“A Midsummer Night\u27s Dream”: A Director\u27s Notebook

This manuscript is an analysis of artistic growth as well as an attempt to document the creative process during this stage of growth. The production herein discussed was an excerpted version of A Midsummer Night\u27s Dream ; however, the process of conceiving and staging the piece was identical to the process of producing an interpretation of the complete text. It is difficult to document all aspects of the theatre artist\u27s creative process in writing and still photographs, thus, I have only included what I consider to be the most straightforward and significant elements for illustrating and analyzing the conclusions drawn: a summary of research into the play\u27s production history, a breakdown of the textual analysis and creative choices, and excerpts from the journal kept during the process that deal directly with an internal struggle that facilitated artistic growth. The main body of the text offers insight into various artistic and logistic choices, problems encountered, and solutions tried. Additional documentation of this creative process may be found in the appendices; however, I do not consider this material to be a significant element of the project\u27s conception and, therefore, enclose it only as a point of reference to serve as clarification for some of the main themes presented in the text. The final section is an objective evaluation of the learning opportunities presented by the project and how they have impacted the author\u27s growth as a theatre artist, actor, and director