You are sitting at the keyboard (or, if you're old school, a typewriter), putting the finishing touches on your latest, greatest theatrical masterpiece. As you type in the final "curtain," you sit back and breathe a sigh of relief. A play is born! Now you're faced with the ultimate decision: Do you direct the production yourself, guaranteeing that your vision will remain intact? Or do you give your play away to another director, someone who is going to come in and adjust, interpret, reinvent, or potentially revolutionize or ruin your "baby" with his or her own concepts and ideas?
If you have ever written (or intend to write) plays, you've probably been faced at one time or another with the above predicament. If you've never written a play (and never intend to), this is still something that affects you and anyone else who gets involved with original theatre productions.
The age-old question of "Should playwrights direct their own plays?" brings up the notion that theatre, more than any other performance medium, is a collaborative art. It also underscores something that artistic hyphenates have believed for years—that it is possible (at least in theory) to do more than one thing well, providing you are trained properly and get enough chances to apply the skills you've learned. Playwrights, whether or not they intend to put up their own work, would benefit from gaining experience in directing and acting, and the same benefit of a multidiscipline education holds true for directors and actors. Musical performers can be triple threats; why can't writers and directors?
The Natural Choice?
Playwrights would seem to be the natural choice for staging their own scripts, particularly if the stories are based at all on their own experiences. But that might also be the biggest argument against having them direct their own works. Maybe they will be too close to the material; maybe they are too emotionally attached. By trying to recreate exactly what they have imagined while putting pen or ink or ribbon or laser printer to paper, they may ultimately stifle the creative urges that performers and playmakers tend to discover and express through the process of rehearsals. Then again, who knows better what the writer had in mind but the writer? Then again, isn't it only an outside director who can offer the vital "third-eye" perspective? There have been examples of both methods having excellent results over the course of theatre history, as well as examples of people debating the pros and cons of directing one's own work. Ancient scholars couldn't agree, and contemporary artists can't seem to come up with a unanimous opinion either. And so the debate continues.
And you don't have to be a writer to have a viewpoint on this often-argued topic. Whether you are an actor who's been cast in a show written and directed by the same person, or a director who has helped a writer transform his two-dimensional pages into three-dimensional stage pictures, everyone in the theatre community encounters this situation at one point in their career. Some playwrights at the helm of their own shows are happy to incorporate suggestions on dialogue or blocking; others don't want you to change a word or even a hand gesture. There have been glorious triumphs where the scribe stages his script to glowing reviews; there are just as many horror stories when a temperamental artist demands that things be done precisely his or her way.
Theatre writers aren't to be blamed entirely for being overprotective of their work. Directors can often be guilty of taking liberties with scripts, making edits or changes without conferring with the writers. Many times a director's first note to his cast will be "Take a magic marker and cross out all the stage directions!" Actors who paraphrase or ad-lib lines could be undermining the meaning and pacing (not to mention the subtext) that the author intended. Producers who want to cut curse words or controversial statements from the script to appease season-ticket holders aren't being fair to the author or the audience. And not all writers are their own best friends—they themselves can undermine a play's power by constantly rewriting a piece to the point of overkill, or not allowing the performers enough time to let the alterations sink in before opening night.
That is why it's important to hear from all sides on the subject—playwrights who love to stage their own plays, writers who would rather leave that dreaded task to others, directors who've worked with playwrights on successful collaborations, and performers and dramaturgs who've also helped shape scripts. There may not be a final word on this issue, but one thing is sure—it's bound to spark some dramatic deliberation.
Historical Precedents
Writing and directing one's own plays is not a new idea. The Greeks were known to award writer-director prizes during competitions held as part of festivals to the gods. Molière not only wrote and directed—he also acted most of his lead roles himself. William Shakespeare was another example of a writer who took the directorial reins. Accomplished director-producer Marshall W. Mason, who has enjoyed a longtime collaboration with equally esteemed playwright Lanford Wilson, points out a history mystery that explores the emergence of the Bard as writer-director. "From all evidence, William Shakespeare more or less directed his own plays. But it's hard to say exactly. In subsequent eras, the actor was the king. So who knows whether Shakespeare's productions were directed by him or by Richard Burbage [a leading actor of the time]?"
The credit "written and directed by" has become much more clear-cut—and much more frequently used—since then. Examples include everyone from George S. Kaufman ("Stage Door," "Of Thee I Sing," "Dinner at Eight") and Joshua Logan ("South Pacific," "Mister Roberts," "The Wisteria Trees") to Mary Zimmerman ("Metamorphoses," "The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci") and Neil LaBute ("The Shape of Things," "The Mercy Seat"). This year, filmmaking legend Woody Allen is making his debut as theatre director, staging two of his one-acts in "Writer's Block" for the Atlantic Theater Company.
Mason cites his idea of a successful contemporary writer-director: "Sam Shepard is not only a playwright, he's also a very good actor. As a result of that, he is very open about the artistic process, and he knows what an actor contributes. I think, as a director, he is very sensitive to the contribution of the actor and the contribution of the script. So, in my view, he is one of the very few artists who as a director can really utilize those two different points of view to come up with a production that has dimension." Another example Mason offers is a writer who directs—but not his own plays. "Harold Pinter is an actor who became a playwright, which means that he is essentially a director. Pinter's directorial work, I think, is just stunning. But it's interesting that Pinter doesn't direct his own plays. He directs other people's plays extremely well, but he's smart enough to know the difference."
Staging Scribes
More and more theatre writers either want to (or are forced to) bring their literary creations to life on stage, due to the rise in independent productions as well as budget, time, and travel constraints. New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, in particular, seem to be perfect breeding grounds for these self-directed, self-produced showcases. Also, when playwrights reach a certain level of notoriety in their careers, they are sometimes rewarded with offers to direct, and what better project to work on than one of their own?
DJ Salisbury has two projects pending—a dance-theatre piece based on a French screenplay he adapted, and a revue featuring a parody boy band ("Think 'Queer as Folk' meets 'The Monkees,' " he says). Salisbury feels that because he thinks as a director as he writes, he presumes that he will usually direct the piece in its first outing. "I'm not immovable about giving over the reins. But sometimes I feel that directing the first reading or workshop is an extension of the editing process. It will also insure that any subsequent director will have a 'cleaner' script for round two."
Shauna Kanter has staged her own scripts around the world, and just finished a New York production of "The Gift," presented by T. Schreiber Studio at the Gloria Maddox Theatre. While she does develop projects with the thought that she will ultimately stage them herself, she doesn't let the realities of budget restraints and technical limitations inhibit her creativity. "You can't limit yourself while you're writing the script. You can't restrain yourself because of economic or other restrictions—you just have to let your imagination go." Once the script is finished, then Kanter, in director mode, can solve any logistical problems. "For example, you know you're not going to be able to cast a chorus of 100 people while you are writing them in, so later, when you're staging the piece, you simply place them offstage."
Now workshopping "The Sex Life of Waiters" with Playwrights Horizons and the Muse of Fire Theatre Company, writer-director Glenn English also developed their recent production of "Bitter Fragments." He, too, makes a point to keep his directing instincts as far removed from the writing process as possible. "Directing is for later, when you have the actors, designers, and other staff members around. It's a different part of the process." English admits that at least up to this point, he has "always" preferred to direct his own scripts. "But that's quickly changing into 'usually.' I direct my own work because I want more control over the creative decisions that occur outside of the script. I also like directing in general. With a first production, I think it's critical. I don't have any children, so in a weird way my plays function as my offspring. I want to see them crawl, walk, and eventually run—and I don't need any surrogate parent getting in the way. That said, once a script is fully developed and I'm confident in its ability, I have to let it go if someone else wants to produce it. Like any child, it has to go off and make its own way in the world."
Deborah Brevoort has staged some of her own works, such as a Noh drama about Elvis Presley. She has also had directors translate her plays, such as the stark drama "The Women of Lockerbie." Brevoort is five songs away from finishing her latest project, a musical called "Goodbye My Island" that she's working on with David Friedman, and she also just received a commission from EST and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. She feels that directing one's work is a case-by-case decision. "I think there are some playwrights who are not good directors. And I think there are some who are. Maria Irene Fornes is a great example of a great writer-director. And I've seen other writers who just don't have it. Their work is better when it's directed by somebody else. For my Noh drama, I probably direct the best productions of that play. But I probably wouldn't stage the best production of another play I've written called 'Into the Fire.' "
Another prolific person who has done both is Eric Alter. His newest romantic comedy, "Something About You and the 4th of July," will premiere at the American Theatre of Actors' Chernuchin Theatre, June 3-15. However, this time he is not directing his play; instead, he is handing that assignment over to Jenn Bornstein. "I usually prefer not to direct my own plays. I am a writer first and foremost, then a producer, then a director. Directing is tough, and sometimes, as the writer, you're too close to what you have written and you need to give the work to someone else and let them share their vision with you."
These playmakers offer various pointers to others inclined to stage their own scripts. Kanter recommends, "Be flexible and willing to explore the give and take of collaboration." English reminds everyone, "Being a good playwright and being a good director are two very different things. You owe it to yourself and your play to ask whether or not you're a good director, and also if you're the right director for the project." Brevoort says, "I think playwrights need to take directing classes, acting classes, design classes—I think they need to understand all the aspects of the form." Salisbury finds it's important to "let the actors see you more as a director than a writer." Alter concludes, "My advice to anyone who wishes to direct his or her own work is go for it!"
Strictly Writers
In contrast to those dramatists who prefer to direct, there are playwrights who strongly believe in having a director on board at all times, and are all for having those second and third opinions while guiding their show to the stage.
One such playwright is Dael Orlandersmith, who was a dual Drama Desk nominee this year as actress and writer of "Yellowman." "I need directors. I mean, I have an idea. But see, the thing is, I get so indulgent. I can be a very indulgent writer. And so I really rely on directors. Directors help me shape the work. Somebody else is a better director for that. To effectively collaborate with the director, playwrights need to know what directors do. You need to get your butt into a directing class. And you need to know what all your collaborators have to do."
Bill McMahon is a playwright and screenwriter. His latest effort, a collaboration with composer-lyricist Bob McDowell, is a children's musical titled "Like Totally Grimm." Their earlier collaboration, "Alphagirls," was a finalist for the 2003 Richard Rodgers Award. "I'm not a director, nor do I have real ambition in that area. I prefer collaboration with a really good director who challenges me and contributes to the creative process. However, I do visualize everything I write, imagining the actors in each situation. Sometimes that means my first draft includes far too many stage directions—not because I don't trust actors and directors, but just because I'm setting down what I see in my mind's eye."
A working actress, author of "The Organized Actor" handbook, and a playwright, Leslie Becker is at present collaborating with Michael Hunsaker on a new musical titled "Fetching Water." She relates that she prefers not to direct her own work. "I feel that way for the simple reason that when I write, I want to be able to step back and view it only from the writer's perspective. I do believe I have the ability to see what needs to be changed to make it work, so if I see something is going in the wrong direction, I will collaborate with the director to change it. You must build a team, or it doesn't work."
The trio passes along some helpful suggestions to other writers. McMahon advises playwrights who want to stage their own scripts to "direct someone else's work first. If you are working with another director, try not to micromanage them, but stand up for your own ideas and intentions if you need to." Becker reminds, "Know your limitations and hire a really great assistant director." Orlandersmith cautions, "If a playwright wants to direct his or her multicharacter show, that's one thing. But if a person is doing a one-person show and they're acting in it and directing themself, I don't advise it. I've seen people fall into so many tricks."
Definitive Directors
If you are going to look for a separate director for your work, make sure you are both on the same page before the first rehearsal. Stage directors are like translators, so it pays to find one who speaks your theatrical language—or is at least willing to listen to your "playwright's voice." Another key factor in determining which person would be best suited to lead your play to the stage is discovering the one who is the most passionate about the project.
Russell Reich is not only a director, but also a book author, and his recent nonfiction work is "Notes on Directing," which he wrote with his British mentor, Frank Hauser. Reich offers an excellent suggestion for writer and director alike: He begins each project by having the playwright read the play to him. "The writer's intimate knowledge of the play will inform the reading and address questions that might otherwise baffle me for days. I ask questions, either of the writer or myself: Where did the idea come from? What is its major conflict? What do the characters want? Who is chasing whom? Where's the resistance? What are the obstacles? How do the characters feel about each other? What is the central question, the basic 'will she or won't she?' that will keep the audience engaged and interested? If I feel any of these key elements is confusing or lacking, I'll discuss it with the writer, as well as identifying the play's strengths.
"During rehearsals, I try to keep in mind that the story and the characters are the creations of the writer and the actors, so I'm not the parent of any of this. As director, I'm more like the obstetrician—or the midwife, as Stanislavsky described it. And like a physician, I have to know the right questions to ask, and when to intervene clinically if I sense something's awry. Generally, I try to keep out of the way the rest of the time and do as little harm as possible."
As noted earlier, Marshall W. Mason has worked with Lanford Wilson on nearly all his productions, which amounts to close to 60 productions of 39 plays. The team's fascinating history illustrates how a successful collaboration can often make both writer and director prosper. "The first show I did with Lanford was 'Balm in Gilead.' He tells the story that after I read the script, I sat him down and spent three or four hours telling him what his play was about. I don't recall this. But he tells this story to young playwrights in order to show them what they should be looking for in a director—somebody who really understands the play. He also told me I found things in the play that he thought were hidden, little subtle things that nobody would ever get, and I just pointed them right out.
"From the very beginning, we saw the theatre the same way. I had a classical background, and Lanford kept saying to me, 'You should really concentrate on new plays. I mean, who cares about the classics?' So, in a way, I brought a kind of classical understanding of structure and that sort of thing to what was an uninhibited vision of the playwright. And my directing career has been 90% new plays ever since."
Mason characterizes the relationship between writer and stager as "stereoscopic. By that I mean the playwright has one vision of reality that he or she has captured in the words of the play. And it is extremely helpful to have another person who sees the same reality that the playwright has suggested from a slightly different perspective. The result of those two different perspectives is dimension. And I think when a playwright directs his or her own work, they never get that second perspective, which is really important to a final, finished, living play, as Harold Clurman called it."
Extra Insight
If you are still thinking about directing your own script, you may want to consider a dramaturg. Janice Paran is dramaturg and director of play development at the McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton, N.J. She served as dramaturg for Dael Orlandersmith's "Yellowman," and will next work on a version of "Anna in the Tropics," the 2003 Pulitzer Prize winner by Nilo Cruz.
"Sometimes I'm there simply to provide some feedback to the writer and/or director at key stages in a play's evolution: reading a new draft, hearing a read-through, or attending a run-through, for instance. At other times, I've worked closely with writers from the very earliest stages of a project's conception and creation, serving as a sounding board as they explore its imagination, style, storytelling, and structure. I have a point of view, of course, but my job is to support the writer's vision, not impose or insinuate mine. And not every writer or project needs or wants a dramaturg, which is as it should be."
Learning Curve
If playwrights choose to direct their own plays, they definitely need to listen to their actors. Kanter got a valuable lesson on this subject early in her career. "The very first play that I wrote and directed on my own was something I did in Paris, and I had very clear ideas about what I wanted to do. I didn't really take in the input from the actors, because I thought I knew how it should be. I learned the hard way, as most directors do. It was never a full collaboration because I wasn't as open as I could have been—as I am now—to the thoughts and impulses and questions and worries and concerns of others."
Becker gives her perspective from the point of view of a performer being directed by the play's author. "I have acted in a play that the director also wrote. A one-woman show I did two years ago titled 'Private Lawrence' was written and directed by the same person, Victoria Racimo. What was great about that experience was that she knew the show intimately, being the writer as well as the director, including all the intentions and backstory. So she was able to pass along that information to me as the actress and ultimately make my performance better."
Another element of writing and directing that everybody needs to decipher for themselves is knowing when to stop changing, fixing, and rewriting the script. Paran relates that sometimes writers "love to keep fine-tuning their work up until opening. Eric Bogosian is one of those. Others prefer to call a moratorium on script changes as the play approaches opening." Salisbury doesn't think a piece is ever done: "But it is a very good idea to make believe it's done sometime before opening night." Mason allows changes up till a few days before the critics are invited. "Every time you make a change or a cut in a script, there's always a little wound that has to heal over."
The Bottom Line
So, should playwrights direct their own plays? Here are some closing thoughts on the subject:
Glenn English: "Moss Hart said, 'The playwright who directs his own work is playing a fool's game. The schedule he must keep and the load he must carry is an inhuman one and it does not always work to the advantage of his play.' This is very good advice. However, if you are truly compelled to direct your own work, then you must. But your script better be ready and you should be ready for a bumpy ride. That aside, I've always found directing my work very rewarding, despite the demands, and there have been a number of playwrights who have directed their own work with great success, Moss Hart included."
Deborah Brevoort: "I don't think that all playwrights should direct their work. I also don't think that playwrights should never be allowed to direct their work. In some cases, I think I'm the perfect director for some of my plays. And for some of my other plays, I think I'm not, you know what I mean?"
Dael Orlandersmith: "My initial reaction would be 'no.' Because unless they really have enough distance from it, I think it's better if you get someone else who can direct, unless you really have the distance from it where you could really make it fly."
Eric Alter: "I think, in general, writers should probably not direct their own work only because many times what we write is what we don't see. It's not because of bad writing or bad directing; it's because our imagination is stronger than reality. I can't tell you how many times I have written something that I thought was going to be amazing, but then on stage it wasn't. It had nothing to do with actors, directors, stage managers, lighting designers, or set designers. It had to do with what I saw in my head, and I don't think that can be recreated all the time in movies and/or plays. That's why many people are disappointed when they see a movie that was a book; it's because it's what they didn't expect to see—their own vision. However, I think writers can direct their own scripts and, sometimes, if they can't find a good director, they should do it themselves. But honestly, there is nothing better than when you find a good director who is just as passionate as you about your script and you work together. That's what makes a good play."
Bill McMahon: "It's a very short list of people who can do both. In general, the best situation is a good collaboration. Frequently, playwrights are too close to their own work to have total perspective. For me, it's always valuable to have a trusted and talented director who respects my work as much as I respect and trust his or hers."
Janice Paran: "Most writers are probably not good directors of their own or anybody else's work for the same reason that most people, period, are not good directors. It's a particular talent. But some writers have been very successful in directing some of their own work—Doug Wright, Emily Mann, and Richard Nelson, among them."
Leslie Becker: "I think that depends on the writer. But I think my overall thought is 'no.' I think the outside perspective is so incredibly valuable to the process. You never know what can come out of another perspective. And it allows you to remember your job is always to write, to create, and to make the words so accessible that the director's job seems effortless—when they all mesh together in a great partnership, it's complete and utter rapture and joy!"
Russell Reich gives the final word to playwrights who want to direct their own work. "I understand why you want to do it—and it's not your fault—but don't. You are probably not equipped. While there is some overlap in a writer's storytelling skill and a director's, in general they are vastly different jobs. One activity is solitary, the other collective; one primarily language-based, the other of more broad interest. If you want to direct your own work, first ask yourself if you're doing it for merely negative reasons, such as 'I can't find a director I trust,' or if you have positive ones as well. Do you have legitimate reasons to believe you are skilled as a teacher, therapist, visual artist, orator, coach, parent, professor, and captain? All those skills rarely reside in one person, but each will be required at some point if you choose to direct.
"Also ask yourself: Will I be able to lose my preconceptions and let talent do what it does? Will it be difficult for me to allow or even encourage the others to take my work and make it their own? Finally, before you take the directing plunge, can you identify successful productions written and directed by the same person? It's not that they don't exist, but if you can't identify them, you may be lacking in role models to get the job done well.
"I know you're still going to want to direct your own work, so at least read some good books on the topic before you do it. The best, I think, are 'A Sense of Direction' by William Ball, 'On Directing' by Harold Clurman, and 'Picture This' by Molly Bang."