Contemporary Women Stage Directors presents the wisdom and knowledge of 27 key female professional theatre directors in the United Kingdom and United States. In seven topical chapters, the directors describe their diverse approaches to choosing projects, engaging with scripts, conceptualizing visual and acoustic production elements, collaborating with actors and production teams, building their careers, and navigating challenges and opportunities posed by gender, race, and ethnicity.
The women featured have directed acclaimed productions at many of the most influential theatres in the English-speaking world from Broadway to the West End, from the National Theatre in London to Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles, plus hundreds of points between yet previous books on directing have included very few of their voices. As mid-career professionals, they are informed by both their hard-earned expertise and their forward-looking energy, so they offer astute observations about the current state of the art form as well as inspiring visions of what theatre can accomplish in the decades to come.
Directors include Maria Aberg, May Adrales, Sarah Benson, Karin Coonrod, Rachel Chavkin, Lear deBessonet, Nadia Fall, Vicky Featherstone, Polly Findlay, Leah Gardiner, Anne Kauffman, Lucy Kerbel, Young Jean Lee, Patricia McGregor, Blanche McIntyre, Paulette Randall, Diane Rodriguez, Indhu Rubasingham, KJ Sanchez, Tina Satter, Kimberly Senior, Roxana Silbert, Leigh Silverman, Caroline Steinbeis, Liesl Tommy, Lyndsey Turner, and Erica Whyman.
