I've noticed a disturbing trend around The Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, and one that is none too recent. It started last year, when I overheard a discussion regarding our wonderfully bland performance of Three Sisters. The director had been told that, by the end of the play, the family's assorted pieces of furniture were to be stacked up against the back wall of the set. He agreed that this would be a splendid idea. The designer drew him pictures, showed him research, and, presumably, built him a model. But it was not until our bizarrely discomforting performance of Maplight (or Map Light. I can't bring myself to care about it that much) did he realize what she meant. The set design for Maplight involved a great pile of chairs, and only after seeing this did he know what the fuck she was talking about.

Alright, fine.
He can get away with that. Until . . .

Well into technical rehearsals for the show, after seeing a set of beds that were to be used in the play, the director decided that they were not the right size, and needed to be cut in half. The parties that were involved in the construction, and, now, the vivisection of the bed, were obviously none too thrilled. But, they consoled themselves with the following:

"Well, he's a director who doesn't see things visually, which is fine."
Once more, with feeling:
"Well, he's a director who doesn't see things visually, (and my favorite part) which is fine."

Bullshit.

When did it become fine for directors to be incapable of seeing what their designers show them through not only sketches and research, but technical draftings, perspective drawings, and scale models? It is simply not okay to be poor at knowing what the fuck your set is going to look like. When was the last time a designer was excused from doing paint elevations because they "just aren't paints people, which is fine?" Or a technical director from not making sure their set was safe to walk on because they "really can't do math, which is fine?"

No. That shit doesn't fly. If you are going to be a director, and know that this is your weakness, you take a scenic design class to get your shit together. If, in the case of the director for Three Sisters, you've been doing this for years and years without brushing up on a problem that drifts into borderline spacial incompetence, then quit and go back to school.

So why, then, do we make excuses for those that are supposed to be the masters of the show? The ones that need to be the most knowledgeable of the group?

You tell me.