Philosophy

"And as imagination bodies forth
The forms of things unknown, the poet's pen
Turns them into shapes, and gives to airy nothing
A local habitation and a name."

Like the poet (or playwright), the director is a shaper. Life as we experience it in the raw is an unsorted series of discontinuous impressions. Humans seek meaning, and look without and within to forge linkages between external events and an internal logic. There are many kinds of logics or sensible narratives, from science to religion to art. Theater, as art, gives form to chaos. It imbues meaning by shaping. We frequently read that playwrights as well as acting coaches give high value to "truth," another way of saying that we uphold a consistent narrative.

There are times when the director is a primary shaper. The idea of the "auteur," derived from cinema theory, proposes the director as the source of all information in the stage production. In this view, the director creates or serves as the conduit for actions that comprise the theater event, whether or not parts of the event are derived from a script, or from designers' or actors' art. In practice, the UCI directing program accepts this as one approach--especially in the case of special projects undertaken after discussion with the Head of Directing. In general, however, the Program is "logocentric," viewing the director as the interpreter of the script--a creative, collaborative artist in the sense that s/he creates in collaboration with designers and actors the event that realizes the script. This does not diminish the director's responsibility for the event. All directors share with the auteur the duty to own the event, to stand by everything that goes on the stage. But the interpretive director does not over-ride, "improve," or "correct" the text (other than to fine-tune it, as an editor adjusts any text to crystallize its coherence) but strives to understand it thoroughly in order to bring it to an audience as fully as possible.

The director is an artist and a craftsman. We are philosophers and traffic cops. Although we may be rarely geniuses ("originators") as is the playwright, we are the high judges of what passes on stage, not through our own agendas, but through contemplation and critical perspective, through native ability and shared experience in judging which forms best illuminate the playtext and penetrate and engage the audience. We also carry the responsibility for organizing the life of the play--both onstage and behind the scenes--in a smooth and efficient manner. We have a duty to perfect our craft, so we may stimulate productivity and good order for our fellow artists--actors and designers who make tangible what we envision.

Throughout the UCI program, we shall deal with many academic and real-world instances to help hone our craft and grow more mature in our art. The line between these two categories will often blur, as nearly everything we do carries with it the complexity of constant human encounters. Overriding much of our experience will be the concern for striking a balance between humility and leadership. The program does not tolerate intolerance nor failure to take leadership responsibility. There are a great many ways in which a director "leads" a production team, from mediation, to autocracy, to shared creativity. Only tyranny and passivity are off limits, and a major part of our education is devoted to defining the many forms of these "director's illnesses."

Traditionally, there are many established "styles" or "ideologies" with which directors must be familiar. Six quarters of our nine-quarter program are centered on tutorials and lab work, and each of these quarters focuses on a theme. These themes are sequenced to move from the most basic historical forms of theater through complex, advanced stages. We begin with Classicism and move through Realism/Naturalism. Whenever possible, in consort with the graduate acting program, we shall explore material similar to that in the MFA actors' development, so that we may find many actors dealing with the same problems we are addressing.

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