II.

The Director’s Role

In most theatre and film projects, the director is at the centre of all creative decisions. He or she often selects the script and the key members of the cast and crew. The director may make suggestions to the design team before they start work, and is responsible for approving the final artistic design. In theatre, in particular, the most important aspect of the director’s work is to guide the acting through leading the rehearsal work of the performers. As the project develops, the director, consciously or not, creates a style that ensures the integrity of the dramatic product. Although the director is rarely seen on stage or before the camera, the director's spirit imbues the performance with a characteristic sense of rhythm, colour, and artistic balance.

The wide-ranging authority of the director is sometimes limited by external conditions. Executive producers or a theatre’s board members may impose their artistic visions on the director for personal or financial reasons. Playwrights, composers, celebrity performers, or other creative figures are occasionally able to overturn the director's decisions. In television especially, scriptwriters and producers often have a greater voice in determining the outcome of a production. Normally, however, the powers of the director are well defined at the beginning of a project. In some experimental theatre groups, actors and other members of the team share directorial responsibilities. When the script, direction, and performance work are developed by the entire troupe together, the result is called collective creation.