Description: 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.
Brief description: 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.
Review Quotes: '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 1,000 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 Center, The City University of New York