How many Shih Tzus get to be photographed with two gorgeous dramaturges?

For that matter, how many people get to be photographed with two dramaturges? How many people even know what a dramaturge is?

The occasion was the second Annual Meeting of the Tucson Associates of the Stratford (Shakespeare) Festival -- that's Straftford, Canada, remember? It was hosted by the Marroney Theatre on the University of Arizona campus. And we were 'specially invited, so we went. (Well, of course we did. They were serving dinner, with wine and dessert.)

After a wonderful dinner complete with boxed chocolates especially made for the occasion by the organizer's chocolatier daughter (and wouldn't you just love to be intimately related to a chocolatier?) Dramaturge Dr. Shelley Orr of the University of Arizona School of Theatre Arts spoke to us about Romeo and Juliet as Neo-Victorians, as a lead-in to the school's current production of Romeo and Juliet. That's her in the photo, with one of her students.

Needless to say, the question upon everyone's lips was, What's a dramaturge? And how do you pronounce it? Urg as in urge, or urg as in urg?

Dramaturgy was an 18th century German idea, although it's an idea that's recently caught on here, as well. Dramaturges traditionally help a company (or theatre) to develop a season of plays, hire the actors and then assist with rehearsals by filling directors concerning the finer points of historical background, etc. Very useful, especially when you're doing Shakespeare. It's the coming thing. There are currently 12 students in the University of Arizona's dramaturgy program.

And its urg as in urg.