Artistic Director

What is an Artistic Director (AD) and what are his or her (I will use his and her interchangeably) responsibilities? I asked that question very early in my career, over and over again, addressing it to knowledgeable theatre people, and a few dolts, of course, but no one could give me a succinct and clear answer.

I had been a director, a coach and a managing director but I still did not know back then the scope of the artistic job and with no input, I decided I would have to do my own research and start talking to people who were involved in theatre production. And I chose very carefully.

What I came down to was this: The AD speaks for the community and for the theatre.

He should know the tastes of the community when he selects a season so he can push the envelope once or twice a year, just enough on the push to still have the audience coming back. It is, after all show and business, you know. And without the money coming in, there can be no show, no business and no theatre. The task is daunting. Yes, absolutely daunting. At least it was to me as a young director wanting to move up the ranks a little and take on a wider challenge.

Balancing on the other side the AD has the community, on the other, the theatre. The AD holds in one hand the community, in the other, the theatre. It is a real balancing act, let me tell you. The community will tell him what it wants (letters to the editor, boycotts, falling attendance or worse yet, no attendance, well, you get the picture) if he will but listen, but the theatre, as a venue, has no voice and cannot ask for help or plead for talent, it cannot suggest plays or paths that he might or might not see nor can it take flight and leave because things get so bad. Poor theatre, it just can sit there and be plummeted until some brave soul either rescues it or kills it off.

Ok, so who is the AD? What form does he take, this deity incarnate?

The answer is many and varied. The AD can be the people who start a theatre and make the artistic and business choices for the theatre and the community, and go all the way to the AD who is searched for in a long and arduous process, sometimes taking months, and makes all decisions and choices for the theatre. More on this later, defining some of the heights and valleys of artistic direction. More later on the director and the coach and their relationships.

That said, I am going to put this on the website for your perusal, and, hopefully, some comments and questions!

Oh, and by the way, I hope I will be able to find a way so you can subscribe to this blog. (If you know a way to find that on the net, please share!) I would like to invite you to read my musings at your leisure rather than having to remember that I exist down here in the beautiful Emerald Coast, locally referred to as the Redneck Riviera!

Have a great week. Gordon

Retirement!

I have often heard from retired folks: "I am busier than I ever was when working", "I never have time to sit and put my feet up" or "I never have time to finish one project before I am on to the next!"

And now that my retirement is complete, I can certainly agree with the above. It seems, however, that my first love, "doing theatre", read producing, directing, designing and coaching, just wont let my mind rest.

I seem to see or at least I hope I see, in reflection, 20/20--the things I did well, the things I did poorly, the things I didn't understand and the things that I understood by intuition. It is not an easy view so far, by any means.

So how do I, in retirement, share my view of theatre gleaned from 42 years of producing. A blog, some fearless soul suggested. And off my partner went to get a "Dummies" book on setting up a Blog for Gordon. Seems like two brave souls marching forward into the shadows of the internet and faceless communication with others.

Now here I sit, book in one hand, other hand on keyboard, cat in lap reading about RSS, web feeds, widgets, templates and the like. And understanding nothing, absolutely nothing.

Fortunately for me, through the magic of the internet, I have been greatly encouraged by a niece who has a blog; she is anAmerican from Wisconsin now living in London married to an actor. She has a garden and a cat and a blog! And she set up her own blog! I am envious, greedy actually, of and for her skill and expertise in this never-never land of the internet and blogs!

Now what you see on the blog at this moment in time is a product of my niece and her encouragement, a dummies book which is beyond comprehension and my interest in blogging. The site might improve or it might not. I honestly have no way of knowing which way it will go, but I'm sure going to give it one hell of a try.

If things get bad here setting this blog up and changing it occasionally, please hold onto something; I've got the cat here and if things get really bad, I'll bite his tail for a bit of emotional stability.

That said, the reason for the blog. I will gladly share any information or experiences I have had over the years with anyone with a thirst for expanding their view of the theatre and of theatre production. Gladly. I will give examples from my work in the theatre because everything I have done in the theatre is grounded in some experience that I have had, good or bad. I will not be sharing the names of anyone. But everything I share with you will be from an actual incident that I have had or witnessed. Everything.

There is one thing that I have always told actors working with me in play production: Please do not blindly accept anything I have to say. (Doesnt that fly in the fact of the director as the ultimate boss/chief/control freak!) But take it inside, think about it, make it yours, and if you can't, come back and let's talk about it. Talented actors are creative and the director needs to know how to work with that talent, however huge or infintessimal it might be, to bring it to fruition and up to par with the other actors on stage.

A few of the subjects I will start with if no one has any question are:

1) The relationship between the artistic director, the director and the coach.
2) The dramaturg and his importance to the production and one facet that he almost always misses in his search.
3) How an actor can and must protect his talent from abuse.

For starters.

Let the games begin!