One of the most important - and most sensitive - relationships in theater is that between playwright and director. In some ways, the entire success of a show can hinge on the shared understanding, trust and mutual respect between these two artists. The director and the writer need to see the show with the same eyes, otherwise their collaboration won't work. This is important to establish in the initial meetings.
TRU has created a new, experimental program that will train theater artists in the crucial skills of communication. It is led generally by commercial producers, since the producer is generally the real-world mediator in writer-director disagreements, and has the better overview of a production.
In this Lab we will team ten directors with ten writers prior to the Lab itself. Playwrights will email us a synopsis, pitch and production history, plus 5-10 sample pages of a script; directors will select a project that interests them from those submitted, request and read the script and prepare for a preliminary director-writer discussion about the play. We will watch and guide that discussion in the Lab. You will:
• Discover your personal communication style
• Learn to identify the style of the person you are with, and adjust to it for maximum mutual understanding
• Explore non-threatening ways of discussing text, communicating and listening
• Identify your domain of authority, and determine protocols
