Dramaturge as midwife: the writing process within a New Zealand community theatre project

This article examines the different writing processes within a New Zealand intra-cultural community theatre project. Drawing on a practitioner perspective I explore how marginalized minority community groups were able to write their own stories and discover a collective identity. In analysing this process I develop the metaphor of the midwife to conceptualize and theorize the role of the dramaturge. I use this case study to interrogate Barthes's notion (1977) of the death of the author and Bhabha's argument (1994) about how some forms of multiculturalism can lead to political empowerment. In conclusion, I suggest that this multi-authored community project exemplifies the kind of empowerment that Bhabha describes.