Dramaturgs Association: Original Latvian Play Publications Wrongly Evaluated Under Stage Arts
The Latvian Dramaturgs Association has sent a letter to the Ministry of Culture, urging a review of the evaluation model for dramaturgy projects in the State Culture Capital Foundation's competition, arguing that publications of original plays are unfairly assessed under Stage Arts instead of Literature.
On June 19, the association "Dramaturgu asociācija" sent an open letter to the Ministry of Culture (KM), proposing a review of the evaluation model for dramaturgy projects in the State Culture Capital Foundation (VKKF) cultural project competition. The association notes that since 2009, the publication of Latvian original dramaturgy has significantly declined—according to the National Library of Latvia, only three to four publications appear annually, some of which are self-published.
The root of the problem is the VKKF regulation that dramaturgy publication projects are assessed under the Stage Arts sector rather than the Literature sector, even though dramaturgy is one of the three literary forms alongside poetry and prose. The association emphasizes the need to distinguish between projects resulting in a performance (which belong to Stage Arts) and those resulting in a publication (which should be in the Literature sector).
Arguments cited include inconsistency: the VKKF Literature sector already supports the publication of foreign dramaturgy, creating a situation where foreign plays are considered literature but Latvian plays are not. This has also created an artificial restriction in state-funded literary periodicals. The association notes that the argument that plays are written for the stage has lost relevance, as contemporary theatre uses various texts, while library loan numbers show that dramaturgy is read. This year, dramaturgy returned to the Latvian Literature Awards nominations, confirming it can be evaluated as literature.
The letter also criticizes Section 7 of the VKKF competition regulations, which uses abstract terms like "actuality" and "significance" without specific criteria. This allows subjective evaluation, reduces transparency, and makes it difficult to contest decisions. It is especially problematic in evaluating publishing projects under Stage Arts, where expert committees may reject a project arguing that a printed edition is unnecessary. The association calls on the Ministry of Culture to review the situation and make necessary changes.
