Abstract:
In contrast to the vast array of books which deal with the craft of acting and stagemanagement,
there seem to be far fewer books which attempt to describe what directors
do. The most common contemporary approach seems to be to present a collection of
interviews, such as In Contact with the gods? Directors talk theatre (edited by Maria M.
Delgado and Paul Heritage, 1996) and On directing (edited by Gabriella Giannachi and
Mary Luckhurst, 1999). A possible reason for the dearth of material on directing
techniques could be the fact that different directors’ styles and approaches vary drastically.
Exceptional directors seem to be characterised more by their personal idiosyncrasies than
by their adherence to a specific methodology.
