Theater Directors, recognized and indies
A theater director is the person in charge of setting up a theatrical production, overseeing the orchestra and performers, leading them and fully exploring their talents to make the presentation possible.
There are well known directors in the industry like the french director Ariane Mnouchkine (daughter of Russian film producer Alexandre Mnouchkine and Jane Hannen). Mnouchkine is a strong believer in the collaborative process of theatre and that has been the key of her success.
She has been quoted as saying 'the theater director has already achieved the greatest degree of power he has ever had in history. And our aim is to move beyond that situation by creating a form of theatre where it will be possible for everyone to collaborate without there being directors, technicians, and so on, in the old sense.' She and her company "Theatre Du Soleil" employ several and different techniques compared to other theatrical companies like improvisational exercises and various asian rituals on stage and before the act. Her success as director is very notable and she was even nominated for the Oscar in 1978 for the play "Moliere".
Another theater director that is not that famous as Mnouchkine, but a very well known director in Thai films and plays, is the Thai independent director Ekachai Uekrongtham. Among his stage works is "Chang & Eng", a musical based on Chang and Eng Bunker, the original 'Siamese twins', and also a controversial comedy named "Viva Viagra!", a play that uses black comedy and ironic elements to tell the story of 2 couples that buy Viagra and start a series of funny situations. Among the repertoire of this director we can also find the famous biographic movie about the the transgendered Muay Thai boxer, Nong Toom.
These theater directors are the best of each world, independent directors and well–recognized directors, but there are a lot more out there developing great and innovative ideas, and hopefully in the future we will be seeing more familiar faces enter the hall of fame of theater directors.
