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Encyclopedia > Theatre director

A theatre director is a principal in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a play by unifying various endeavors and aspects of production. The director's function is to ensure the quality and completeness of a theatrical product. The director works with the key individuals and other staff, coordinating research, stagecraft, costume design, props, lighting design, acting, set design and sound design for the production. The director may also work with the playwright on works in progress. In contemporary theatre, the director is generally the primary visionary, making decisions on the artistic concept and interpretation of the text. Different directors occupy different places of authority and responsibility, depending on the structure and philosophy of individual theatre companies. Directors utilize a wide variety of techniques, philosophies, and levels of collaboration. Serge Sudeikins poster for the Bat Theatre (1922). ... For other uses, see Play (disambiguation). ... Stagecraft (or Technical Theatre) is the art of building, attaching, and rigging scenery for theater and television as well as other technical aspects of performance including sound, costuming, makeup, and lighting. ... Costume design is the design of the appearance of the characters in a theater or cinema performance. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... This article is about lighting design in theater. ... Acting is the work of an actor or actress, which is a person in theatre, television, film, or any other storytelling medium who tells the story by portraying a character and, usually, speaking or singing the written text or play. ... Scenic design also known as Stage design is the creation of theatrical scenery. ... Sound design is a technical/conceptually creative field. ... A playwright, also known as a dramatist, is a person who writes dramatic literature or drama. ...


The external director is a relatively new innovation in the history of theatre, the first examples appearing in the late 1800s with the invention of the Incandescent light bulb by Edison. In 1879, he demonstrated how electric light can be used, and in the same year the first electric arc light was used in a California theatre. In the early 1890s dimmers were being used, an invention of Granville Woods. It can be seen that electric lights, or "instruments", had to be positioned and focused on actors, and so the first lighting operators also had to "direct" the actors where to move, and thus may well have unwittingly created the position of an outside director. It was in the early part of the new century that they gained widespread popularity. Prior to that, the leading actor or actress would dictate the shape of stage arrangements, usually for their own benefit. The eighteenth century actress Sarah Siddons was famous for this, even once ending Macbeth at the sleepwalking scene. // The origin of me pooping my pants and Asian theatre can be traced to over 3500 years ago, beginning with early 3000BC Main article: Sanskrit Plays Folk theatre and dramatics can be traced to the religious ritualism of the Vedic Aryans. ... // Invention of the Jacquard loom in 1801. ... Light bulb redirects here. ... “Edison” redirects here. ... // Granville T. Woods (April 23, 1856 - January 30, 1910), born in Columbus, Ohio, was an African-American inventor. ... Sarah Siddons as the Tragic Muse by Sir Joshua Reynolds (The Huntington, San Marino, California) Sarah Siddons (July 5, 1755 – June 8, 1831) was a British actress, the best-known tragedienne of the 18th century. ...


Once a show has opened (premiered before a regular audience), theatre directors are generally considered to have fulfilled their function. From that point forward the stage manager is left in charge of all essential concerns. Part of the stage managers panel at Wolf Trap Center for the Performing Arts Stage management is a sub-discipline of stagecraft. ...


The French regisseur is also sometimes used to mean a stage director. This is most common in ballet. For other uses, see Ballet (disambiguation). ...


A cautionary note was introduced by famed director Sir Tyrone Guthrie who said "the only way to learn how to direct a play, is ... to get a group of actors simple enough to allow you to let you direct them, and direct." Sir William Tyrone Guthrie (2 July 1900 - 15 May 1971) was a British theatrical director instrumental in the founding of the Stratford Festival of Canada and the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis, Minnesota. ...


Styles of directing

Directing is an artform that has grown with the development of theatre theory and theatre practice. With the emergence of new trends in theatre, so too have directors adopted new methodologies and engaged in new practices. Generally speaking, directors adopt a style of directing that falls into one or more of the following categories:

The dictator
In this style of directing, the director has a strongly assertive role and is very dominant in the process of creating a theatrical work. Rehearsals are more or less fully controlled and predictable, with the actors having little or no say.
The negotiator
'The negotiator' is a style of direction in which the director focuses on a more improvised and mediated form of rehearsal and creation, using the ideas of the production team and actors to shape a theatrical work in quite a democratic style.
The creative artist
The director sees himself or herself as a creative artist working with the 'materials' of dramatic creativity, be they the actors, designers and production team. The "creative artist" wants input from the actors but, as artist, has final say over what is included and how ideas are incorporated.
The confrontationalist
In this style of directing, the director is in constant dialogue and debate with the cast and the production team about creative decisions and interpretations. The director seeks out and actively engages in such exchanges. Out of these exchanges, which can sometimes be heated or risky, comes a final contested product.

Many contemporary directors use a creative amalgam of styles, depending on the genre of the theatrical work, the nature of the project and the type of cast. Negotiation is the process whereby interested parties resolve disputes, agree upon courses of action, bargain for individual or collective advantage, and/or attempt to craft outcomes which serve their mutual interests. ... For other uses, see Drama (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Actor (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Dialogue (disambiguation). ... Debate (North American English) or debating (British English) is a formal method of interactive and position representational argument. ... A genre [], (French: kind or sort from Greek: γένος (genos)) is a loose set of criteria for a category of literary composition; the term is also used for any other form of art or utterance. ...


See also

For other uses, see Play (disambiguation). ... // This is a list of theatre directors. ... In the theater, a dramaturg holds a position that gained its modern-day function through the innovations of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, a playwright and theater practitioner who worked in Germany in the 18th century. ... The film director, on the right, gives last minute direction to the cast and crew, whilst filming a costume drama on location in London. ... A television director is usually responsible for directing the actors and other taped aspects of a television production. ... The artistic director of a theatre is responsible for choosing the material staged in a season, and the hiring of creative/production personnel (such as directors), as well as other theatre management tasks. ... For other uses, see Actor (disambiguation). ... A bit part is a supporting acting role with at least one line of dialogue. ... For other uses, see Celebrity (disambiguation). ... A movie star or film star is a celebrity who is a person known for his or her roles in motion pictures. ... For other uses, see Charisma (disambiguation). ... An act is a major division of a theatrical play or opera. ... Method acting is an acting technique in which actors try to replicate real life emotional conditions under which the character operates, in an effort to create a life-like, realistic performance. ... Presentational acting is a concept in theatre which holds that actors should strive to, in some sense, become their characters, rather than simply portraying them. ... This article does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers (SSDC) is an independent national labor union established in 1959, representing theatrical directors and choreographers, working on Broadway and on National tours, Off-Broadway, and in various resident, regional, stock and dinner theatres throughout the United States. ...

External links


  Results from FactBites:
 
Theatre director - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (545 words)
A theatre director is a principal in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a play by unifying various endeavors and aspects of production.
The director, as a position in and of itself, is a relatively new innovation in the history of theatre, with the first examples appearing in the late 1800s and widespread popularity only being achieved in the early part of the 20th century.
Many contemporary directors use a creative amalgam of styles, depending on the genre of the theatrical work, the nature of the project and the type of cast.
  More results at FactBites »


 

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