I love directing, being the one whose task it is to guide the storytelling of theatre. I love cultivating my vision, which all the time gets better and more refined through the input of my artistic team. But I want to resist the notion that directing is the pinnacle to which we should all strive. In fact, I want to resist the Director-as-God thing that dominates theatre production in our culture. Not that I think that there shouldn't, finally, be one person with the ultimate say in the room. I do, especially when that person is me. (Actually, to be completely honest, I think that even more when it isn't me and I wish it were me; I long for that authority most when I really wish my ideas were landing with (and really know that they are being dismissed by) the person who is in charge). It's just that, when I am the one at the helm of the ship, I really rely my collaborators.
Which is why I am so looking forward to participating in the NET (Network of Ensemble Theatres) Micro-Festival this December, and look forward to making connection with some of these theatres to join them in their collective endeavors. I really want to find new models of creation. Not that the prevailing system is bad or wrong - it can be great (I'm thinking especially of my work with Kamesha Jackson Khan) and it can produce amazing art. And, in my experience, it can also lead to really muddled and/or simple and/or boring work. It depends entirely on the director.
And THIS director wants to really take the risk to explore new ways of working, to see if maybe new forms of theatre might emerge.
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