"And...Action!"

What would a production be without a director? Well, there wouldn't be one! The director is an indispensable part of a production, because he is the artistic visionary of the crew as much as the playwrights and the designers are. He is the coordinator, and makes sure everything is put in the right place.

A director becomes a director either by studying at an institution or they might start out as a performer and discover their hidden talents for directing. When a director is involved with a show, the first thing he/she must do is have a perfect understanding of the play's text. He must know what the playwright is trying to accomplish or convey through the script or story. "What is the playwright's intention: to entertain, to educate, or to arouse strong feelings in the audience? What is the playwright's point of view toward the characters and events of the play: does he or she see them as tragic or comic?" (Theatre: The Lively Art, 121). Only then can the director effectively guide the performers and other crew members to accomplish theirs and the playwright's intention for the show.

Another idea that the director must have in mind when directing a play is this:

"...one of the director's first steps is to discover the spine of the play. The American director and critic Harold Clurman says in his book On Directing that a director's first task is to find in the text the general action that 'motivates the play.' The director must determine the 'fundamental drama or conflict' or which 'the script's plot and people are the instruments.'...it could also be called the main action of the play." (Theatre: The Lively Art, 121).

So in other words, what are the goals of the characters in the play? What is the whole point of the play?

 A concept that is related to this is the directorial concept. I think it can be best explained as the theme of the play. For example in Newsies, it would be safe to say that the overall theme is standing up for what is right, and chasing one's dreams, as is expressed throughout the play with the newsboys' strike for fair prices for their papers and the character, Jack Kelly, chasing after his dream of going to Santa Fe, a place free of such strife.

(Above: director Peter Jackson for The Lovely Bones. Below: This one just made me laugh. May be Douglas Fairbanks for Robin Hood. Photos courtesy of Google.)

When the director has these ideas down and understood, the better known stages of directing then commence. He holds auditions to create the perfect cast for the play. He works together with he cast and crew, and together they create (sets, characters, costumes, etc.), practice, tweak, rehearse; and all the while the director is guiding all of these elements and people, putting the performance together and maintaining it when it is perfected.

So that is, basically, what a director does. They are probably the most iconic member of theatrical or cinematic productions, besides the actors themselves.


Source:

Wilson, Edwin; Goldfarb, Alvin. Theatre: The Lively Art. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012. Print. (Pages 120-123).