Directing Intersectionally: Rethinking Theatre Directing Practices for the 21st Century

Directing Intersectionally: Rethinking Theatre Directing Practices for the 21st Century explores new approaches and techniques for directing theatre, deriving from an intersectional lens.

Centering intersectionality as understood by Fourth-wave Intersectional Feminism and Critical Race Theory, this book looks at new directing practices that are inclusive, sustainable, and care-centered. Contemporary theatre artists propelling these changes are discussed and featured in this book, sharing models for theatre-making that acknowledge and remove toxic histories of patriarchal sexism and racism. Unique considerations for theatre making in academic institutions and student-led theatre, as well as reflections on current theatre collectives, directors, and practitioners who create theatre according to the principles discussed herein, are also featured. Interweaving authors' and practitioners' voices, this book sparks a conversation about how to evolve the director's role and its potential to create art with greater empathy.

Directors at all stages of their careers, instructors teaching directing courses, and theatre-makers contemplating how the theatre industry can progress forward into the next century will benefit from this book’s conversational style and practical approach, featuring production examples, resources, and rehearsal-room practices that will help shape the next generation of theatre directors.

Rachel E. Blackburn, M.F.A., Ph.D. (She/They), is a director, performer, scholar, and professor. She currently serves as a Sr. Learning and Enablement consultant with UserTesting, assisting clients with UX research. She has greatly enjoyed teaching courses on intersectional identity and performance, comic performance, directing, acting, dramaturgy, devised theatre, theatre history, improvisation, audition technique, and more at over a dozen universities.

Gina Sandí Díaz, Ph.D. (She/Her), is Associate Professor of Theatre in the Department of Theatre and Dance at California State University, Fresno (Fresno State). Her creative practice and scholarship center on intersectionality, identity, and Latine and Latin American theatre. She is a member of the Latinx Theatre Commons, the American Theatre and Drama Society, the American College Theatre Festival, and the Association of Theatre in Higher Education.

Molly Richards Claassen, M.F.A. (She/Her), is a Professor of Directing and Head of the BA program at Columbus State University. She is a member of Actors’ Equity Association and an associate member of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society. Her research, presentations, and publications concentrate on intersectional directing, directing pedagogy, and motherhood in the performing arts and academia.

Keyanna Alexander (She/They), is a freelance director, playwright, and theatre administrator. They currently work in the theatre scene in Minneapolis, Minnesota (U.S.). Keyanna has previously served in leadership positions for the National Black Theatre Festival (NC), Women’s Theatre Festival, and the Southeastern Theatre Conference’s Women+ in Theatre Committee. They have directed in association with North Carolina Central University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Duke University.