The director was fundamental to the development of modern theatre. This Introduction explores the emergence of the director's artistic force.

Introduction; 1. Traditional staging and the evolution of the director; 2. The rise of the modern director; 3. Directors of theatricality; 4. Epic theatre directors; 5. Total theatre: the director as auteur; 6. Directors of ensemble theatre; 7. Directors, collaboration and improvisation.

Christopher Innes is Distinguished Research Professor at York University, Toronto, and Research Professor at Copenhagen University. Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and of the Royal Society of Arts (UK), as well as a Killam Fellow, he holds the Canada Research Chair in Performance and Culture. Author of fifteen books - translated into eight different languages - he has also published over 120 articles on various aspects of modern drama. He is General Editor of the Cambridge Directors in Perspective series, Co-Editor of the Lives of the Theatre series, Contributing Editor to The Cambridge Guide to World Theatre and has been Co-Editor of the quarterly journal Modern Drama. He has been a visiting Professor in Australia, Germany and Japan, and has lectured around the world, as well as holding visiting Fellowships at Corpus Christi and St John's Colleges in Cambridge. His website is www.moderndrama.com.