Unify the Stage

Katie Mitchell is a personal hero of mine, a trailblazing auteur director who is also, *gasp!*, a woman. I often wonder why we have such fantastic male auteur directors and so few female auteurs. I have a lot of theories about it, some of them are too personal to go into here on this blog on this day. That's because I have been known to deconstruct a classic in my time, but I haven't done it often, or often professionally. And so when I wonder this about the world, I also wonder this about myself. Lately, a couple of fabulous articles have come out about Katie Mitchell and her work. I must be honest here, I haven't seen her work, and it's certainly controversial. But here's what inspires me about her: first off, if you read her amazing book THE DIRECTOR'S CRAFT, then you know that she isn't just making up ideas and placing them on her productions, she is doing some serious and deep text analysis to get to her conclusions. The attention to detail in every...

Mary really beautifully and simply articulates semiotics in the theater, identifying a definition of theatricality that I found astute as a "visible metaphor that calls attention to itself". It's a great talk.

I wrote this for Howlround about review rating systems. I feel passionately about the topic. You can read it here .

Great article on the visionary director, Ivo van Hove. http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/10/26/theatre-laid-bare

A new article on an old topic: http://www.dw.de/how-much-creative-liberty-can-a-theater-director-take/a-18233268

DOCS... VANYA ON 42ND STREET-- Amazing actors working on Uncle Vanya in a run down theater in New York. If you haven't seen it, do not pass go...get it now. BROOK BY BROOK-- This documentary is about Peter Brook, created by his son. It comes in a double dvd set with Peter Brook's HAMLET, which is also amazing to watch.  ARIANE MNOUCHKINE - THE LOVE OF THEATRE -- A great documentary about Ariane Mnouchkine and the founding of Theatre du Soliel. You can watch it here , and be sure to turn on the English subtitles. BECOMING TRAVIATA --an amazing documentary focusing on the rehearsal work of stage director Jean-François Sivadier with soprano Natalie Dessay on a beautiful production of La Traviata. Yes, it's opera, and yes, you should watch it. It's a master class in good opera stage direction. WAGNER'S DREAM-- An exciting documentary about Robert Lepage and his recent production of THE RING CYCLE at the Met. Dreaming big. FICTION... ALL ABOUT EVE-- Funny, ...

Directors of the world! Have a road trip coming up? Need some podcasting to listen to while you clean your house? Just want to learn a lot by listening? CHECK OUT THIS PODCAST SERIES It's the Stage director's and Choreographers Foundation's Masters of the Stage podcast, and there is so much to listen to and learn... 131 podcasts to catch up on, so get listening!