Interview with Julie M. Gale, freelance dramaturg

by Jimme R. Markham of DFW Theatre Scene

In this interview, Julie tries to help me understand the essence of dramaturgy.

For today's podcast I’m joined in the lobby of Theatre Arlington by Julie M. Gale, a freelance, independent Dramaturg for an interview. Julie is a Cum Laude graduate of Southwest Texas State University (now Texas State University at San Marcos) with a B.F.A. in Pre-Directing. She received her M.F.A. in Dramaturgy from The University of Iowa Department of Theatre Arts in 2006. During her studies at The University of Iowa, she was new play dramaturg for numerous readings, workshops, and productions. In 2006, she received The University of Iowa Department of Theatre Arts IRAM award for Excellence in New Play Dramaturgy.

Gale began her professional career as director of the Creative Arts Theatre and School Educational Outreach Musical Project at Webb Elementary School in Arlington, Texas and instructor of acting and creative dramatics at Theatre Arlington. She also served as assistant director for Shakespeare Festival of Dallas’s summer 2007 critically-acclaimed production of Love’s Labour’s Lost. Gale served as a teaching assistant and professor of Theatre at The University of Iowa and Tarrant County College. Currently, she is a freelance educator, writer, and director in the DFW area. Julie Gale is a member of the Association for Theatre in Higher Edcuation (ATHE), Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA), and Theatre Communications Group (TCG). She lives in Arlington with her husband, University of Texas at Arlington Ph.D English Literature candidate, Nathan Gale. They have one daughter.

In this in-depth interview, Julie tries to help me understand the essence of dramaturgy, which – according to M. Louise McKay of the Literary Managers & Dramaturgs of America (LMDA) – work in theatres to “contextualize the world of a play; establish connections among the text, actors, and audience; offer opportunities for playwrights; generate projects and programs; and create conversations about plays in their communities.”

Click here to listen to the interview.