Should Playwrights Direct Their Own Work?

I personally do not see why not. Alan Ayckbourne is a classic example of a Playwright and Director, and he makes it work.

I don't think a playwright should be excluded from direction as long as they have the skills and the understanding of what it takes to direct. Having said that, I personally believe that a playwright who wants to direct should cut their teeth (so to speak) on someone else's work before they tackle their own.

Speaking for myself, not as a playwright but as an actor who now directs, I am constantly surprised (and energised) by the exciting and unexpected twists a play may take. I had a rather specific vision for the show I am currently directing however due in large by the people I had turn up to auditions and eventually take on certain roles, my vision has altered and shifted dramatically several times, and it continues to grow and evolve. However, I have maintained the very central essence of the play.

If I can see the shift in concept from vision to production, then that would only be amplified from a playwright's point of view. Just as I cannot be too precious about how I saw the show upon reading the script, a playwright will need to be equally able to let go of their pre-conceptions if they plan to direct their own work. One of the comments above highlights this very point: "That person subsequently expressed amazement at how differently the lines were performed to how they had imagined them in the writing, even despite their own direction."

This is the nature of the beast really. You cannot expect to have a specific vision maintained when you start to throw other people with their own points of view and experiences into the mix. You can maintain the core of the vision, the very essence, but the colours and details may fall a little differently.

I had seen one of my characters as being rather stern, conservative and even bookish. However, a young lass turned up to auditions who presented me with a character that would have made for a far more interesting and watchable performance so I let the bookish girl go. She is still stern, just with a whole new attitude. She nows adds a different hue to a scene which previously may have gone under the audience radar a little.

Absit invidia (and DFT :nono:)

Jeff Watkins
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