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What kind of socks do medieval monks wear? Do roses grow in Africa? What does a 19th-century doorbell sound like?

"You get all kinds of crazy questions," says Cindy SoRelle. She is a dramaturg in Texas. "As a dramaturg, you are the resident expert. If you don't know the answer to something, then you get busy and find out. How do I know what a 19th-century doorbell sounds like?"

She doesn't. But if someone needs to know for the production, she will find out. "We are expected to be the person with knowledge, the one who can find answers to all the hard questions."

So what kinds of things do actors, directors and costume designers need to know? "You would be absolutely amazed at the questions I get," she says. If an actor wants to know what a line in a play is referring to, she asks the dramaturg.

"I'll get to work and find out that the line is a reference to a poem by Shelley, and then find out the rest," she says. Sometimes, a dramaturg doesn't need to hit the books to find answers. "If you ask around, you find that people can point you in the right direction."

Theaters perform plays from ancient Greece right up to the modern day. "That's a lot of different time periods to keep track of," says SoRelle.

Recently, she helped with the theater company's production of Richard III by William Shakespeare. Shakespeare's plays are produced in many different ways. Some are set in the Elizabethan era, others in the 1920s and some in modern-day dress.

"I looked into all the different interpretations over the years and did historical research for the play," she says.

In addition to research, SoRelle worked on the script. "We did the script a bit differently, and I had to work out whether we would have the ghost appear on the battle scene or appear throughout the play."

Part of a dramaturg's work can be to educate the audience. SoRelle designed the promotional material, and also set up a website. "It was a lot of fun to set this up," she says.

Denis Johnston is involved in the educational side of dramaturgy. "The main part of my work is providing background for the audience that is going to see the play," he says. "I try to understand where the artists and directors are coming from so that I can prepare the audience."

To do this, Johnston prepares program notes. "I edit the historical detail so that it makes sense to the audience." Johnston also talks to the audiences before and after the play to help them understand.

"This is a wonderful experience," he says. "The audience has already committed to the play. They have bought the ticket. They have come to be educated and are very grateful when you help them understand."

At the moment, Johnston's theater is producing a play called All My Sons, which is set just after the Second World War. Several of the characters in the play either work on airplanes or are pilots. "So the actors want to know how to play the part of a pilot," says Johnston. "We find that out for them."

Historical details in the play need to be correct. "We need to know what was in the newspaper that they were reading," says Johnston. He adds that although plays should be historically accurate, there doesn't need to be as much research as there is for a period movie.

"On the stage, some of these things are left up to the imagination," says Johnston. "With a movie, all the detail has to be there."

Johnston is currently giving talks and holding study sessions for this play. "We moderate discussion between the artists and the audience," he says. "We're not afraid that they're going to start fighting, but we need to be there to grease the wheels and make sure that people are using the same vocabulary.

"There is a thrill to teaching others that I really enjoy," he says. "There is lots of job satisfaction."

SoRelle agrees that life as a dramaturg is enjoyable. "It can depend on the director you are working with," she says. "Some feel so much ownership over the script that it can be difficult. But there also is so much to learn and to discover."

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