Overworked Directors

[theatregoer3]

Posted: 3/1/19 at 12:23pm

In the past few years I've noticed great directors getting overused and seeing a sharp decline in the quality of their work. I'm thinking specifically of Sam Gold, Ivo van Hove, and Alex Timbers.

All three used to be - and still are - held in high regard and then became attached to a seemingly endless slate of exciting projects. Even though some of those projects had long periods of development, because there are so many, it seems that none of these directors have time to actually stop and reflect upon the work. Thus the work of these three in recent times has felt muddled and a pale imitation of their past successes. 

Does anyone else feel the same?

[JBroadway]

Posted: 3/1/19 at 12:49pm

I can't speak to Timbers because it's been a while since I've seen something he directed.

As for Sam Gold - If you look back at his credits, he's always been pretty hit or miss. Not only that, but he's employed a wide range of styles over the years, ranging from hyper-naturalism to safe-and-normal to bizarre experimentalism. I don't think anything has changed much in the quality of his work over time, as he's been so inconsistent for years. 

Ivo Van Hove is the exact opposite of that - he pretty much always does the same few things. He's not overused, he's just over-exposed. The more people see his work, the more they realize that he's constantly pulling from the same bag of tricks. Lots of people are praising the staging of Network who have never seen a Van Hove show before - I particularly hear people mention things like the fact that they have a live-feed scene outside the theatre, but that's the THIRD time I've seen Van Hove do that, and I bet he's done it other times. Having said all that, I'll still keep going to see his shows because it's interesting to see how different material works with the "Ivo-treatment." I also think Van Hove does better work when he's directing an existing piece of theatre written for the stage (View From the Bridge, Crucible, etc.), as opposed to his film/book adaptations (The Damned, Obsession, The Fountainhead, etc.)

 

When I saw this thread title I actually thought it would be about something different. I don't want to hijack the thread too much (in fact maybe this topic deserves its own thread), but has anyone else noticed that there's always 1 or 2 directors per season who end up directing 3-5 shows in a short period of time? Last year it was Lila Neugebauer, the year before it was Sam Gold, this year I feel like it's Leigh Silverman. It's an interesting trend! 

[JSquared2]

Posted: 3/1/19 at 1:00pm

JBroadway said: When I saw this thread title I actually thought it would be about something different. I don't want to hijack the thread too much (in fact maybe this topic deserves its own thread), but has anyone else noticed that there's always 1 or 2 directors per season who end up directing 3-5 shows in a short period of time? Last year it was Lila Neugebauer, the year before it was Sam Gold, this year I feel like it's Leigh Silverman. It's an interesting trend!"

 

That's not really a new trend, at all.  Look back at George Abbott who often had 5-6 shows open in the same season.

 

[SomethingPeculiar]

Posted: 3/1/19 at 1:12pm

When I saw the headline, my first thought was Joe Mantello or Trip Cullman. Mantello is more consistently successful, whereas Cullman seems to jump from play to play with varying levels of quality. 

With Ivo, I don't think it's a matter of being overworked, he just has his bag of tricks. Sometimes Sam Gold wants to be Ivo, other times he's trying to do something different, so I find his productions more interesting because you never quite know what you're gonna get. And Timbers usually isn't doing more than 2 in a year, which I don't consider overworked.

I think the most impressive feat this season is Scott Ellis going from Tootsie Chicago (August to October) to Kiss Me Kate (January to March) to Tootsie Broadway (February to April), and who knows what else in between.

[JBroadway]

Posted: 3/1/19 at 1:14pm

JSquared2 said: "That's not really a new trend, at all."

 

Never said it was! Just said it was interesting. Particularly if the director in question then does doesn't do as much the next season. 

 

 

 

[Vespertine1228]

Posted: 3/1/19 at 2:05pm

It's common knowledge that high profile directors like these use their assistant directors for help during overlapping projects.

In demand actors are often balancing their time between various projects, but I'm not sure it's such a good move for directors.