Actors Vs Directors

Interesting topic, thought I would add my two cents.
I believe that a directors greatest skill should be the art of communication. There are many languages spoken in the process of putting a show together. The language of the actor, the designer, the writer, the language of light, sound, colour and composition, the language of costuming, stage management and lets not forget the language of administration. It is the directors duty to learn these languages and to speak them fluently. ( don't misunderstand me - this is not the work of one or two shows, but the study of a lifetime.) It is my experience that when an artist, be it anyone from actor to stage manager, is pursuing their own course separate from my own direction it is because I have not communicated my ideas clearly in a language that they understand or I am not hearing the relevance of their ideas because my understanding of their language is not adequate. How does a director learn to speak actor or designer or administrator fluently? Get in and have a go! A director who has never been on stage or lit a show can never have a full understanding of the pressures, the limitations, the skills required or indeed the joys of that particular role in the creative team. Differences in the creative vision of the piece also arise from lack of communication. Directors need to explain the artistic vision to the key creative personel from day one. An actor should leave the audition with a clear understanding of where the director would like to head with the production, and if they don't they NEED to ask. Remember actors you are auditioning a director just as much as they are auditioning you. A director who cannot explain what they would like to do with a show or seems to you to have misunderstood the script is perhaps a director you should decline working with, rather than trying to fight it throughout the rehearsal process - this is a fruitless excercise.
WOW - I have been going on havn't I
I'm going to shut up now.
INDI