Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA) is a multinational organization devoted to serving professional dramaturgs and supporting, affirming and broadening the practice of dramaturgy in the performing arts. Dramaturgy can be defined as the practice of refining the social, historical and literary context and consciousness of a dramatic work. A dramaturg supports the creative process and facilitates innovation in theatre while helping a performance remain connected to its origins and motivating texts. Dramaturgs serve as both an informed respondent and confidant to primarily the director and playwright, though they are also a resource for the whole production team and performing ensemble. The creation of LMDA provided structural organization to this intellectual field while both affirming and challenging the practice of dramaturgy. Through its creation in 1985, LMDA declared the importance of dramaturgy in American theatre. LMDA has grown and adapted to reflect the needs of its members throughout its existence.
The records of the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA) span the years 1979-2021 and document the development of this organization from its creative inception by leaders C. Lee Jenner and Alexis Greene to its incorporation into a formal non-profit organization to legal engagements of the late 1990s to its administrative present. The collection includes personal and official correspondence, annual conference materials, membership information, legal papers, news clippings, scripts, programs, posters, photographs, publications, and grant proposals. The administrative records in this collection primarily document the work of LMDA members Geoff Proehl, DD Kugler, Liz Engleman, and Lynn Thomson. Proehl was responsible for the initial collection of these records, the annotations found throughout the records are often, though not uniformly, his.
Collection is open for research.
[Name of document, date.] Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas. University of Puget Sound Archives & Special Collections. Tacoma, Washington.
Collection is arranged by subject.
Collins Memorial Library provides access to its collections in order to support research and education. Some materials in these collections may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the use or reproduction of some items may be restricted by the terms of the gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and publicity rights, or university policy. It is the user's responsibility to determine and satisfy copyright or any other use restrictions when publishing or otherwise disseminating materials found in the collections.
The Administration series contains the meeting minutes, files, and working papers of the Board of Directors, President, and Vice-Presidents. The founding and development of the organization are documented as well as the advocacy work of LMDA.
The Board of Directors supports the president and LMDA by focusing their attention on specific committees based on member interest and specialty. These committees include Advocacy, Canada, Development, and Marketing. The Board of Directors was formed at the inception of LMDA at the same time as the presidency position, while the committees formed over subsequent years based on the needs of the LMDA community. These files include the administrative papers documenting the official proceedings of the organization. This includes meeting minutes, applications, and official correspondence.
Board of Directors' Meeting Minutes often include the Annual General Meeting Minutes for the entire membership which takes place at the LMDA annual conference.
The Subject Files contain legal documents, personal correspondence, and meeting minutes on the founding of a proposed organization for dramaturgs and literary managers that would later become LMDA.
This file contains administrative documents from the first decade of LMDA.
This series contains the working notes and documents of the individuals who have held this office within LMDA. The President of LMDA serves as the principle leader and is elected to a two year term. The President oversees Board of Directors' meetings, conferences, and communication with the membership.
DD (Donald Dean) Kugler was President of LMDA from 2000-2002. He succeeded Geoff Proehl and was the first Canadian President of LMDA. Kugler was a freelance director/dramaturg and, beginning in 1998, a Theatre Arts Professor at Simon Fraser University. In 2011, Kugler received the GE Lessing Award for Lifetime Achievement in Dramaturgy. Kugler's papers contain working notes from his time as LMDA President. Original file titles have been retained and all annotations in this section belong to him.
The file contains Kugler's notes, emails, and agendas from the early 2000s.
Elizabeth (Liz) Engleman was President of LMDA from 2004-2006. She succeeded Michele Volansky who was president from 2002-2004. After her year as Past President (an advisor position to the incumbent first year president), Engleman served a three year term as President of the Board of Directors from 2007-2010. Her files span from her presidency of LMDA to her second year as President of the Board. Engleman studied dramaturgy and new play development at Brown and Columbia universities and became a freelance dramaturg and a professor at the University of Texas, Austin.
Correspondence from the Moscow Times to Liz Engleman.
This file contains documents from Engleman's presidency, mostly programs but also some professional correspondence.
The Regional Vice-Presidents files contain the handbook for LMDA Vice-Presidents and documents related to the work of the Vice-President of Canada.
The Subject Files subseries for the administration contains records on the development and maintenance of LMDA. These include the development of projects and programs to support the membership, advocacy for dramaturgy and LMDA, as well as conferences outside of the annual LMDA conference.
The General subseries includes administrative records and documents on programs that LMDA supported and/or sought to develop. Of note are the files related to the "Rent" lawsuit. In 1996, Lynn Thomson (dramaturg) sued the estate of Jonathan Larson for royalties for "Rent." Although LMDA was not an immediate participant in the lawsuit, they committed to supporting Thomson and dramaturgy as an advocating body. These files contain legal documents, press releases, news articles, and correspondence between Thomson and leaders in LMDA.
The Conferences Subseries is comprised of documents on conferences that LMDA supported or organized beyond the LMDA Annual Conference.
The Membership Subseries contains directories of member names and printed material distributed to LMDA members.
The Annual Conference Series contains material on the LMDA Annual Conference. The files are described according to the city in which the conference took place and organized chronologically. Most files contain the conference program and participant list as well as administrative documents on organizing the Annual Conference. Some folders include photographs.
Annotations on programs are by Geoff Proehl unless otherwise noted.
Photographs from this conference were taken by Geoff Proehl.
The Grants and Awards series documents the development of individual awards, application requirements, and press releases associated with individual awards offered by LMDA. Some of the annual awards documented in this series include the Mark Bly Creative Capacity Grant and Bly Creative Fellowship, the Elliot Hayes Award, the GE Lessing Award for Lifetime Achievement, and the National Theatre Translation Fund (NTTF).
The GE Lessing Award for Lifetime Achievement is the most prestigious award given by LMDA for lifetime achievement in dramaturgy. It is awarded only in years when a late career dramaturg is worthy of high recognition.
The Mark Bly Creative Capacity Grant and Bly Creative Fellowship were designed to identify merit and offer financial support for artists to create new approches for dramaturgy and generate programs committed to exploration and development.
The Elliot Hayes Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dramaturgy offers a $1,000 monetary stipend. It was first awarded in 1999 in memory of rising Canadian playwright Elliot Hayes (1956-1994) who died in a car accident. The award was created by the Stratford Theatre Festival, but administrated by LMDA.
The National Theatre Translation Fund was created in 1991 to encourage stageworthy translations of plays into American English.
Named in honor of Elliot Hayes, the former dramaturg and literary manager at The Stratford Festival and a dual citizen of Canada and the United States of America, this award recognizes excellence in dramaturgical work on a specific project over the previous two years. The recipient of the award receives a $1,000 prize and a travel stipend to the annual LMDA conference.
This sub-series includes administrative records and records related to Elliot Hayes Award winners.
The National Theatre Translation Fund (NTTF) was created in 1991 by a consortium of theater artists and organizations who felt that a major national effort was needed to encourage stageworthy translations of plays into American English. The fund was initiated by New York's CSC Repertory with funding from Pew Charitable Trusts and administered by LMDA. Translation commissions were awarded annually. The National Theatre Translation Fund ended in 1994.
This subseries includes administrative records related to the NTTF (Box 22, Folders 1-6 and Box 15, Folder 13), translated and untranslated plays (Box 22, Folders 7-42 and Box 23, Folders 1-22), and publications (Box 23, Folders 23-29). The playwright's name, translator, and translation date have been included for each play when known.
Playwrights: Pavlo Tychyna, Taras Shavchenko, Les Kurbas
Translators: Virlana Tzacz, Wanda Phipps
Date of translation: 1990
Playwright: Oscar Colon
Translator: Oscar Colon
Date of translation: 1991
Playwright: Condetto Nenekhaly-Camara
Translator: Barbara Brewster-Lewis
Date of translation: 1991
Playwright: Wayan Wija
Translator: Larry Reed
Date of translation: 1992
Playwright: Dalang Buduk
Translator: Larry Reed
Date of translation: 1986
Playwright: Edward De Filippo
Playwright: Ralph Günter Mohnnau
Translator: Christopher Martin
Date of translation: 1990
Playwright: Gustavo Ott
Translator: Raul Moncada
Date of translation: 1990
Playwright: Carlos Olmos
Playwright: Luis Agustoni
Playwright: Manilo Santanelli
Translator: Anthony Moline
Date of translation: 1995
Playwright: Franz Xaver Kroetz
Translator: Claus König
Date of translation: 1991
Playwright: Thomas Brasch
Playwright: Edna Mazya
Translator: Sandra Ben-Dor
Date of translation: 1994
Playwright: Else Lasker-Schüler
Translator: Beate Hein Bennett
Date of translation: 1962
Playwright: Gustavo Ott
Translator: Heather McKay
Date of translation: Unknown
Playwright: Kjartan Ragnarsson
Translator: J Ranelli
Date of translation: Unknown
Playwright: Mario Vargas Llosa
Translator: Joanne Pottlitzer
Date of translation: 1987
Playwright: Alfred Jerry
Translator: Royston Coppenger
Date of translation: Unknown
Playwright: Molière
Playwright: Roberto M. Cossa
Playwright: Berlot Brecht
Playwright: René Marqués
Playwright: Euripides
Translator: Hans Henny Jahan
Date of translation: 1926
Playwrights: Per Lysander, Suzanne Osten
Translator: Anne-Charlotte Hanes Harvey
2006
Playwright: Thomas Brasch
Translator: Beche Buffalo
Date of translation: 1990
Playwright: Rodolfo Santana
Translator: Charles Philip Thomas
Date of translation: Unknown
Playwright: Molière
Playwright: Antonio Tabucchi
Playwright: Antunes Filho
Translator: Joanne Pottlizer
Date of translation: 1991
Playwright: José Triana
Translator: Joanne Pottlitzer
Date of translation: 1994
Playwright: Gustavo Ott
Translator: Raul Moncada
Date of translation: 1991
Playwright: Dominic Champagne
Translator: Shelly Tepperman
Date of translation: 1992
Playwright: Heinrich von Kleist
Playwright: Bernard-Marie Koltès
Playwright: Emilio de' Cavalieri
Playwright: Bernard-Marie Koltès
Translator: Stephen Haff
Date of translation: 1991
Playwright: Marco Antonio de la Parra
Translator: Charles Phillip Thomas
Date of translation: 1988
Playwright: Frank Wedekind
Translator: Annabel Armour
Date of translation: 1992
Playwright: Vladimir Mayakovsky
Translator: Paul Schmidt
Date of translation: 1990
Playwright: Bijan Mofid
Translator: Zara Houshmand
Date of translation: 1993
Playwright: Kjartan Ragnarsson
Translator: J Ranelli
Date of translation: 1994
Playwright: Esther Vilar
Translator: Waltrudis Buck
Date of translation: Unknown
Playwright: Dominic Champagne
Translator: Shelley Tepperman
Date of translation: 1992
Playwright: Lesia Ukrainka
Trasnlator: Virlana Tkacz
Date of translation: 1992
Playwright: Molière
Translator: Hal Gelb
Date of translation: 1993
Playwright: Bijan Mofid
Translator: Zara Houshmand
Date of translation: Circa 1991
Playwright: Anton Chekhov
Translator: Tori Haring-Smith
Date of translation: 1992
Playwright: Antonio Buero Jallejo
Translator: Caridad Svich
Date of translation: 1992
Playwright: Esther Vilar
Playwright: Botho Strauss
Translators: Christopher Martin, Daniel Woker
Date of translation: 1993
Playwright: Fernando Arrabal
Translator: Michael Axinn
Date of translation: 1990
Playwright: Peter Schneider
Playwright: Franz Xaver Kroetz
Translators: Erica Builder, Estelle Parsons
Date of translation: 1993
Playwright: Marsha Norman
Playwright: Alain-René le Sage
Playwright: Sabina Berman
Translator: Joe Martin
Date of translation: 1989
Playwright: Mikhail Bulgakov
Translators: Nicholas Saunders, Frank Dwyer
Date of translation: 1991
Playwright: Gustavo Ott
Translator: Raul Moncada
Translation Date: Unknown
Playwright: Jamie Salom
Translator: Phyllis Zatlin
Translation Date: Unknown
Playwright: Hugo Claus
Translators: David Willinger, Luk Truyts, and Luc Deneulin
Translation Date: Unknown
Playwright: José López Rubio
Translator: Marion P. Holt
Translation Date: Unknown
Playwright: Werner Schwab
Playwright: Dominic Champagne
Playwright: Dominic Champagne
Playwright: René-Daniel Dubois
Playwright: Michel Marc Bouchard
Playwright: Antonio Gala
Translator: Edward E. Borsoi
Translation Date: Unknown
Playwright: Anton Chekhov
Translator: Paul Schmidt
Translation Date: Unknown
The Publications series contains the official published material of LMDA. This includes the
The General subseries consists of publications that were issued in small numbers or as stand alone documents.
The LMDA
The LMDA Canada
The
The Audio-Visual series is comprised of CD and hard disks holding documents and photographs of LMDA publications, workshops, and meetings.