Artistic Direction - Frosh Bites

I was reading howlround.com's article on Eleventy-One Nuggets for Being a Successful and Ethical Artistic Director, and thought that there was many interesting topics and thoughts that were worth passing on - and not just to artistic directors, but TD's designers, project managers, and basically anyone else that desires a successful life.  

I really like 111 - the comment on change management.  Change management is a difficult topic, and frequently is problematic to implement.  

Take a look at the article, book mark it - it will be worth coming back to. 

Quote of the Day

"You can fix it on the drawing board with an eraser or you can fix it
on the site with a sledgehammer."
-Frank Lloyd Wright

Quote of the day

Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.
Albert Einstein

Quote of the Day

"every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up." - Picasso

Quote of the day

"I agree that the set designer does and should need to take things like fire curtain limitations into account. Fire curtain rules are every bit as much apart of the theater as where the walls are and how much weight the floor will hold and and how many linesets there are, and all that. Designers DO need to worry about stuff like that. Designs are plans for building. They are not artistic drawings with no real world application."

June Abernathy on the stagecraft mailing list, 12-30-2007.

I particularly agree with the concept that design must work with the space not against it. The quote in context comes from a discussion about whether a designer should redesign a show because the deck breaks the fire curtain (and who on the team should participate in the decision). While there are options for this scenario (always working with the AHJ) and I don't necessarily agree that any design that crosses the fire curtain line should be refused, I do believe that both the TD and the Designer must work together to find a way that meets both aesthetic and safety needs.

Quote of the Day

"theatres are like grapes; they grow best in bunches." Greg Falls, founder of Seattle's A Contemporary Theatre.