Although EN 230 is (technically speaking) a course on drama, that is literature, rather than on theater, that is the performance of a play, it's always interesting to learn how various directors go about their business. Anne Bogart, the author of A Director Prepares (and And Then, You Act) is a noted director who is based in NYC. I haven't seen any of her plays...yet!
Here is a link to a recent, extended interview with her. It may serve as a biography:
This page has links to various videos with her:
And this is a link to her blog at her theater company!
In A Director Prepares, Ms. Bogart discusses her approach to theater. It involves decisiveness...as well as intuition. It involves attention to actors and the audience...yet she recalls how she handled an extensive monologue...focusing on the details surrounding the actor rather than on the actor himself. She also retells how she grounded herself in theatrical tradition, rooting down in order to rise, focusing on form and the theater's potential for illusion.
When I come back, I will post some links and pictures from her productions over the years. The picture above is from an opera about the last Russian Tsar and his wife, which Ms. Bogart directed in LA. More recently, she has directed a production of Euripedes' The Trojan Women, an ancient Greek play. This production was staged at LA's Getty Museum.
Another play within the purview of EN 230 is Bobrauschenbergamerica. The title of the play refers to Robert Rauschenberg, an American painter (1925-).
A 2003 production is reviewed here:Here is an excerpt from the play: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZczgZwZGqA
You may prefer her modernized Macbeth:
See the picture of Lady Macbeth below!
I'll close with another picture of Ms. Bogart directing actors in a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream.
