Who could benefit from this course?
Are you working on a script or libretto? Often during the making process, artists thrive close to the work, crafting details. In these moments we might need an outside eye to help hold the bigger picture for us, observing how the details are coming together and whether the work is achieving what we’re intending. If you’ve finished a draft or hit an obstacle and you think some constructive feedback could be useful, we offer sessions that provide tailored feedback and support for any stage of the writing process.
How does it work?
We’re Kingdom and Frankie: dramaturgs, theatre makers and seasoned audience members of all kinds of live performance art. We love reading scripts and librettos and working with artists to support the development of new work. Frankie specialises in dramaturgy for text based theatre, physical theatre and dance, and Kingdom specialises in musical theatre and text based theatre.
When you purchase a feedback session with one of us, you’ll receive a confirmation email with a link containing instructions on how to schedule a time for your feedback session (within the month you selected, either online or in-person at The Cockpit). The link also includes a few questions; the answers to these will let us know what stage of the writing process you’re at, any specific questions you have, and which aspects of your script/ libretto/book you would like us to focus on.
Once your session is scheduled and we’ve received your answers, script (and music if applicable), we then get reading and listening. We spend time looking at structure, plot, characters, dramatic conflict, dialogue, pace, setting, themes, theatricality, audience relationship, context and genre etc. We think about what’s working and what could work better using your aims and intentions for the work as the guide.
Each feedback session is different but it will likely start with a chat about the work, your intentions for it, and your theatrical sensibilities. Then your dramaturg will share their thoughts and questions about your script/libretto and you’ll discuss and reflect on the work together. A session may often end with considering potential next steps for the work’s artistic development.
If you would like to receive written notes after your session, please purchase them separately (see option below).
Please note, this service doesn’t provide advice about how to get your work staged. For this, you can
book advice sessions here.
Dates, Times & Cost
£145
sessions by appointment
£50 optional add-on for written notes from our dramaturg
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Instalment plans are available - just add a place to your basket as normal, then during the checkout process you'll be given the option to pay in full or pay instalments. A payment of 50% is due at checkout to hold your place, with the remaining balance due before your session can be booked.
Other dramaturgy options
If you are interested in dramaturgical support for work that isn’t predominantly text based or longer term dramaturgical support across a development process, please do email scripts
thecockpit.org.uk to let us how we could help. We can discuss availability, budget and a potential bespoke offering.
Francesca Tennant
I’m Frankie, a UK based director, dramaturg and theatre maker. I specialise in dramaturgy for text based theatre, physical theatre and dance. I originally trained and worked as a ballet dancer before moving into theatre. I completed my MFA in Theatre Directing at Birkbeck, University of London and as the resident assistant director at the Octagon Theatre, Bolton. Other formative parts of my training were with SITI Company at SITI Skidmore 2019 and Doing Dramaturgy with Lou Cope (Centre of Applied Dramaturgy).
I love telling stories, stories that help us to connect and understand the world better, stories that "
keep us from falling off the edge of the world." And for me, theatre’s superpowers are in it being a collaborative and communal artform, in both its making and fruition. It’s important to me to make work that celebrates those things - being collaborative, communal and live.
I love working on new stories.
I love theatre that engage audiences in inventive and thoughtful ways.
I love working in and mixing different genres – text-based theatre, physical theatre, dance,
opera, clown, musical theatre, spoken word…
I love theatre that is messy, ambiguous and feels alive.
My name is Kingdom Sibanda. I specialise in dramaturgy for musical theatre and text based theatre. I am a writer, composer, and actor based in London. I have worked in professional theatre as an actor for the past 10 years and have been part of the creation of many successful shows—most recently the West End and Broadway production Stranger Things: The First Shadow.
Working on various projects alongside directors such as Stephen Daldry, Matthew Warchus, and Greta Gerwig has given me a unique perspective on what can make—or break—a show.
As a composer and writer, I am mentored by the writing duo Stiles and Drewe (Mary Poppins, Honk!, Just So, Becoming Nancy, Half a Sixpence) and represented by Rupert Lord at MLR (Standing at the Sky’s Edge). Working closely with these mentors has taught me a great deal about crafting and structuring successful theatre.
I truly believe that theatre should be for everyone. To make that possible, we need stories from everywhere.
That’s where Frankie and I come in. We want to help you tell your story.
What is a dramaturg?
A dramaturg is someone who supports the lead artist/s to fulfil their artistic vision in the making of a performance piece. Ordinarily, a dramaturg doesn’t make any creative decisions; the lead artist/s are ultimately responsible for the dramaturgy of their work. A dramaturg works in dialogue with the creative team to help them realise their work, teasing shape, meaning and resonance. At its core, to be a dramaturg is to be a creative ally.
TERMS & CONDITIONS
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