THE DIRECTOR

by W. A. Gregory ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 17, 1968

It is difficult to ascertain the audience for The Director, Perhaps a Scarsdale English teacher suddenly confronted with the responsibility of a Senior Play. Even so, it is doubtful if he or she would be able to wade through the superfluous explanations: ""Who and what is the director ? He is first and last an artist""; ""'the play's the thing'"" in selection; ""One does not, for example, choose Mr. Roberts if one is directing a production for a Catholic Girls' School,"" In particular, some of the theories he advocates are dangerously simplistic and can be destructively confusing for the amateur actor -- his ""rite role"" analysis for example presents the actor as playing a character playing a role unconsciously (the Don Quixote theory first proposed by Eric Bentley). Professionals might pause over this method applied to motive. But Mr. Gregory is, shall we say, condescending in his appreciation of actors anyway: ""Actors tend to be a self-centered group of individuals and seldom are very concerned by values outside their own little world."" If this book is sought after at all it will be by the poor neophyte who's heard of the step-by-step directions on how to do The Wild Duck. And a lot of Wild Ducks will be tame turkeys before the season's out. Thank heavens for A Sense of Direction (see p. 578).

Pub Date: July 17, 1968

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Funk & Wagnalls

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1968

Categories: NONFICTION