Dramaturgy, Script-Reading, Consultancy

As of July 2024, I am Literary Associate of the Orange Tree Theatre. For more information about opportunities at the Orange Tree as an artist, please visit the Orange Tree’s website. For everything else, please read on.

I work with playwrights, producers and creative teams to develop new work, from early-stage script development through to R&D and rehearsal.

I can come into a project when a script is still finding its shape, when a writer needs an external perspective on a draft, or when a producer or creative team wants dramaturgical support as a project develops.

My approach is practical and writer-centred. I am interested in understanding what a writer is trying to achieve, identifying what is getting in the way, and helping to turn those questions into concrete choices and revisions.

Script development

I work with writers through one-to-one dramaturgical sessions and longer development processes. Depending on the project, this might involve:

–identifying and resolving structural problems;

–clarifying character, relationships and dramatic stakes;

–testing questions of plausibility, motivation and internal logic;

–exploring different possibilities for scenes, structure or form;

–identifying where a draft is or isn’t achieving what the writer intends.

I am particularly interested in the gap between what a writer wants to achieve and what is actually happening on the page. My role is not to impose a model of what a play should be, but to ask the questions that help a writer make the play they are trying to make.

Working with producers and creative teams

I also work with producers and creative teams on projects beyond the individual script, including project development, R&D and rehearsal.

I can provide an external dramaturgical perspective as material develops: working with writers and directors on evolving drafts, identifying questions that need addressing, and helping a creative team communicate about the work as it moves towards the room and the stage.

This is an area of my practice I am actively developing alongside my established work in script development and literary consultancy.

International and new writing

My dramaturgical practice has developed alongside more than twenty years’ work in new writing, international theatre and translation. I work extensively with English-language new writing, but have also translated over 200 plays from the Spanish-speaking world.

I have worked as a reader, dramaturg and consultant since 2003, including for the Royal Court, Royal Shakespeare Company, Theatre503 and individual writers, producers and companies.

My work in international theatre and translation has also shaped my approach. I am accustomed to working with plays whose forms, theatrical conventions and cultural assumptions may be unfamiliar within an English-speaking context, and to considering different ways of telling stories rather than assuming there is only one model of how a play should work.

Selected experience

I provided dramaturgical consultancy for Hassan Abdulrazzak’s American Nightmare at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, and Jacob O’Connor’s Act of God at Riverside Studios for Elissa Gerrand and WVFRM.

Royal Court Theatre: reader and consultant on international new writing since 2003, working on plays from first drafts through rewrites and production. This has included dramaturgical guidance, programming discussions, facilitating feedback and supporting writers in rehearsal. I was Interim Literary Associate at the Royal Court in 2024.

Royal Shakespeare Company: reader for the 37 Plays project in 2023, assessing new work and participating in discussions about the selected plays.

Theatre503: reader for the International Playwriting Award and curator for Rapid Write Response, alongside ongoing dramaturgical consultancy with individual writers.

Out of the Wings: member of the management team since 2016, involved in selecting, developing and presenting contemporary theatre from the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking worlds.

Global Voices Theatre: I initiated and curated Global Queer Plays at the Arcola Theatre, and co-curated its second edition at the Arcola while also serving on GVT’s advisory committee.

Other clients: ad-hoc consultancy as a reader for individual writers and for companies and producers including the Young Vic, Legal Aliens, and others.

What I bring

–More than twenty years’ professional experience in theatre;

–Experience of new writing from early drafts through development and rehearsal;

–Extensive experience reading and assessing new work;

–A writer-centred, questioning approach to dramaturgy;

–Experience working with writers, directors, producers and creative teams;

–Specialist knowledge of contemporary Spanish and Latin American theatre;

–More than 200 theatre translations and extensive international theatre experience.

If you are developing a play, an R&D or a wider theatre project and would like to discuss whether dramaturgical support could be useful, please get in touch.

This page focusses on my work in dramaturgy and script reading. Elsewhere you can read about my work translating, writing and editing, speaking or chairing discussions, conceiving of and producing projects, and teaching and mentoring.