Dramaturgy is the art of dramatic composition and the representation of the main elements of drama on the stage. Dramaturgy is a distinct practice separate from play writing and directing, although a single individual may perform any combination of the three. Some dramatists combine writing and dramaturgy when creating a drama. Others work with a specialist, called a dramaturg, to adapt a work for the stage.

Dramaturgy may also be defined, more broadly, as shaping a story into a form that may be acted. Dramaturgy gives the work or the performance a structure.

The term "dramaturgy" was coined by the German dramatist Gotthold Ephraim Lessing. From 1767-1770 he wrote and published a series of criticisms entitled the Hamburg Dramaturgy (Hamburgische Dramaturgie). These works analyzed, criticized and theorized the German theatre, and made Lessing the father of modern Dramaturgy.

Another important work to the Western theatre tradition work is the Poetics by Aristotle (written around 335 BC). In this work Aristotle analyses tragedy. He considers Oedipus Rex (c. 429 BC) as the quintessential dramatic work. He analyses the relations among character, action, and speech, gives examples of what he considers to be good plots, and examines the reactions the plays provoke in the audience. Many of his "rules" are often associated with "Aristotelian drama", wherein deus ex machina is a weakness the action is structured economically. In Poetics he discusses many key concepts of drama, such as anagnorisis and catharsis. In the last century Aristotle's analysis has formed the basis for numerous TV and film-writing guides.