Playwright versus Director: Authorial Intentions and Performance Interpretations (Contributions in Drama and Theatre Studies) - Hardcover

Sidney Berger

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0313286795 ISBN 13: 9780313286797

Publisher: Praeger (UK), 1994

Synopsis

Giving equal space to the sanctity of script and the artistic freedom of directors, this book addresses the difficulties encountered by playwrights and directors as they bring a script to the stage. Inspired directors can help a writer of genius turn his play into exciting theatre, but playwrights find that giving directors leeway to interpret and modify text can result in directors' overriding authorial intentions. This book presents the best that has been written by literary theorists on the current definitions of text and attempts to depart from quick rule-of-thumb assessments of the problem.

Drawing from definitive articles in literary and theatre journals, part one gives the reader basic concepts and terminology. Interviews with playwrights and directors, showing the complexity of the issue, appear in part two, and part three includes case studies of playwrights and directors who faced production crises. Legal aspects of collaboration are considered in part four. The book concludes with a positive approach and possible solution to the problem.

About this title

About the Author

JEANE LUERE is Professor Emeritus of Theatre at the University of Northern Colorado. She has published extensively in the fields of English literature and the humanities. Her previous books include Playwright vs. Director (Greenwood, 1994). Her articles have appeared in journals such as Studies in American Drama: 1945-Present, South Atlantic Review, and Theatre Journal.

SIDNEY BERGER is John and Rebecca Moores Professor and Director, School of Theatre, University of Houston. He is also the founder and Producing Director of the Houston Shakespeare Festival and the Children's Theatre Festival. Recently inducted into the College of Fellows of the American Theatre at the Kennedy Center, Dr. Berger has extensive professional directing experience, including productions at the Alley Theatre, where he served as an associate artist, Theatre Under the Stars, and at Stages Repertory Theatre. He was also awarded the Mayor's Arts Award for Outstanding Contribution by a Performing Artist.

Edition details

• Publisher: Praeger (UK)
• Publication date: 1994
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0313286795
• ISBN 13: 9780313286797
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 200