ABSTRACT
In ideal production situations, most directors begin to prepare to direct a play months before the production's first design meetings and auditions. The director's preparation might include dramaturgical research on the writing of the play, the playwright's other works, accounts of past productions of the play, comparison of translations, and criticism of the play and its genre, as well as background research on any aspect of the world of the play. Some directors see the rehearsal and design process as a way of achieving a vision they have completed in their minds. This risks creating a strongly hierarchical production system, in which the director makes the vast majority of choices and the ensemble merely does its best to fulfil them. Rehearsal observations can be used to give direct feedback on the way in which directors interact as collaborators: how they explain concepts, handle disagreements, move through the rehearsal space, or deal with any of the other concepts.
