Artistic/ creative director
The ABTT says:
Most shows begin with either a script for which a director and designer are chosen by the producer. The director then chooses the cast. The designer works closely with the director to create the visual side of the production. Both director and designer have to work within the budgetary constraints of the company.
The artistic director of a theatre also has an important role: they coordinate all the aspects of a play and all the people involved in the production, overseeing all aspects of the staging such as costumes, props and music, and report to the sponsoring group or board of directors.
On a day-to-day basis, the artistic director can be choosing plays that will run at the theatre, looking after the theatre’s budget, hiring the director for a future play or consulting with an existing director, developing the content of a play, scheduling productions or attending meetings.
More than just working with people within the theatre community, an artistic director has to deal with the public and with funding bodies. It is his responsibility to get people to come to the theatre, and therefore to know what types of plays people in the community want to see and to make the theatre an inviting place.
Madani Younis, 28, is creative director of Asian Theatre School, part of Red Ladder Theatre Company, Leeds. He says that the best thing about his job is the opportunity to be creative with talented performers and that one day he hopes to be artistic director of a rep building. His best advice for wannabe directors is to chase your dreams, not the competition.
