This volume examines the work of directors Jacques Copeau, Theodore Komisarjevsky and Tyrone Guthrie. It explores in detail many of the directors’ key productions, including Copeau’s staging of Molière’s The Tricks of Scapin, Komisarjevsky’s signature season of Chekhov plays at the Barnes Theatre and Guthrie’s pioneering direction of Shakespeare’s plays in North America. This study argues that their work exemplifies the complexity and novelty of the role of theatre directing in the first three-quarters of the 20th century, as Komisarjevsky was in the middle of the genesis of directing in Russia, Copeau launched his directorial career just as the role was gaining definition, and Guthrie was at the vanguard of directing in Britain, at last shaking off the traditions of the actor-manager to formulate the new role of artistic director.
List of Figures Notes on Contributors Dedications and Acknowledgements Introduction to the Series, Simon Shepherd (Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, UK) Introduction to Volume 3, Jonathan Pitches (University of Leeds, UK) 1. Jacques Copeau, Mark Evans (Coventry University, UK) and Cass Fleming (Goldsmiths University, UK) 2. Theodore Komisarjevsky, Jonathan Pitches (University of Leeds, UK) and Claire Warden (Loughborough University, UK) 3. Tyrone Guthrie, Roberta Barker (Dalhousie University, Canada) and Tom Six (Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, UK) Notes Bibliography Index
Jonathan Pitches is Professor of Theatre and Performance at the University of Leeds, UK.
