Essential Dramaturgy- Front Cover -- Essential Dramaturgy -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Contents -- Foreword -- Acknowledgments -- PART I: Mindset -- Chapter 1: From Noun to Verb -- Chapter 2: Questions Asked and Answered -- Questions Dramaturgs Answer -- Questions Dramaturgs Ask -- Rules for Questions: Asked and Answered -- Summary -- Chapter 3: The Forest and the Trees -- In Script Reading -- With a Playwright -- With a Director -- In Production Meetings -- With Designers, Technicians, and Management -- In Rehearsal -- Non-Production -- Summary -- Chapter 4: Timing Is Everything -- When to Ask the Question -- The Question Itself -- When to Ask It Again -- When to Offer Content -- When to Offer Commentary -- What to Ask if It Has to Be Now -- Staying in the Moment -- The "Elephant in the Room"--The Company Elephant -- The Audience and the Elephant -- Summary -- Chapter 5: Why This, Here, Now? -- Why This Play? -- Why Here? -- Why Now? -- Again: Why This Play, Here, Now? -- Summary -- PART II: Skillset -- Chapter 6: Dramaturg as Practice -- The Method -- Step 1: Define the Project -- Step 2: Gather the Content -- Step 3: Communicate the Findings -- Exercises -- Chapter 7: The Skillset in Production -- Pre-Production -- The Task: The Casebook - a Tool for a Well-Resourced Production -- The Task: The Dramaturg in Rehearsal -- A Schedule of Events -- Exercises -- Chapter 8: Dramaturgy to Enhance Audience Experience -- The Task: Lobby Display -- The Task: The Program Note -- The Task: The Talkback -- The Task: The Study Guide -- Exercises -- Chapter 9: Dramaturging New Plays and Devising -- New-Play Dramaturgy -- Devising -- Exercises -- Chapter 10: Notes from the Field -- Metaphors for Dramaturgy and What Do You Do? -- Dramaturging Productions -- Working with New Plays and Devised Projects