International Theatre Conference: Directing and Authorship in Western Drama

Panel Six
Saturday October 25th,11-12:45pm

Paul Stoesser, U of Toronto
Abstract: Authorship and the Implications of Design in Roy Mitchell's Art of Directing

The purpose of this paper is to explore the manner in which Roy Mitchell incoroporated the legacy of Adolphe Appia and of other theories of the interpretative function of scenography in his productions for Canadian audiences. In collaboration with various designers, Roy Mitchell, the first Artistic Director of Hart House Theatre, mounted productions with a scenic comprehensiveness characteristic of the current practice of the Art Theatres of Europe and America. Of primary significance to this style of theatre, and a hallmark of Mitchell's productions, was the amplification of the ideas in the text by means of scenic expression. In emphasizing simplicity and suggestion in the integrated elements of its scenography, these early productions at Hart House Theatre differed radically from contemporary illusionary fare. Moreover, represented in the innovation of these productions, is the introduction to Canada of those modern staging techniques that considered the implications of design and its subsequent interpretation as a fundamental component of authorship.