Why We Don't Need Directors: A Dramaturgical/Historical Manifesto

Abstract

The introduction of dramaturgy at Yale was the watershed for the profession in America, but it bypassed serious examination of the nature and purpose of dramaturgy because of its a priori assumption that the dramaturg was not a "dramatist" but a "critic." The success of the Yale model erased the American model of dramaturgy that had emerged in the early twentieth century. "Drama" was originally invented, created, performed and staged by "dramaturgs" The playwright-dramatist remained the animateur of the theatre into the early twentieth century until the advent of the specialist "professional" director. Unfortunately, the cult of the director became so pronounced in the twentieth century that the director is now seen as the sine qua non of the theatrical event, replacing the playwright and actor as the arbiter and center of the dramatic creation. Save us from the directors! Let us destroy the parasite directors and return theatre to the dramatists.

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