Tony Tambasco -- Director

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Directing

Software

Some Thoughts on Directing

In my ideal world, creation is a collaborative process. The simple fact is that no matter how smart, well educated, or well researched someone may be (or may think they are), "we" are always smarter than "me." I find this has been true in just about every situation in life I've found myself in, and for me the real thrill of directing is creating something meaningful using all of the best ideas in the room, especially when they don't come from me.

The director should, above all else, be the unifying and organizational force that drives the production. He should say just enough to get other people really thinking about what they're going to do in rehearsals, and should master the logistics of the production process to enable his creative thinkers to give their best. In my ideal world, I never have to tell an actor or a designer that something doesn't work, because I've helped them develop a strong enough sense of the world of the play that they already know.

That said, we live in a far from ideal world, and as rehearsal times continue to shrink, directors have to become better collaborators outside of the rehearsal room. If you only have two weeks to rehearse, you better be sure that you can give your creative team the tools they need to flourish at the first meeting. Serving this end means researching and understanding a text from all possible perspectives, and developing a seemingly preternatural ability to tell what works and what doesn't. Beyond that, it means fostering a creative environment where it's okay to say no, and where there is enough flexibility to implement better ideas that grow out of the process.

A director for the modern stage needs to be multi-talented and flexible. They need to be a lover of the arts and sciences, and most importantly, they need to know how to use the human resources on their creative team. Not every director needs to be an actor, a designer, or a stage hand, but they have to know maximize the creative and technical abilities of each. Directors also need to be willing to admit that every show is its own learning experience, and know how to translate the lessons they've learned this time into the techniques they will employ next time.