# Dramaturg > A dramaturg is the theater's expert reader: the person who helps a playwright develop a new script and helps a company understand the play it is staging, through research, notes and questions rather than by writing the lines. Also known as dramaturge, literary manager ## In practice A dramaturg reads a play the way an editor reads a novel. They ask what each scene is for, where the story loses its thread and what the audience will know at each moment, then hand the writer questions and notes instead of rewrites. The words stay the playwright's. The job has two halves. On a new play, the dramaturg works beside the writer through drafts, readings and workshops. On a production, they research the play's world and history for the director and actors, and often write the program notes and the context the audience reads in the lobby. Screen writers rarely have a dramaturg, but they need the same reading: someone who holds the whole script in mind and asks why a scene is there. That is the job Plot's assistant is named for. ## What a dramaturg does New-play dramaturgy is development. The dramaturg reads each draft, talks with the playwright about what the play is trying to do, sits in on readings and workshops and reports what the room understood. Their notes are questions: why does she stay in the room, what does the audience think happened in the first scene. Production dramaturgy is research and context. For a revival of an old play, the dramaturg gathers what the cast and director need to know about its period, its language and its earlier productions. They may prepare a cutting of the text, a glossary of archaic words or a pronunciation guide. Many theaters also have a literary manager, often the same person, who reads the scripts sent to the company and recommends which new plays to develop or stage. ## Where the word comes from Dramaturg comes from the German Dramaturg, from the Greek dramatourgos, a composer of plays. Gotthold Ephraim Lessing is usually named as the first. Between 1767 and 1769 he wrote the Hamburg Dramaturgy, essays on the plays the new Hamburg National Theater was staging. German-speaking theaters have kept a dramaturgy department ever since. The role spread to American regional theaters in the second half of the twentieth century, and US dramaturgs now have a professional association, Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas. Both spellings are used in English. Dramaturg is more common in the United States; dramaturge is the older English spelling. ## Dramaturg vs script doctor vs story editor A [script doctor](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/script-doctor) rewrites. Producers hire one to fix a scene, a role or a third act, and the new lines are theirs. A dramaturg does not write the play; they help the playwright see it. In film and television, the nearest roles are the development executive, who gives notes on behalf of a studio or [producer](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/producer), and the story editor on a TV staff, who breaks stories and rewrites. In German film and TV, the person who edits scripts is still called a Dramaturg. Script consultants and coverage readers also do a dramaturg's kind of reading, but for a writer who pays them, usually once, rather than over a play's whole development. ## The Dramaturg in Plot Plot's chat assistant is called the Dramaturg because it does a dramaturg's reading. It has the whole script in front of it, so a question like where we last saw the locket, or why the second act sags, gets an answer that names the scenes. Ask it a question and it answers. Tell it what to change and the changes arrive on the page for you to accept or reject, one passage at a time, so the script stays yours. Like a human dramaturg's notes, its answers are a reading, not a verdict. Use them to decide what to try on a new [draft line](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/draft-line), and keep the version you had. ## Official sources & context Sources reviewed Nov 12, 2026 - [Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas](https://lmda.org/) - [Wikipedia — Dramaturge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dramaturge) [Ask Plot's Dramaturg about your script](https://www.inkwell.software/help/ai/chat-with-the-dramaturg) ## Common questions ### What is a dramaturg? A dramaturg is a theater professional who helps develop new plays and prepare productions. They give the playwright notes and questions, research the play's world for the director and cast, and often choose which new plays a company develops. ### What does a dramaturg do? On a new play, a dramaturg reads drafts, attends readings and workshops and gives the playwright notes. On a production, they research the play's period and history, prepare materials for the cast and write program notes for the audience. ### How do you pronounce dramaturg? In English it is usually said DRAM-uh-turg, with the stress on the first syllable. ### Is a dramaturg the same as a director? No. The director stages the play and runs rehearsals. The dramaturg advises the director and the playwright on the text and its context, but does not direct the actors or write the lines. ### Do films have dramaturgs? Rarely under that title in the United States. Development executives, story editors and script consultants do similar work. In German-speaking countries, film and TV script editors are called Dramaturgen. ### What is the Dramaturg in Plot? It is Plot's chat assistant. It has read your whole script, answers questions about it with the scenes named, and proposes changes you accept or reject on the page. ## Related terms - [Script Doctor](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/script-doctor): A script doctor is a screenwriter hired to rewrite parts of an existing script, such as a weak third act, flat dialogue or a role a star wants changed, often late in development or during production and often without screen credit. - [Notes](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/notes): Feedback on a draft — from a room, producer, manager, or peers — meant to improve story, clarity, or market fit. Giving and receiving notes is a core development skill. - [Table Read](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/table-read): A table read is a reading of a script aloud by actors seated around a table, before or during production. Writers and producers use it to hear the dialogue, check pacing and find what confuses or loses the room before the script is shot. - [Development](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/development): The phase between a promising idea or draft and a production-ready script — notes, rewrites, attachments, and packaging. Being "in development" is not the same as being made. --- Canonical page: