ABSTRACT
Discussions can be a lot of fun, as everyone can sit around and talk-and talk and talk. The good talkers get stuck in and dominate, and the talkers who are not as good let them get on with it. After a suitably long period, you get back to practical working on the show. The problem is that nearly all directors think it does, because this is what they would need were they actors. For the most part they are not, just as the script consultants and literary and performance critics are not actors-and what they feel is essential for themselves is not always necessary for the performers they are working with or writing about. In the time it takes for a nice discussion to happen, the actors could have gone through the scene three or four times in different ways, and then everyone would know which version worked best.
