ABSTRACT
When the director did finally appear toward the end of the nineteenth century, he filled so pressing a need that he quickly pre-empted the hegemony that had rested for centuries with playwrights and actors. The appearance of the director ushered in a new and original theatrical epoch. His experiments, his failures, and his triumphs set and sustained the stage …
—Helen Krich Chinoy, Directors on Directing
However, where the director has become the star, “publicized, lionized and unionized” (Directors on Directing), particularly in the United States, the tendency is for the actor to become a passive participant in the creation of the director’s vision of the playwright’s creation. The truth of the matter is that we all have specific jobs in the process, and it’s our own fault when we elevate the director as someone of greater import than ourselves in telling the story.
