Dramaturgy Staff

Gavin Witt

Resident Dramaturg, Gavin Witt, began his first full season with CENTERSTAGE in 2003, following four seasons as dramaturg and literary manager at Northlight Theater, preceded by several seasons in the same roles at Court Theater, both in Chicago. As a dramaturg, his work has included nearly fifty plays, ranging from Sophocles and Shakespeare to Stoppard and Shaffer - and their contemporary peers - as well as freelance dramaturgy for TCG, PlayLabs, The Old Globe, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, and workshop stints at Contemporary American Theatre Festival and The New Harmony Project. A graduate of Yale and the University of Chicago, he was active in Chicago theater for over a decade as an actor, director, dramaturg, translator, and teacher, while serving as a regional Vice President of LMDA, the national association of dramaturgs.

James Magruder

Associate Artist, James Magruder, holds two master's degrees and a doctorate from Yake and was Resident Dramaturg from 1992 to 1999, the longest tenure in CENTERSTAGE's dramaturgy history, before curtailing his schedule to focus more on his own writing. His adaptation of Marviaux's The Truimph of Love, which had its world premiere at CENTERSTAGE, was honored as an Outstanding Translation of the Year 1997 by the Society of American Lityerary Translators and was turned into a Broadway musical by Magruder, composer Jeffrey Stock, and lyricist Susan Birkenhead. His translation and adaptation of Molier's The Miser was one of the highlights of CENTERSTAGE's 2003-04 season. His 1998 treatise on the value of dramaturgy prompted the Mellon Foundation to ask CENTERSTAGE how they could support this critical piece of the theater's artistic mission.