Robert Cohen draws on fifty years of acting, directing and teaching experience in order to illustrate how the world's great theatre artists combine collaboration with leadership at all levels, from a production's conception to its final performance. This book challenges the notion that creating brilliant theatrical productions requires tyrannical directors or temperamental designers. Viewing the theatrical production process from the perspectives of the producer, director, playwright, actor, designer, stage manager, dramaturg and crew person, Cohen provides the techniques, exercises and language that promote successful collaborative skills in the theatre. Collaboration is vital to successful theatre making and Working Together in Theatre is the first book to show how leadership and collaboration can be combined to make every theatrical production far greater than the sum of its many parts.

Robert Cohen draws on fifty years of acting, directing and teaching experience in order to illustrate how the world's great theatre artists combine collaboration with leadership at all levels, from a production's conception to its final performance. This book challenges the notion that creating brilliant theatrical productions requires tyrannical directors or temperamental designers. Viewing the theatrical production process from the perspectives of the producer, director, playwright, actor, designer, stage manager, dramaturg and crew person, Cohen provides the techniques, exercises and language that promote successful collaborative skills in the theatre. Collaboration is vital to successful theatre making and Working Together in Theatre is the first book to show how leadership and collaboration can be combined to make every theatrical production far greater than the sum of its many parts.

This book explores how theater artistry melds the forces of collaboration and leadership, igniting creativity from the first spark of an idea to the climactic curtain call. It throws the spotlight on the dynamic interplay of roles, covering the collaboration between producer, director, playwright, actor, designer, stage manager, dramaturg, and stage crew. Each chapter illuminates various strategies and insights, revealing how you can harness these transformative techniques on your own journey, crafting spellbinding productions through the power of collective creativity. In this new edition, Joel Veenstra builds upon, updates, and expands on Robert Cohen's original concepts in the following ways: - Updated case studies and examples drawn from the combined 75 years of professional theatre-making experience of Cohen and Veenstra, as well as insights from their extensive network of collaborators - Revised flow and scope to include the collaborator's worldview, specific practices for creating collaborative milieu from the start, and conflict resolution tools - Modernized with new research, perspectives, and insights from leadership experts like Brené Brown and Simon Sinek, and team-based organizations like Google and The Second City - Refreshed exercises to enhance practical understanding and application of the concepts - Expanded lens for applications beyond the realm of theatre-making to any collaboration - Revised appendices with recommended digital resources

Production Collaboration in the Theatre reveals the ingredients of proven successful collaborations in academic and professional theatre training, where respect, trust, and inclusivity are encouraged and roles are defined with a clear and unified vision. Garnering research from conversations with over 100 theatre professionals on Broadway and in regional and educational theatre, the authors provide multiple approaches to working together that are designed to help students and teachers of theatre discover and develop the collaborative tools that work best for them. Each chapter offers practical application with discussion prompts from real-life scenarios to practice and develop the critical problem-solving skills necessary for theatre artists to navigate common collaboration challenges. Compelling topical case studies and insightful interviews invite readers to explore the principles of collaboration and inspire them to build joyful, equitable, and collaborative relationships in academic and professional settings. Production Collaboration for the Theatre offers theatre faculty and students a practical approach to developing the interpersonal skills necessary for a lifetime career in collaboration in the theatre. An ideal resource for actors, directors, designers, and production teams, this book provides theatre artists in training with an opportunity to develop their collaborative style in a way that will guide and support the longevity of a successful career.

The Power of Team Work is an advanced unit teaching theatre production and directing. Students will each take a role on the production and performing team and create a performance for the elementary schools. Students will work together creating a Directors Production Book while learning and exploring the various members of the production team. Students will perform in a variety of characters in childrens plays in front of live audiences. Lessons include ... The world of the play Blocking Subjective Analysis Beats of action Character Analysis Technical Aspects Approaching Auditions Rehearsal techniques Evaluating Procuctions

Reclaiming Greek Drama for Diverse Audiences features the work of Native-American, African-American, Asian-American, Latinx, and LGBTQ theatre artists who engage with social justice issues in seven adaptations of Sophocles’ Antigone, Euripides’ Trojan Women, Hippolytus, Bacchae, Alcestis, and Aristophanes’ Frogs, as well as a work inspired by the myth of the Fates. Performed between 1989 and 2017 in small theatres across the US, these contemporary works raise awareness about the trafficking of Native-American women, marriage equality, gender justice, women’s empowerment, the social stigma surrounding HIV, immigration policy, and the plight of undocumented workers. The accompanying interviews provide a fascinating insight into the plays, the artists’ inspiration for them, and the importance of studying classics in the college classroom. Readers will benefit from an introduction that discusses practical ways to teach the adaptations, ideas for assignments, and the contextualization of the works within the history of classical reception. Serving as a key resource on incorporating diversity into the teaching of canonical texts for Classics, English, Drama and Theatre Studies students, this anthology is the first to present the work of a range of contemporary theatre artists who utilize ancient Greek source material to explore social, political, and economic issues affecting a variety of underrepresented communities in the US.

Finding Identity through Directing is a practice-led autoethnographical monograph that provides an in-depth exploration into the field of theatre directing and an individual’s endless creative pursuit for belonging. The book specifically examines how a culturally displaced individual may find a sense of identity through their directing and addresses the internal struggles of belonging, acceptance and Self that are often experienced by those who have confronted cultural unhoming. The first half of the story scrutinises Dr Yekanians’ own identity as an Iranian born Armenian-Australian and how she struggled with belonging growing up in a world that for the most part, was unaccepting of her differences. The second half, looks at how theatre directing, aided her (re)discovery of Self. While evidence shows that within the past decade there has been a growing interest in the vocation of theatre directing, embarking on a career within this field, while exciting, can often be a daunting and experimental vocation. Finding Identity through Directing questions this conundrum and specifically asks, in a competitive artistic profession that is rapidly developing, what attracts an individual to the authoritative role of the director and what are the underlying motivations of this attraction? By uncovering that there is more to the role of the director than the mere finality of a production, we can observe that the theatre is a promising setting for cultural exchanges in dialogue and for personal development. Theatre directing as the vehicle for these expansions and progressions of self can potentially address the internal struggles of identity often experienced by those who, in some form, have encountered cultural displacement.

This major introductory textbook is from one of the leading educators working in theatre today. What Is Theatre? will make its reader a better playgoer, responding more fully to performance, with a keener appreciation of all the resources of theatre-acting, design, direction, organization, theatre buildings, and audiences. By focusing on the best professional practice and the most helpful learning processes, Dr. Brown shows how to read a play-text and to see and hear its potential for performance. Throughout this book, suggestions are given for student essays and class discussions, to help both instructor and reader to clarify their thoughts on all aspects of theatre-going. While the main focus is on present-day theatre in North America, history is used to illuminate current practice. Theatres in Europe and Asia also feature in the discussion. A view is given of all contributors to performance, with special emphasis placed on actors and the plays they perform. This textbook is not tied to a few specific play-texts, but designed to be effective regardless of which play a student sees or reads. In Part Two, leading practitioners of different generations and cultural backgrounds describe their own work, providing a variety of perspectives on the contemporary theatre. All this is supplemented by nearly 100 black and white and color illustrations from productions, working drawings, and plans. This new text engages its readers in the realities of the theatre; it is up-to-date, comprehensive, and packed with practical advice for understanding how theatre works and how plays come alive in performance. John Russell Brown is professor of Theatre at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and has taught at a variety of colleges including New York and Stanford Universities. For 15 years he was an associate director of the National Theatre in London, and he has directed plays in many other theatres including Cincinnati Playhouse, the Empty Space in Seattle, and the Clurman Theatre in New York. Professor Brown has written extensively about theatre, especially about Shakespeare and contemporary theatre. He is editor of The Oxford Illustrated History of Theatre.

Drawing on a combined expertise in improvisational theatre and psychiatry, author team Dan O'Connor and Dr. Jeff Katzman show readers how improv skills are the perfect antidote to loneliness and isolation. I know what you're thinking: Hold on...improv? Like getting on a stage in front of an audience? What if that's not my thing? Don't worry: this isn't a book about becoming an improv theater expert, and it's not really a book about performing. It's a book about loneliness--about our feelings of disconnection and isolation, ones that we may have been experiencing since long before the pandemic. More importantly, it's a book about becoming unlonely--by borrowing from the collaborative and creative tools of improv. Authors of Life Unscripted Jeff Katzman, a professor of psychiatry at the University of New Mexico, and Dan O'Connor, multifaceted actor, writer, and director, have created a process they call Ensembling that helps us build an ensemble of relationships in our lives and more deeply enjoy the groups we already belong to. This is a process of becoming a little vulnerable with each other, and of embracing the moment in which we find ourselves. Drawing on concepts from narrative improvisational theatre and depth psychology, the authors present us with the skills we need to connect with each other more actively and meaningfully. To ensemble or not to ensemble--that is not a question. With the rise of loneliness and isolation in an increasingly virtually connected society, we must find ways to come together. We must ensemble!

People who don’t know theatre may think the only creative artist in the field is the playwright--with actors, directors, and designers mere “interpreters” of the dramatist’s vision. Historically, however, creative mastery and power have passed through different hands. Sometimes, the playwright did the staging. In other periods, leading actors demanded plays be changed to fatten their roles. The late 19th and 20th centuries saw “the rise of the director,” in which director and playwright struggled for creative dominance. But no matter where the balance of power rested, good theatre artists of all kinds have created powerful experiences for their audience. The purpose of this volume is to bridge the interdisciplinary abyss between the study of creativity in theatre/drama and in other fields. Sharing theories, research findings, and pedagogical practices, the authors and I hope to stimulate discussion among creativity and theatre scholar/teachers, as well as multidisciplinary research. Theatre educators know from experience that performance classes enhance student creativity. This volume is the first to bring together perspectives from multiple disciplines on how drama pedagogy facilitates learning creativity. Drawing on current findings in cognitive science, as well as drama teachers’ lived experience, the contributors analyze how acting techniques train the imagination, allow students to explore alternate identities, and discover the confidence to take risks. The goal is to stimulate further multidisciplinary investigation of theatre education and creativity, with the intention of benefitting both fields.