A Director Prepares: Seven Essays on Art in Theatre | 
| Author: Anne Bogart
Publisher: Routledge
Category: Book
List Price: $35.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 64497
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 160
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5.1 x 0.5
ISBN: 0415238323
Dewey Decimal Number: 792.023
EAN: 9780415238328
ASIN: 0415238323
Publication Date: July 6, 2001
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Product Description
I am interested in the artistic process. In order to approach the theatre as artists, we should have a good look at our tools and how we make decisions. How do we approach one another in the arena of a rehearsal or on a stage? How do we begin, how do we proceed, and what are our allies?
--From the Introduction
A Director Prepares is a fascinating and thought-provoking examination of the challenges of making theatre. In it, Anne Bogart speaks candidly and with immense wisdom of the courage required to create "art with great presence."
Each chapter tackles one of the seven major areas Bogart has identified as both potential partner and potential obstacle to art-making. They are Violence; Memory; Terror; Eroticism; Stereotype; Embarrassment; and Resistance. Each one can be used to generate extraordinary creative energy, if we know how to use it.
A Director Prepares offers every practitioner an extraordinary insight into the creative process. It is a handbook, Bible and manifesto, all in one. No other book on the art of theatre comes even close to offering this much understanding, experience and inspiration.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
 like my bible, but not my manual September 6, 2008
It's true that this book does not offer technical guidance on directing. I concur with the other reviewer in recommending William Ball's "Sense of Direction" if you are looking for a straightforward beginner's guide for directing and managing rehearsals and the technical aspects of producing a show (with lots of little practical details that some other writers leave out).
What this particular book is invaluable for is its wisdom on the art of directing. The information Bogart provides in this book is not useful in the sense that it will not help a newcomer to know how many run-throughs to schedule before tech and such. It will be of incredible use, however, when a director is in the middle of a rehearsal trying to make innovative and engaging directorial choices on the fly and simply does not know where to begin or how to even approach the subject politically, intellectually, or artistically (which is the real difficulty in directing). Bogart here is big on encouraging artists to make "brave" choices without censoring themselves, but to still be aware of the political choices they are making. This sounds like telling people to be brave when they don't have the practical experience to develop or implement these big choices. I think the technical experience, however, comes with just that; experience. Get a different kind of guide to start out with (consider Bogart's practical guide, "The Viewpoints Book"), keep directing over and over again, try different things, read this book and others, and definitely consider some of the points Anne Bogart makes here in this work. Ball's book is what guides me in how to structure rehearsals; Bogart's (and Augusto Boal's as well) work is what inspires me to direct in the first place. Coincidentally, they are all at odds with each other on certain philosophical and artistic points (Ball believes the actor to be heroic when they are free to make choices, Bogart believes the actor to be heroic when they know how to accept constraints, Boal believes it is heroic when the spectators themselves make the choice to act, etc.), but that is the joy of figuring things out for yourself. This book is a great place to start in developing your own philosophical approach to directing (and I believe that as an artist, you should very much have some kind of philosophical approach to your own work). I personally have Anne Bogart's wisdom and techniques to thank for many of the choices I make as an artist, and I am glad that I read this book and became familiar with her work early on in my directing experiences.
p.s. On a technical note, her writing style is sometimes a little long-winded, meandering, and vague. Read this for fun (or "inspiration," if you will), and just let her lead you from anecdote to anecdote. I personally like her style, but others might find it distracting.
 Required Reading January 13, 2007
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
Full of holes and alot of overbearing personal philosophy. I found myself crossing out lines of this text, as so much of this is conjecture and hyperbole. The chapter on Violence is worth the cost of the book, however, I would recommend going to the library and saving your money. Some directors swear by this text, thusly it is a potent force in the contemporary theatre. However, many of these ideas have been chewed up and misused by so many inexperienced Bogart groupies that it has little more validity than, say, a Richard Foreman text in its extremely self-referential nature.
A must have for your theatre library December 14, 2005
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
A vitally important book about creating theatre in the 21st century. Those who complain that this book is not a handbook for how to direct are unfortunately missing the point - one would be hard pressed to find a more important, inspirational book about why we take on the struggle that being in theatre brings.
Don't let the price scare you, all you fellow actors on a budget - this book is for you, too.
How any theater artist prepares August 16, 2004
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
The title is misleading since the book is really about the process of making art--specifically making theater--and will be valuable to anyone involved in the collaborative process.
Some have complained that this book does not tell one "how to direct." But Bogart's book is about how to find one's voice as an artist and how to wrestle with material--topics that are rarely treated with the sanity that this book does. Reading it will help you figure out how to direct(or act or design) in your own individual way.
A Landmark for Theater September 4, 2003
Bogart writes from her years of experience and vision in A Director Prepares. Readers merely looking for a book on "how to direct" may want to look elsewhere: this manifesto takes on serious issues faced by theater artists every day. While other books "on directing" explain how to get actors from point A to point B, A Director Prepares examines the shoulders that theatermakers stand on: artistically, historically, politically. And it's not just for Bogart/SITI Company disciples. Like the creation of theater, A Director Prepares requires heightened attention and a clean slate every time you dive into its pages. It's inspiring, but also a challenge to theater makers to rethink how we approach our processes and to question upon whose shoulders we stand.
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