In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Reviewed by:
  • Working Together in Theatre: Collaboration and Leadership
  • Claire Canavan
Working Together in Theatre: Collaboration and Leadership. By Robert Cohen . London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011; pp. 224. $80.00 cloth, $28.00 paper.

Working Together in Theatre, Robert Cohen's newest book, is geared toward working professionals in theatre and those who hope to pursue careers in the field. Cohen, a professor at the University of California, Irvine has written multiple books about acting and one on directing, but in this book he expands his vision to include ideas about how various specialized artists (actors, directors, designers, producers) can best have a successful collaboration in a professional theatre setting. Undergraduate theatre students, aspiring directors, and students interested in arts management and administration are those most likely to benefit from this book, which includes plenty of practical advice for how to successfully and strategically communicate with an artistic team.

Working Together in Theatre is divided into three parts. In part 1, the author defines his key terms. Cohen argues that collaboration is fundamentally about how well you work with other people, and he frames it as an essential job skill for an aspiring theatre artist. Resisting the assumption that collaboration always involves consensus, Cohen ties collaboration tightly to the idea of leadership: "Collaboration is the horizontal glue that holds an ensemble together and makes the work collective, mutually supportive, and the composite of many minds, bodies, and imaginations. Leadership is the vertical glue that gives the ensemble a direction, a focus, a goal, and a set of deadlines" (46; emphasis in original). It is important to note that within the context of this book, collaboration does not necessarily refer to the kinds of collaboration that might take place while devising a new play or working in an experimental setting, but rather to the kinds of organized collaboration that might take place within the structure of mounting a professional production of an existing play in an institutional or regional theatre setting.

Ideas about ensemble and hierarchy make up the bulk of chapter 2. While these two organizational structures are often positioned as opposites, Cohen argues that "all theatres are a mixture of both—but mixtures with significantly varying percentages of each" (16). He defines ensemble as "a long-term relationship; a day-in, day-out collaboration in shared living, thinking, and creating" (17), and provides a brief snapshot of some models throughout history that have emphasized an ensemble structure, such as Stanislavski's Moscow Art Theatre, The Group Theatre, and the contemporary community-based company Cornerstone Theatre. However, Cohen's main argument is that collaboration (whether in an ensemble or not) requires organization, and organization "requires at least a minimal level of hierarchy" (23; emphasis in original). For Cohen, hierarchical power structures "are simply essential for any company's longevity" (24), although he acknowledges that theatre hierarchies are "more fluid and consensual" (30) than other types of hierarchies.

Chapters 3 through 6 (part 2) focus on the process of mounting a production, from the planning to the production stages, and here Cohen offers practical, nuts-and-bolts advice (including sample exercises) for how to create a collaborative working environment within a hierarchical structure. Chapter 3 deals with the preparation stage, and the focus is squarely on how the director can best collaborate with the artistic team during the initial stages of a production. Cohen lays out a process in which the director moves from imagining and research to collaborating with a playwright or dramaturg, to conceptualizing the play and engaging the artistic team. The bulk of this chapter covers familiar ground, although it includes an interesting discussion of leadership styles and several useful exercises geared toward directing students.

In chapter 4, the author discusses the planning stage, starting with bringing an artistic team together for a production. Here, he illuminates three different production models that one might enter into: an institutional model with an in-place staff (such as a national theatre or university theatre); a single-production model, with a staff that must be assembled (most Broadway and Off-Broadway shows); or a regional theatre model that involves a few permanent members, but other single-production hires (91-93). How the...

pdf

Share