Dramatists Guild of America
Encyclopedia
The Dramatists Guild of America is a professional organization for playwright
s, composer
s, and lyricist
s working in the U.S. theatre
market.
Membership as an Associate Member is open to any person having written at least one stage play. Active Members are playwrights who have had at least one play produced in a Broadway
, Off-Broadway
, or LORT theatre. Student membership is also available for those enrolled in dramatic writing courses.
The Dramatists Guild works to negotiate better contract
s for playwrights in professional markets and offers recommendations for contracts in other markets. The Business Affairs division assists playwrights by reviewing contracts for productions and maintains a set of contracts for Guild members to use when licensing their work.
The Dramatist is a bimonthly journal
produced by the Dramatists Guild, which includes articles, interviews, and other information pertinent to playwrights.
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
s, composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
s, and lyricist
Lyricist
A lyricist is a songwriter who specializes in lyrics. A singer who writes the lyrics to songs is a singer-lyricist. This differentiates from a singer-composer, who composes the song's melody.-Collaboration:...
s working in the U.S. theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
market.
Membership as an Associate Member is open to any person having written at least one stage play. Active Members are playwrights who have had at least one play produced in a Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
, Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
, or LORT theatre. Student membership is also available for those enrolled in dramatic writing courses.
The Dramatists Guild works to negotiate better contract
Contract
A contract is an agreement entered into by two parties or more with the intention of creating a legal obligation, which may have elements in writing. Contracts can be made orally. The remedy for breach of contract can be "damages" or compensation of money. In equity, the remedy can be specific...
s for playwrights in professional markets and offers recommendations for contracts in other markets. The Business Affairs division assists playwrights by reviewing contracts for productions and maintains a set of contracts for Guild members to use when licensing their work.
The Dramatist is a bimonthly journal
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
produced by the Dramatists Guild, which includes articles, interviews, and other information pertinent to playwrights.