Contemporary Women Stage Directors: Conversations on Craft by Paulette Marty

Abstract

Reviewed by: Contemporary Women Stage Directors: Conversations on Craft by Paulette Marty Jacqueline Goldfinger Contemporary Women Stage Directors: Conversations on Craft. By Paulette Marty. Bloomsbury Methuen Drama, 2019. Cloth $80.00, Paper $24.00. 304 pages. Contemporary Women Stage Directors: Conversations on Craft by Paulette Marty is an invaluable resource for any theatre student or practitioner who is interesting in expanding their knowledge of both the craft of directing and the philosophy behind the approach that different directors bring to their creative process. While interview-based texts often focus on past successes and aesthetics, Marty covers past work while pushing forward to help us imagine the future of theatre, through the lens of prominent directors. This book belongs on your shelf next to recent releases such as Black Acting Methods, which expands on the traditional role of the theatre artist, both in training and in performance. While many texts explore artists' work retrospectively, by interviewing mid-career directors and giving them the space to discuss both the past, present, and future of their practice, Marty crafts a unique experience for readers that allows them to learn from, and imagine with, today's top artists in real time. This results in an energetic teaching text with many jumping off points for in-class discussion about directing, and also provides examples of new approaches to process that students can immediately apply in the rehearsal room. Marty's easily navigable and teachable book takes readers on a clear and multi-faceted journey through a director's process, from selecting an individual project to building a career. Unlike other significant texts on directing, in which interviews of directors are separated by chapter breaks, Marty's text integrates the interviews into chapters organized by theme, which allows readers to more easily compare approaches, ideas, and suggestions. This organizational structure allows for teachers to smoothly integrate the text into syllabi, which are usually arranged by topic. The directors Marty interviews all identify as mid-career, yet they come from a wide range of backgrounds, experiences, interests, and aesthetic drives, which [End Page 164] makes for a thought-provoking and compelling read. This diversity of experience leads to an enormous difference in process, aesthetic, and approach. For example, May Adrales comes to directing from a background in studying storytelling as an on-the-page literary process, while Rachel Chavkin studied with SITI Company and Suzuki which are very physical processes. Both directors discuss how their background influences their different approaches to work, and the author treats both artists' perspectives equally (30). This diversity of perspectives, in turn, will appeal to artists and educators with a wide range of interests. Unlike other texts which tend to favor one or two ways of working, this text embraces many ways of working, which makes it more applicable to more students and general readers than traditional directing books that focus on particular lineages or modes of directing. The directors who are interviewed have each found a way to carve a niche for their voice out of the noise of the contemporary performing arts scene. Their evolutions as artists are captivating stories for artists and students who might be concerned about their own trajectory, which may or may not look like a traditional route to directing professionally. For example, director Adrales notes in her interview, "I was a Modern Studies and Literature major in college and, in literature class, I came across David Henry Hwang's M. Butterfly. That was so eye-opening because I had not seen or read plays at that point that offered a political perspective from an Asian American point of view. I started reading all of his work and became so enthralled with it that I began to see a different path for myself (3 0). In addition, this book highlights that a director's individual motivation, insight, and appeal often come from years of internal journeys and external discoveries that coalesce into personal practice. As Sarah Benson says: "The design process is often where I really find a play. Obviously, there's already been something that's made me want to work on this play; but through the design process, I get more specific about why...