During then production of a play Depths of Life, later renamed The Depths.... Konstantin and his peers Simov and Nimorovich-danchenko went to Khitrov market, where a group of intellectuals who transcribed art worked... The lived in little rooms and drunk a lot. They were located in the depths of unsavory environs. But still the went there to learn of their roles.... Mainly to understand the trumps of Khitrov market.
The most brilliant thing about these pioneers of modern day directing is their dedication to the art. See directing is both managerial and artistic. Beyond managing the craft itself .... There is the artistic bit where the director picks a script, analyzes it... Here the director may alter aspects of the script to suit his audience, for example the removal of sexual connotation - bowdlerization. Or even flip the script on you the audience in terms of structure... Then there is the bit where the director decodes the tone and mood of the work of art.
Other Major duties of a director include design aspect and inspiration, couch actors and avail themselves to dress rehearsals, previews and opening night.
See the art to a real director means something. Theater is a profession that deserves more than a part time allocation of resources.... Majorly time.
If the greats like Konstantin found time to go to the darkest corners of Russia to find the inspiration to the roles and characters they were portraying and directing... Why shouldn't we put aside our hubris and walk the fine line between real life and art.
Research is key in the arts which many of us lack in and thus the aspects of mediocrity in production we showcase... Patience in the arts will ensure success.
Note that I do not claim to be all knowing guru in this... But I read a few books... Practitioners in theater have to read wide, research their characters and take time to learn them in order to depict accurate depictions.
I feel a change in the industry... An appreciation of native culture is slowly sipping back to mainstream media... Am glad. At least my kids will know what it's like to be African. The kind of research I advocate will lead us back to our ancestral homes.... Back to learning our mother tongues and writing scripts on that.
I can not wait to see us Kenyans embrace not so new but almost forgotten approach to theater and the arts in whole.
Nekh.
