The Theatre of Les Waters: More Like the Weather combines original writings from Les Waters with short essays by a wide range of his collaborators, creating a personal and multi-faceted portrait of an influential director, revered mentor, and inspirational theatre artist.
The book begins with a critical introduction of Waters’s work, followed by essays written by a wide range of Waters's collaborators over the past four decades. These essays are framed by shorter pieces of writing by Waters himself: reflections, inspirations, observations, and personal anecdotes. At the heart of this book lies the notion that the director’s central position in theatrical production is defined by collaboration and that a study of directing should take into account how a director works with playwrights, designers, actors, stage managers, and dramaturgs to turn artistic vision into concrete reality on stage.
An insightful resource for early career or student directors in theatre programs, The Theatre of Les Waters sheds light on the art of theatre directing by exploring the work of a major theatre artist whose accomplished career sits at the heart of American theatre in the 21st century. Drawing on aspects of memoir, case study, interview, miscellany, biography, and criticism, this is also an enlightening read for anyone with an interest in how theatre artists bring their creative vision to life.
Edited by:
Scott T. Cummings (Boston College Massachussets USA)
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 229mm,
Width: 152mm,
Weight: 562g
ISBN: 9780367773229
ISBN 10: 0367773228
Pages: 320
Publication Date: 29 April 2022
Audience:
General/trade
,
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
ELT Advanced
,
Primary
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
"1. Introduction: A Long Conversation Scott T. Cummings 2. Early theatre experience 3. School report 4. ""My Les"" Annie Smart 5. Some things will be lost, maybe. 6. Postcards 7. ""The Next Phase"" Mia Katigbak 8. I love lists 9. Theatres I have known 10. ""Archeology, Erasers, and Les Waters"" Sarah Ruhl 11. Working things out in public 12. ""Les Waters is an Attractor"" Anne Bogart 13. ""If you have Les Waters direct your plays"" Charles Mee 14. Silence onstage 15. 24 things I could look at all day 16. ""A Story, A Whisper, A Joke"" Quincy Tyler Bernstine 17. ""A Huge Vat of Human Skin"" Steve Cosson 18. Ten films I admire that other directors might find interesting 19. Testing for COVID-19 20. ""Les(s) is More: The Essential Artistry of Les Waters"" Tony Taccone 21. Some productions I saw that made me the director I am 22. Sometimes 23. ""Les. Fragments."" Anne Washburn 24. Room control 25. A good rehearsal room 26. ""Les in Space"" Amanda Spooner 27. ""Hearing Things"" Bray Poor 28. Learning to direct 29. Friday, August 28, 2020 30. 50 works of fiction that I love 31. ""The Power of Contradiction"" Anne Kauffman 32. ""Inside and Outside"" Kathleen Chalfant 33. Actors and notes 34. The list of films goes on . . . 35. Thin places 36. Max and the Royal Court 37. Ten key productions for me 38. ""Les Waters at the Royal Court"" Rob Ritchie 39. Off a cliff 40. Diary: Top Girls in Tokyo, 1992 Les Waters 41. ""Just Nod and Say Thank You"" Keith Reddin 42. National identity 43. Something about lists 44. ""Designing with Les: ' . . . back in the arms of a good friend.'"" David Zinn 45. Photographers 46. A few more productions of mine 47. ""About Memory. About Ghosts."" Naomi Iizuka 48. Evacuation list 49. The Humana Festival of New American Plays 50. ""Partnership Leadership"" Jennifer Bielstein 51. Chair exercises 52. ""The Search is the Destination"" Amy Wegener 53. Some thoughts on somebody who is a stage manager 54. ""The Trust Factor"" Paul Mills Holmes 55. A cloud of direction 56. Opposites 57. ""The Thing"" Sarah Lunnie 58. ""Responsion"" Lucas Hnath 59. Presence 60. Humana on my watch 61. ""The Art of Seeing"" Meredith McDonough 62. Four more productions of mine 63. Do's and don'ts for directors 64. ""Unfounded Belief"" Lila Neugebauer 65. The last list of films 66. The need to do it 67. ""Dear Mr. Les Waters"" Raelle Myrick-Hodges 68. Things unfinished 69. Grief 70. Pandemic reading list 71. ""Don't Talk"" Bruce McKenzie 72. Kenneth Tynan 73. Some of my favorite places 74. Ghosts 75. ""[aside]"" Maria Dizzia 76. Comfort, solace 77. ""Still Connected"" Caryl Churchill 78. What is Beauty? 79. A list catalogues experience"
Scott T. Cummings has directed plays and taught courses in playwriting and dramatic literature in the Theatre Department of Boston College since 1994. He is the author of Remaking American Theater: Charles Mee, Anne Bogart and the SITI Company (2006), and Maria Irene Fornes (2013), as well as co-editor with Erica Stevens Abbitt of The Theatre of Naomi Wallace: Embodied Dialogues (2014).
