how do you evaluate a director's work?

I am planning to direct again after a 12 year break from it very soon....so heres my five cents worth. In some productions it can be very hard to tell where the director has played their hand in a production, but there are signs. If the show is a shambolic mess and it appears that the director has completely missed the point of, or does not understand the play thats pretty hard to miss. You can also tell if the actors have directed themselves in spite of the director, because often the performances are not even or there clearly is no teamwork, merely a bunch of virtuoso performances that do not gel well. To me a director needs overall to have a sense of artistry, painting a living picture with actors, lighting, sound, bringing forth the authors intent, and having a full understanding and love of both the text and our wonderful language. They need to understand the processes of ALL the roles in a production,the actors the techs the SM the costume and set designers, costume and set makers, and an overall artistic vision of what they wish to acheive with the text they have chosen. They need negotiation skills, they need to ensure that all the actors understand their roles, (To me an actor that cannot see the overall picture of the show beyond their performance either needs to have this outlined by the director, or needs to do something else.) In terms of directing the actors, keeping an eye on blocking, diction, inflection, projection,pace, that characterisation does not overshadow good ensemble work, making sure each scene is played within context, that the themes of the production are correctly portrayed, and if the director wants to play around with the setting (time period or moving away from a traditional approach) that the way in which they have chosen to do the play still brings forth its message and is not promulgating the directors own peccadilloes to the dietriment of the authors intent.(Best to write your own play instead). It is the overall artistry of the director, that makes for that "wow" factor in a production. I personally dislike farce as a genre, however done well I can appreciate the effort the director has made, which makes seeing such a show worthwhile - they are winning me over to their production by the competence of their efforts. Most community theatre directors in Perth in my recent experience cover most but not all of these areas, crafting a play is not something that just happens, in the better productions I have seen over the last few years, the directors that cover all these areas and give them the right amount of attention are the ones that make the difference between an average night out; to a very good and on the odd occasion excellent evening out at the theatre. I also beleive that Directors, along with actors, need to have a certain degree of life experience,and need to undertake appropriate research where necessary. As an example, period piece plays, knowing the social and political and societal mores of the period concerned is necessary, how did people dress?...how did people view themselves and their lot in life?.A good director has done all this as part of the creative process. Direction, done well, is a very complex and intricate process, sometimes even with all that effort the show may not come off, but by doing so, it stands a better chance of success than the "that'll do" approach it appears some directors seem to take. MHO Cheers Robert