the latter, while it cannot be guaranteed, every effort is made to give qualified students teaching experience within the University.
Of particular importance in the program of study are the criticism workshops, which are taught by various members of the faculty and which students must take in each of six terms. These courses are designed to improve skills in thinking and writing and are an essential component in the faculty’s evaluation of students’ progress from term to term.
Historically, the David Geffen School of Drama has been a pioneer in this country in introducing and establishing the dramaturg as an essential presence in the creation of theater and as a key member of a theater’s staff. Under the supervision of the resident dramaturg of Yale Repertory Theatre, students are assigned to work on many varied productions, including those of new scripts by School playwrights, workshops and full productions by School directors, and professional presentations of classical and contemporary works at Yale Repertory Theatre. Among the areas in which students participate are text preparation and oversight; translation and adaptation; preproduction and rehearsal work on issues of design, direction, and performance; contextual research; program notes and study guide preparation; the conducting of audience discussions; participation in programs in educational outreach; and related work in conjunction with the marketing and media departments. Students also assist in Yale Repertory Theatre’s literary office with script evaluation and communication with writers and agents. Thus, students are trained in topics in institutional dramaturgy, including the formulation of artistic policy and its communication and implementation, and as production dramaturgs, operating within the rehearsal process.
In recognition of the fact that dramaturgs may not only assume the leadership of theaters under such titles as artistic director and producer but may also found theaters themselves, the Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism program has entered into a collaboration with the Theater Management program to create an optional course of study drawing from the strengths of both disciplines. By creating this interchange, the School seeks to remain at the forefront in fostering the discovery and exploration of new organizational models so that the art of theater will continue to flourish. More information on this partnership is available from the program.
In addition to their training in production dramaturgy and literary management, students have opportunities to develop as writers, editors, and translators through their work on the professional staff of Theater magazine, published three times annually by David Geffen School of Drama/Yale Repertory Theatre and Duke University Press.
Theater has been publishing new writing by and about contemporary theater artists since 1968. The magazine’s perspectives are different from those of any other American publication: at once practical, creative, and scholarly. Issues include critical essays; new plays, translations, and adaptations; forums about policy, politics, and productions; interviews with writers, directors, and other artists; creative dossiers and polemics; and book and performance reviews. The publication maintains an electronic archive, a website, and social media pages, and it curates symposia and live events on campus and beyond.
Requirements for the M.F.A. and D.F.A. degrees are discussed more fully in the following pages.
For course descriptions, electives, and additional information, please view the David Geffen School of Drama Bulletin.
Year One
DRAM 3(04)a/b - Topics in Anti-Oppressive Theater Practice*: Melle Powers, Carly McCollow, and faculty
DRAM 6a/b - Survey of Theater and Drama‡: Paul Walsh, Kee-Yoon Nahm
DRAM 36a/b - Passion Projects: Catherine Sheehy, Kelly Kerwin
DRAM 50a - The Theatrical Event: Liz Diamond, Catherine Sheehy
DRAM 53a - Authentic Collaboration: Ben Krywosz
DRAM 96a - Models of Dramaturgy: The New Play Process: Amy Boratko
DRAM 96b - Models of Dramaturgy: The Fixed Text: Catherine Sheehy
DRAM 106a - Editing and Publishing Workshop: Tom Sellar
DRAM 166a/b - Criticism Workshop: Hilton Als, Katherine Profeta, Tom Sellar, Kimberly Jannarone, Kee-Yoon Nahm
DRAM 306b - Theory Suite: Dramatic Structure†: Katherine Profeta
DRAM 316a - Theory Suite: Critical Race Theory†: Eric M. Glover, Catherine Sheehy
DRAM 346a/b - Literary Office Practicum: Amy Boratko, Catherine Sheehy
DRAM 396a/b - Dramaturgy Practicum: Amy Boratko, Eric M. Glover, Catherine Sheehy, and faculty
DRAM 476a/b - Hot Topics: Kimberly Jannarone, Catherine Sheehy, Katherine Profeta
At least three elective courses after consultation with adviser†
At least one production dramaturgy assignment
Year Two
DRAM 3(04)a/b - Topics in Anti-Oppressive Theater Practice*: Melle Powers, Carly McCollow, and faculty
DRAM 166a/b - Criticism Workshop: Hilton Als, Katherine Profeta, Tom Sellar, Kimberly Jannarone, Kee-Yoon Nahm
DRAM 246a - Translation‡: Faculty
DRAM 326a - Theory Suite: Dramatic & Performance Theory†: Katherine Profeta
DRAM 346a/b - Literary Office Practicum: Amy Boratko, Catherine Sheehy
DRAM 396a/b - Dramaturgy Practicum: Amy Boratko, Eric M. Glover, Catherine Sheehy, Kee-Yoon Nahm, and faculty
DRAM 466b - Research Methodologies: Kimberly Jannarone
DRAM 476a/b - Hot Topics: Kimberly Jannarone, Catherine Sheehy, Katherine Profeta
DRAM 616b - Adaptation: Jill Rachel Morris
At least three elective courses and after consultation with adviser†
At least one production dramaturgy assignment
Year Three
DRAM 3(04)a/b - Topics in Anti-Oppressive Theater Practice*: Melle Powers, Carly McCollow, and faculty
DRAM 166a/b - Criticism Workshop: Hilton Als, Katherine Profeta, Tom Sellar, Kimberly Jannarone, Kee-Yoon Nahm
DRAM 336a/b - Comprehensive Examinations: Catherine Sheehy and faculty
DRAM 346a/b - Literary Office Practicum: Amy Boratko, Catherine Sheehy
DRAM 396a/b - Dramaturgy Practicum: Amy Boratko, Eric M. Glover, Catherine Sheehy, Kee-Yoon Nahm, and faculty
DRAM 476a/b - Hot Topics: Kimberly Jannarone, Catherine Sheehy, Katherine Profeta
At least four elective courses after consultation with adviser
At least one production dramaturgy assignment
*All Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism students are automatically enrolled in DRAM 3(04)a/b, Topics in Anti-Oppressive Theater Practice, so they can access its syllabus and readings, but participation in this credit-exempt course is elective for second- and third-year students.
†In any year in which students must take one or two seminars in the Theory Suite (DRAM 306, DRAM 316, DRAM 326), the number of electives is reduced by one.
‡DRAM 246a,Translation, is not offered every year. When it is offered, all dramaturgs who have not taken the course are enrolled in it.
Additional Courses
Students may elect to take appropriate graduate courses in other schools and departments at Yale, subject to permission of the instructor, scheduling limitations, and the approval of the faculty adviser.
Additional Requirements
Anti-Racist Theater Practice Requirement
First-year Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism students are required to enroll in DRAM 316a Critical Race Theory, in order to fulfill the School’s anti-racist theater practice requirement. Combined with the prerequisite workshop, Everyday Justice: Anti-Racism as Daily Practice, this course offers vital strategies for the lifelong development of individual and communal anti-racist practice. Additionally, all M.F.A. students and faculty are encouraged to participate in DRAM 3(04)a/b, Topics in Anti-Oppressive Theatre Practice.
Theater History Requirement
Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism students are required to enroll in DRAM 6a/b, Survey of Theater and Drama, in order to fulfill the School’s theater history requirement. This course is considered a crucial foundation for all of the program’s students.
Dramaturgical Assignments
Each student serves as a dramaturg on one or more productions per year either at Yale Repertory Theatre or the School. During the fall term of their first eligible year, students are not typically assigned to production work. In the second term, these students may be assigned to a play by a playwriting student at the School and may also work on other plays under the supervision of the resident dramaturg. In their subsequent years, students may undertake a project at Yale Repertory Theatre, a director’s thesis production (see Directing program, The Director’s Thesis, DRAM 140a/b), a Shakespeare Repertory Project (see Directing program, Directing II, DRAM 120a/b), or a play by a playwriting student at the School.
Students work on School productions and Yale Repertory Theatre productions subject to availability and suitability of projects and program requirements.
Additionally, dramaturgy students assist the resident dramaturg and Yale Rep’s literary manager in script evaluation and related tasks through the Literary Office Practicum (DRAM 346a/b).
Yale Cabaret
Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism students are encouraged to work in all capacities at the Yale Cabaret, but this participation is understood to be in addition to, and in no way a substitution for, required program work. No student with an “Incomplete” grade in any course, and no student on program-imposed academic warning, may participate in the Yale Cabaret in any capacity. Students must request approval from the student labor supervisor and should inform the program chair before agreeing to participate in the Cabaret.
Yale Repertory Theatre Artistic Office
Students are trained to read scripts for Yale Repertory Theatre, and each academic year, they are required to submit written evaluations of these scripts to the Artistic Office. This work is done under the supervision of Yale Rep’s senior artistic producer and dramaturgy adviser, who is a lecturer in the program, and the literary fellow, who is a D.F.A. candidate in the program.
Theater Magazine Office
During their first year, Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism students take the Editing and Publishing Workshop (DRAM 106a), taught by the editor of Theater, the journal of criticism and performance co-published by David Geffen School of Drama/Yale Repertory Theatre and Duke University Press, which introduces them to major aspects of publishing such a journal. In the second and third years, qualified students may have additional opportunities to work on the magazine’s staff in a variety of editing and publishing positions. Select D.F.A. candidates may be appointed to senior staff positions as part of their doctoral fellowships. Along with essays, reviews, and translations by leading authors and professional critics, Theater has published outstanding work by Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism students, who are encouraged to propose and submit writing and editorial projects for possible publication.
Language Requirement
The language requirement is satisfied during the first or second year by the translation of a play in the Translation seminar (DRAM 246a). Students who wish to pursue a special emphasis in translation may take this course once more with the approval of their advisers and the course instructor.
Literary Orientation
Upon entering the department, students are required to take orientation seminars introducing them to the Yale University Library system and its various facilities and resources.
Comprehensive Examination Requirement
The comprehensives are a set of final written and oral qualifying examinations in which third-year students demonstrate their ability to bring critical depth and dramaturgical perspective to broad areas of the field. Through this process students take responsibility for mastery of subjects of their own choosing. Often these subjects have not been covered in course work.
Each student must write two independently researched exams. For each of these, the student writes essay-length answers to two questions in the chosen area of study. Topics for written examinations must be chosen in consultation with the student’s adviser and reflect breadth of study across time periods, genres, movements, etc. Areas of study should not overlap and may include major historical periods; important dramatists or other figures; basic dramatic genres; significant theoretically or critically defined movements. Other broad areas also may be devised in consultation with faculty advisers.
Each student must also submit case studies in theater history in the spring terms of the first and second years. Based upon a selection of plays chosen by the faculty in Classical and Medieval Drama in the first year and Pre-Modern Drama in the second year, these case studies demonstrate the student’s mastery of theater history. Guidelines for these case studies are available from the department.
Each student must create one dramaturgical casebook each year based on a production assignment completed during the student’s first five terms at David Geffen School of Drama and approved by the faculty. Casebooks must include the full and cut scripts, an essay of textual analysis, a comprehensive production history, a critical bibliography, preproduction and rehearsal journals, and other pertinent materials generated by work on the production (program pages, poster design, etc.). Guidelines for casebooks are available from the department.
These written components—exams, case studies, and casebooks—are followed by an oral comprehensive exam. Oral examinations are designed not only as defenses of the written exams but may also be a further exploration of areas students have worked up but not answered in their other comprehensives. The casebooks will provide the basis for discussion during the oral exam of the student’s development as a dramaturg. These exams will be completed in early May.
Final grades for the comprehensive examinations are determined upon completion of the process. Following each written examination, students will be given a Pass/Fail evaluation by their faculty advisers. If the faculty concludes that the exam is not passing work, the student will be informed of the areas of deficiency. In such a case the oral examination becomes an opportunity for the student to redress the deficiencies. A student who fails one or more comprehensives and/or the oral is allowed to reenroll in the comprehensive process once more during the following year. A student failing the second time is not awarded a degree.
Second-year students must adhere to the following schedule:
- January 31, 2025: Deadline for submission of comprehensive examination topics. At this time, exam topics must be submitted in memorandum form via email to all nonvisiting members of the program faculty for approval.
- March 7, 2025: Deadline for submission of a full comprehensive proposal, including a carefully researched and selected bibliography, for faculty approval. This bibliography should reflect an understanding of the most essential reading in the proposed subject and reflect prior consultation with appropriate members of the program’s faculty.
- April 24, 2025: Deadline for submission of final revised comprehensive proposal and bibliography.
Third-year students must adhere to the following schedule:
- August 26–30, 2024: Deadline for third-year students to meet with their advisers to review and update comprehensive study procedures and propose a fall examination schedule. There will be a program faculty meeting in this week at which third-year students must give their presentations of the five topics they have identified during stipended summer study. Students must take at least one examination during the fall term, according to the schedule below.
- October 26, 2024: First fall deadline for beginning a written comprehensive examination.
- December 15, 2024: Final fall deadline for completing a written comprehensive examination.
- February 15, 2025: First spring deadline for beginning a written comprehensive examination.
- April 26, 2025: Final deadline for completing the written comprehensive exams.
- May 9, 2025: Final deadline for completing the oral examination.
Requirements for the Doctor of Fine Arts in Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism
Upon completion of the Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism program requirements for an M.F.A. degree and graduation from the School, a student is eligible to register to remain in residence for the proposal year to apply to the Doctor of Fine Arts (D.F.A.) program.* Acceptance into the D.F.A. program is not to be considered an entitlement and is based not only on the merits of the proposal, but also on the faculty’s assessment of the student’s performance and progress in the M.F.A. program. Candidates must submit their proposals by January 6, 2025, the first day of the spring term, for review by the D.F.A. Committee. The proposal must conform to program guidelines and designate first and second readers. If either reader comes from outside the program, the proposal must include a letter from the reader acknowledging a willingness to advise the dissertation if the prospectus is approved. It is understood that, except in extraordinary circumstances, if the student’s proposed dissertation can be read by a member of the full-time faculty, that faculty member will be considered the first reader. Upon review, the committee may approve, reject, or recommend changes to the proposal. If changes are recommended, the student has until April 1, 2025, to resubmit the proposal in order to obtain the committee’s approval. If the proposal has not been sufficiently revised at that time, it will be finally rejected.
A student holding an M.F.A. degree from the School has two years after graduation to apply to and be accepted into the D.F.A. program. Upon acceptance of the proposal by the D.F.A. Committee, the student is expected to complete the dissertation within three years, working in close consultation with the first reader. If necessary, and so long as the student is able to demonstrate progress, an extension may be granted upon a written request. Each year all D.F.A. students registered as “in residence” are expected to attend an in-person chapter conference at the School; here they will offer a twenty-minute presentation about their latest research and writing. These chapter conferences will be held at the end of both the fall and spring terms. In consultation with their advisers, students may choose at which conference they would like to present.
Graduating D.F.A. students must adhere to the following schedule:
- January 6, 2025: Final deadline for submission of revised drafts of all chapters to first and second readers.
- March 15, 2025: Notification of approval of revised chapter drafts and requests for final corrections.
- April 15, 2025: Final deadline for submission of all formatted files.
After the D.F.A. Committee’s final acceptance of the dissertation, two bound copies must be delivered to the Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism chair two weeks prior to the date on which the student expects to graduate. The dissertation proposal guidelines contain complete details and stipulations for obtaining the degree and are available through the program.
The D.F.A. candidate may elect to register as a full-time student in residence to pursue work on the dissertation. The tuition fee for this status is $1,000 per year in residence and entitles candidates to use libraries and related facilities, to audit courses related to their research, to eligibility for tickets to School and Yale Repertory Theatre productions, and to Yale Health Basic Coverage. Yale Health Hospitalization/Specialty Coverage is offered for an additional fee (for 2024–2025, the fee is $1,555 per term). In the first five years of residency, D.F.A. candidates receive a scholarship to cover tuition and the cost of Yale Health Hospitalization/Specialty Coverage. (If students decline this insurance coverage, their scholarship will be reduced by the amount equivalent to its cost.) Students enrolled in the D.F.A. program are eligible to apply for one of three writing fellowships, a Yale Rep artistic associate fellowship, a Theater magazine fellowship, or DRAM 6a/b teaching assistantships. These fellowships are awarded based on suitability and other factors, such as additional opportunities for support, pedagogical enrichment, and demand or history of support in the program. The Theater magazine, artistic associate, and literary office fellowships are twelve months long; the rest are for the nine-month academic year only. As a result, fellowship awards offer differing financial support. More information is available from the financial aid office.