Overview

With a broader range of entries than any other reference book on stage directors, this Encyclopedia showcases the extraordinary diversity of theatre as a national and international artistic medium. Since the mid nineteenth century, stage directors have been simultaneously acclaimed as prime artists of the theatre and vilified as impediments to effective performance. Their role may be contentious but they continue to exert powerful influence over how contemporary theatre is made and engaged with. Each of the entries - numbering over 1,000 - summarises a stage director's career and comments on the distinctive characteristics of their work, alluding to broader traditions where relevant. With an introduction discussing the evolution of the director's role across the globe and bibliographic references guiding further reading, this volume will be an invaluable reference work for stage directors, actors, designers, choreographers, researchers, and students of theatre seeking to better understand how directors work across different cultural traditions.

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9781107190597

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Reviews

'During the past century, the dominant artist in theatres in many parts of the world has been the director. This essential reference work provides information on the careers and achievements of over one thousand of these important artists from around the globe.' Marvin Carlson, Sidney E. Cohn Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Theatre and Performance, Comparative Literature and Middle Eastern Studies, The Graduate Enter, The City University of New York 'This biographical dictionary of directors is a necessary companion to theatre. Ranging across time and the globe, the book reveals the startling diversity of approaches for managing the complicated process of making performance come alive.' Dennis Kennedy, Samuel Beckett Professor of Theatre (Emeritus), Trinity College Dublin, editor of The Oxford Encylopedia of Theatre and Performance and The Oxford Companion to Theatre and Performance 'In this exciting and much needed volume, Maria M. Delgado and Simon Williams have curated an extraordinarily rich and varied collection of entries on directors working in every kind of theatre tradition. The more than one thousand entries cover a genuinely global range of theatre directors, detailing method, aesthetic approach and achievements. Everyone in the theatre and performance industries, whether scholar or worker, should have access to a copy of this terrific book.' Maggie Gale, Chair in Drama, University of Manchester 'This volume introduces and cross-references 1047 directors, from Molière and David Garrick to prominent directors currently working throughout the world. Truly international, its reach extends well beyond the English-speaking world and Europe, making it a benchmark for international studies at large. In its examination of the influences on and consequences of each director and their work, this compendium is a must for anyone interested in the directing craft and the history of theatre practice.' Joanne Tompkins, Professor Emerita in Theatre, University of Queensland 'This book satisfies a long-awaited need for information about theatre directors across the world. It presents artists whose work may be well-known in their own country, but totally ignored beyond. The encyclopedia's scope goes beyond simple information about a director; it opens up paths to discovering new approaches to theatre-making, and provides a useful tool for intercultural, cross-border and cross-continental links.' Vicki Ann Cremona, Professor in Theatre Studies, University of Malta 'The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Stage Directors edited by Maria M. Delgado and Simon Williams is a truly remarkable read. Its global outlook makes the publication a comprehensive compendium on the craft and process of theatre directing and of stage directors from a wide range of backgrounds and cultures. I particularly like how it examines directors within the context of their respective nations, exploring their transnational or international influences, and by so doing offering up a nuanced understanding of the evolving landscape of theatre directing across the world. I therefore recommend this publication for its in-depth analysis and comprehensive coverage of stage directors across the world – I am sure that theatre students, researchers, and practitioners alike will find it an indispensable resource.' Kene Igweonu, Professor of Creative Education at University of the Arts London and Chair of DramaHE

Author Information

Maria M. Delgado is Professor and Vice Principal (Research and Knowledge Exchange) at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London. She has published widely in Spanish- and Catalan-language theatre and film, and historical memory, film, and performance. Her three monographs and fourteen edited collections include Federico García Lorca (Routledge, 2008), 'Otro' teatro español: supresión e inscripción en la escena española de los siglos XX y XXI (Iberoamericana/Vervuert, 2017), and the co-edited A History of Theatre in Spain (Cambridge University Press, 2010) and Staging Difficult Pasts: Transnational Memory, Theatres, and Museums (Routledge, 2024). Her work has been published in eight languages. Simon Williams is Emeritus Professor of Theater Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He has published widely in the fields of acting history, Shakespeare in performance, and opera, with previous books including German Actors of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries (Greenwood, 1985) and Shakespeare on the German Stage, 1586-1914 (Cambridge University Press, 1990). He also co-edited A History of German Theatre (Cambridge University Press, 2008) and edited the Cambridge Encyclopedia of Stage Actors and Acting (2015).

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