Favourite Directors

No one else has favourite directors?

I too have an increasing list of ones to avoid...local and otherwise

I don’t really seek out directors or have a list for me it usually goes “oh that sounds an interesting play” or “oh so-and-So is in it that might be interesting”

Followed by “oh so-and-so directing they were good with x”

I don't think I take that much notice of who has directed something to be perfectly honest. I'm not sure that I'd book or ignore something based on the director really. I know it's all supposed to be about the art dahling but I'm far more superficial than that and usually go (or avoid) because of the cast more than anything.

I used to follow particular directors in theatre quite closely, possibly as some kind of holdover from when I was a film student and you practically wouldn't be allowed into lectures if you didn't have a top ten list of favourite directors, but theatre is simultaneously so collaborative and so generally reverent of writers that I find it much harder to have favourite directors these days. That said, I do feel Jonathan Munby and I are pretty in-sync with what we like to see, Sally Cookson and Emma Rice are inspirational AF to me, and I think Iqbal Khan is INCREDIBLY underrated.

I asked for a top 10 list of your favourite directors on this thread to be positive.

Didn’t do one on directors to avoid or directors you don’t like, as I think it would be very wrong to call out someone on social media and would be very unfair and disrespectful. But there is a reason why I instigated a top 10 list as it is fascinating who you like, but also as I said I didn’t want to call out any director out directly, but absence of information is also of interest.

Come on, you are all theatre fans and are above the average attendee, so would expect you to have a good working knowledge of who you think are great theatre creators? I am not asking whether you would buy a ticket for a particular director, just who you like the most. A top 10 list wouldn’t be too much to ask for?

I feel like if you're going to try imposing a very strict format on how people reply to a thread, you're going to find that people who might have got involved in a friendly discussion will decide they simply can't be bothered...

Speaking of bad directors, what is Yael Farber up to? I'm sure there must be women wailing and ceaselessly circling the stage in some play somewhere.

I feel like you see a lot more of the core of popular theatre directors than you would of a film director, and it's very easy for a previous belovèd (say, Rupert Goold) to one day rock up with a production that you really loathe (such as Richard III) that has a very profound effect on the way you feel about them. Is this one loathed production a single aberration, or is it an indicator of the direction they're now going in? Can you overlook this one loathed production and focus on remembering previous productions you've loved, or are you now thinking "oh, actually, he's also done some that were Just Okay, so maybe it was the *good* productions that were the blip rather than this bad one"?

Also, theatre just ain't a director's medium. Every now and then you'll get someone who pops his head up and decides he's going to give the auteur thing a go (hi, Robert Icke!), but the director doesn't control the overall picture in theatre in the way the director does in film. Audiences are going to look at different things, and the theatre designer has much more power than a film designer. Yeah, you're all working together towards the director's ultimate vision, but how many film set designers can you name compared with theatre designers? (It also helps that theatre tends to be a lot less naturalistic than film, so a Miriam Buether or a Jan Versweyveld stage design is going to stand out a helluva lot more than a lovingly realised suburban American house on film.)

But sure, if we're just making lists and not having a discussion on this discussion board, then y'all just go ahead and ignore everything anyone says that isn't a list of ten names. Whatever makes you happy.

Ta for the tip off. BW was on my watch list. I'll know just circle around the Young Vic instead...

I’ve seen two Yael Farber productions - the Crucible at the Old Vic and Hamlet at the Gate in Dublin. Absolutely loved both of them. So puzzled by this negative feeling towards her

For me, the Maestro has to be Hal Prince. Both Evita and The Phantom of the Opera were successful primarily due to him: Phantom was originally conceived and workshopped as a campy, juvenile Rocky Horror-style show until he intervened.

On a good day, it's hard to beat Nick Hytner. His stagecraft- and especially his control of pace- is masterly.

For comedy, Ian Judge is brilliant at characterisation, hilarious stage business and building pace.

Robin Herford's work on 'The Woman in Black' was very skilled and he is a thoroughly nice person.

Julia Mackenzie did a great job as a director and I am always intrigued by Julie Taymor's visuals. I am one of those people who don't mind her meandering story-telling style either.

However, as a stylist, very few people can be as distinctive as Berkoff. Like Fosse, he was one of the last great creatives to actually have a style named after him and to have become an adjective!