THEA 20500 The Role of the Director

Foremost stage directors describe their working process: JoAnne Akalaitis, Arvin Brown, René Buch, Martha Clarke, Gordon Davidson, Robert Falls, Zelda Fichandler, Richard Foreman, Adrian Hall, John Hirsch, Mark Lamos, Marshall W. Mason, Des McAnuff, Gregory Mosher, Harold S. Prince, Lloyd Richards, Peter Sellars, Andrei Serban, Douglas Turner Ward, Robert Woodruff, and Garland Wright.

"What is the common perception of a stage director? A dictator and tyrant? An aloof impresario? A self-indulgent artist? An enigmatic choreographer of words and movement? A skillful diplomat negotiating the egos and whims of producers, playwrights, and actors? The guiding force in a collaborative endeavor? In fact, the stage director is all these things and more, one who labors to present his or her dream to the world by deploying a unique ensemble of stage professionals. The great stage director is one who creates a legacy of inspirational theatrical productions." "Stage directors come from a variety of backgrounds and employ diverse working methods. Henry Irving began his career as an actor; Martha Clarke was an acrobatic dancer; Guthrie McClintic worked as an assistant stage manager; George Bernard Shaw was a critic and playwright; and Orson Welles, a child prodigy, co-edited three of Shakespeare's plays shortly after he was graduated from high school. Some directors attempt to imbue a "creative state" in their actors (e.g., Konstantin Stanislavsky), some dictate every movement and inflection (e.g., Richard Foreman), and others try to find the "magic point" in a production (e.g., Ingmar Bergman) to achieve their ends. But all great stage directors have the following in common: a glowing vision of the theater's possibilities; a unique temperament or persona; and an innovative, highly influential technique." "The Great Stage Directors is one of the few comprehensive overviews of this complex artistic craft, from early masters such as David Garrick and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe to contemporary talents such as Elizabeth LeCompte and Harold Prince. Each of its detailed entries contains a brief biography, a thorough career summary, accounts of major productions, and an investigation into the working methods, stage personality, and overall influence on the theatrical world of the director under discussion. The book is international in scope and covers directors of farces, classic dramas, absurdist and avant-garde pieces, musicals, and much more." "An essential purchase for theater collections, The Great Stage Directors also contains extensive further readings and 90 photographs of both historic productions and many directors themselves."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Fifty Key Theatre Directors covers the work of practitioners who have shaped and pushed back the boundaries of theatre and performance. The authors provide clear and insightful overviews of the approaches and impact of fifty of the most influential directors of the twentieth and twenty-first century from around the world. They include: Anne Bogart Peter Brook Lev Dodin Declan Donnellan Jerzy Grotowski Elizabeth LeCompte Joan Littlewood Ariane Mnouchkine. Each entry discusses a director's key productions, ideas and rehearsal methods, effectively combining theory and practice. The result is an ideal guide to the world of theatre for practitioners, theatregoers and students.

The essays in Upstaging Big Daddy: See Table of Contents: http://www.gbv.de/dms/bowker/toc/9780472065035.pdf

Directors on Directing presents a timeless collection of writings offering insight into what it means to direct and how to better appreciate theatrical performances.The emergence of the director / Helen Krich Chinoy -- Vision and method. Pictorial motion / George II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen ; Behind the fourth wall / Andre Antoine ; Style and substance / Otto Brahm ; Creative work with the actor / Konstantin Stanislavsky ; The three faces of the director / Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko ; Creating atmosphere / David Belasco ; Light and space / Adolphe Appia ; The artist of the theater / Gordon Craig ; The theater theatrical / Vsevolod Meyerhold ; Fantastic realism / Eugene Vakhtangov ; The art of rehearsal / George Bernard Shaw ; Diversity into unity / Harley Granville-Barker ; Capturing the audience / Arthur Hopkins ; Dramatic economy / Jacques Copeau ; The profession of the director / Louis Jouvet ; A model for the epic theater / Bertolt Brecht ; An audience of one / Tyrone Guthrie ; Creative interplay / Nikolai Okhlopkov ; Theater without pretentions / Jean Vilar ; In a different language / Harold Clurman -- The director at work. Production plan for The Lower Depths : A scene from Act II / Konstantin Stanislavsky ; Regiebuch for The Miracle, Scene I / Max Reinhardt ; Rehearsals of The Inspector General / Vsevolod Meyerhold ; Staging of The Weavers, Act IV, and the looting scene / Leopold Jessner ; Model for Mother Courage and Her Children, Scenes XI and XII / Bertolt Brecht ; The use of the epic model / Bertolt Brecht ; Mise en scene of Phaedra, Act II, Scene V / Jean-Louis Barrault ; Notebook for A Streetcar Named Desire / Elia Kazan ; Some preliminary notes for The Member of the Wedding / Harold Clurman ; Working with Joan / Joan Littlewood -- Staging Shakespeare : A survey of current problems and opinions / John Gielgud, Tyrone Guthrie, Laurence Olivier, John Houseman, Margaret Webster, Peter Brook, Peter Hall, Michael Langham, William Ball, Joseph Papp, Stuart Vaughan and Franco Zeffirelli.

(Table of Contents available at http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/toc/ecip0720/2007023277.html )
Josephine Abady -- JoAnne Akalaitis -- Libby Appel -- Osceola Archer -- Pamela Berlin -- Martha Boesing -- Anne Bogart -- Jessie Bonstelle -- Julianne Boyd -- Vinnette Carroll -- Tisa Chang -- Martha Clarke -- Rachel Crothers -- Graciela Daniele -- Liz Diamond -- Glenda Dickerson -- Zelda Fichandler -- Minnie Maddern Fiske -- Maria Irene fornes -- Margarita Galban -- Mary Hunter -- Margo Jones -- Tina Landau -- Sue Lawless -- Elizabeth LeCompte -- Eva Le Gallienne -- Roberta Levitow -- Judith Malina -- Emily Mann -- Lynne Meadow -- Muriel Miguel -- Meredith Monk -- Agnes Morgan -- Gloria Muzio -- Sharon Ott -- Tina Packer -- Carey Perloff -- Antoinette Perry -- Shauneille Perry -- Dorothy Raedler -- Mary B. Robinson -- Carole Rothman -- Susan H. Schulman -- Ellen Stewart -- Susan Stroman -- Julie Taymor -- Barbara Ann Teer -- Nina Vance -- Margaret Webster -- Mary Zimmerman.

Series One Disc 1: Suzan-Lori Parks (29 min.) (2006) -- Rosemary Harris (29 min.) (2006) -- Carey Perloff (29 min.) (2006) -- Anna Deavere Smith (27 min.) (2006) -- Jennifer Tipton (29 min.) (2006).
Series One Disc 2: Wendy Wasserstein (29 min.) (2006) -- Heidi Ettinger (29 min.) (2006) -- Ruby Dee (29 min.) (2006) -- Graciela Daniele (29 min.) (2006).
Series One Disc 3: Audra McDonald (28 min.) (2006) -- Elizabeth McCann (29 min.) (2006) -- Julie Taymor (29 min.) (2006) -- Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Chicago with Joan Allen, Martha Lavey, Lois Smith (57 min.) (2006).

Designed primarily for use by students and theatre generalists, this volume contains biographical sketches, arranged alphabetically, of over 300 individuals distinguished for their stage directing. It includes both contemporary directors and those who are no longer working. Emphasis is on artists who have international reputations, especially those whose work has had an impact on American theatre. Each entry profiles the director's life and assesses the significance of his or her accomplishments, provides a list of productions not mentioned in the narrative, and includes a bibliography. The work also includes appendixes, providing a selected bibliography, and indexes of names and plays.

Contents: Being a director is saying you are one -- Revealing the beauties of space -- A question of inhabiting the text -- Pursuing a mutual objective -- Rehearsals reveal the play -- Theatre has ever been in crisis -- Supporting one another -- Theatre is a light.

Though stage directing has traditionally been a male-dominated profession, the number of women directors in the United States has grown significantly in recent years. In this work, 35 contemporary women stage directors, with regional, national and international theater backgrounds, share their views on the creative process and the influences of gender on their artistic decision making. How does it feel to be defined as a woman director rather than simply a director? Does gender affect their authority? These questions and many others are explored in this study.

Volume 1: David Belasco, Arthur Hopkins, Margaret Webster: Broadway Luminaries (edited by Cheryl Black, University of Missouri, USA) Volume 2: Harold Clurman, Orson Welles, Margo Jones: The Director in the Company (edited by Jonathan Chambers, Bowling Green State University, USA) Volume 3: Elia Kazan, Jerome Robbins, Lloyd Richards: Urban Spaces, Poetic Realisms (edited by Harvey Young, Boston University, USA) Volume 4: George Abbott, Vinnette Carroll, Harold Prince: Musical Theatre Innovators (edited by Henry Bial, University of Kansas, USA, and Chase Bringardner, Auburn University, USA) Featuring 64 illustrations, the eight volumes from Sets 1 and 2 of The Great North American Stage Directors series combine to present the most authoritative survey available on North American theatre directors.