The Director As Collaborator

The Director as Collaborator teaches essential directing skills while emphasizing how directors and theatre productions benefit from collaboration. Good collaboration occurs when the director shares responsibility for the artistic creation with the entire production, including actors, designers, stage managers and technical staff. Leadership does not preclude collaboration; in theatre, these concepts can and should be complementary. Students will develop their abilities by directing short scenes and plays and by participating in group exercises. Features Active learning exercises throughout the text encourage students to learn through firsthand experience. A chapter on directing elements, organized into textual and visceral elements, introduces students to the fundamental building blocks that help directors achieve their unique artistic interpretations. Notes on collaboration by designers, playwrights, actors, and music directors provide students with real-world feedback on the importance of collaboration for a theatre production. A full chapter on working with designers, with case studies and photos, helps students develop the skills necessary to form collaborative relationships with designers on future productions (Chapter 5). In-class writing exercises help students explore their ideas and develop communication skills. Discussion questions and key terms after each exercise help students solidify their knowledge and acquire the terminology that professionals use. Appendices with forms for auditions, rehearsals, and productions; a glossary; and a comprehensive list of one-act play anthologies provide additional resources for assignments, projects, and productions.Praise for The Director as Collaborator This is a well-thought-out book that has a new and exciting approach to the field of theater directing. The concept of collaboration is an important (and oft-ignored) part of the directing process. There are stunning nuggets of wisdom within this text that drive the text forward its the directors job to be an idealist, and this work chooses to show how this idealism can be fore-grounded and made a significant part of the process. Christopher Berchild, Indiana State University This is a very readable book, written in an easy, conversational style using personal experiences and well-defined examples. I think that this is an excellent text for beginning directors of any age. Because of his teaching and directing style, one feels that the author is sitting across the production table having a conversation with a group of friends. Margaret Brennan, Harrisburg Area Community College