The task of the director

Commitment is the first prerequisite. Having even one person who is not in this state not only slows, but stops everything. It is dangerous to go any farther. The director, the group, and the work stop, right where that invidual is uncommitted. It's "in-ness," the commitment, that is the first imperative, not ability.

People do not know how committed they are until they begin to walk the path. Make the path. Enforce it. See how they walk. When the last uncommitted one drops away, your spine will know it. If even one uncommitted person is in the room -- even if they are all saying they are committed, and they mean it -- your spine will know it. Obey your spine.

THE TASK OF THE DIRECTOR

A primary responsibility of the director is to

1. Commit.
2. Prevent uncommitted people from entering the room
3. Create structures which reveal any remaining lack of commitment in people in the room
4. Get uncommitted people out of the room, fast.

A director who can perceive lack of commitment in others, yet does not take these actions, is -- through lack of courage -- modelling and inviting a lack of integrity, and condemning the results to mediochrity.

Such refusal to protect the sacred space is a betrayal of ethics.

"Affect the space first."
--Leonid Anisimov

Affecting the space first is the most fundamental task of the director.

1. Affect your own personal space first. Body, health, physical surroundings, enough money, time, sleep, friends, car, whatever you need.
2. Do your self-care. If you're in deficit, you're just spreading your pollution. (And, by the way, self-care expands limitlessly; the better you get at, the more you can see.)
3. Affect the space of the theatre. Get space, the more beautiful and clean the better. Get money. Get time. Get Nature. Get anything YOU know improves the experience and the work. Like Jim McCarthy says, “Never do anything dumb on purpose.”

The task of the director in early rehearsal is to create the environment and structures which will most efficiently 1) educate the conscious, and 2) stimulate growth from the unconscious. Truth is mandatory. Beauty accelerates. Awaiting the Mystery is a good attitude. You need a very clean pure space to do this. After a good rehearsal, everyone leaves cleaner than they came.

"A clean theatre and a clean yard
is a loved theatre and a loved yard."
-- Eugenio Barba, Odin Teatret

Leonid Anisimov, when entering a much-used black-box theatre, looked around and said, “This space is full of lies. First, we must clean.” And his whole company, who had just flown all the way from Vladivostok to Seattle, set to work. They would not leave, to go to their host families' houses, until the theatre was thoroughly clean.

It is difficult to work in space which is full of lies. It is like having a strong river pushing against you. If you are the director, or the actor, or the designer, or anyone in the theatre – you must tell the truth. The practice of theatre is a practice of integrity.

“Only the truth can cure.
Only the truth can heal.”
--Anton Chekhov

In your productions, you must make a space for the actors which helps them be truthful. Nature helps actors on stage. Leonid says, "Always put Nature on stage."

Next tasks of the director:

1. Begin training
2. Begin creating a performance. (This is a whole set of things, itself, including how to crack the work, and crack the ensemble.)
3. Begin connecting to the community.

In tibetan buddhism, we take refuge in 3 things: the buddha, the dharma, and the sangha. The buddha = a regular person has done this transcendental work before, so it can be done. The dharma = the teachings. The sangha = the community of like-minded fellow seekers. Directors need these same three things -- models, masters & teachings, and fellow seekers.