I just had a nice exchange with my friend Kate about the nitty-gritty details of “What is an Artistic Director?”. She’s considering applying for the position at a couple of theatres near her (and she’d be great!).

I had such a good time just rambling off the answer that I thought I’d reprint it here. It’s funny: it actually got me thinking about my job a little bit more than I have recently…which is a good thing because, honestly, I’ve been feeling a little burned out. Having a reminder of what I do, what I should be doing, and why, is a nice little inspiration.

Overseeing the art, of course, is a big part of it: selecting the season (often with input from staff/board members, depending on the setup of the organization.) Then, of course, you’re responsible for hiring the teams to create each piece: Directors, designers, stage managers, crew, technical directors. You’re expected to direct a portion of the plays, and help guide the other productions while providing them, as producer, every opportunity to do their best work. Then you’ve got the exciting part of developing new work, scouting plays and playwrights and doing workshops to help new plays grow into something that you want to produce on your mainstage, which I love doing!

Of course, you’re also in charge of your part of the budget (all things artistic and production related come under your part of the budget). You have to work closely with the Managing Director (or their equivalent) most of the time, since THEY are in charge of the rest of the budget (admin, box office, building needs, marketing, etc..). This is often your biggest partnership, since the two of you will be answering to the board, and collaborating on “How do we make the season work financially as well as artistically?”. Everyone in the company relies on the two of you to keep their job stable. (or as stable as anything in this business is.)

You’re responsible for the Artistic Face of the company, and therefore it’s not just the shows (which are obviously the biggest part of it), but it’s working closely with the marketing/development/pr folks. If your image of the season is a “warm family-comedy filled year with lots of heart” but the marketing folks go with “edgy look at the modern household”, it’s not a clean message or face of the company. The marketing stuff can be anything from proofing a poster to publishing a rehearsal blog to being available for interviews.

You must be ready to provide information for your team as they write grant materials, and provide all assistance needed to the Development Department, since they are the people, (assuming you’re working in a professional not-for-profit), who will be trying to raise the approximately 50% of the yearly budget that you and the Managing Director will NOT be making through your end. (Your end being what you’d expect: box office, concessions/merchandise sales, classes offered, rentals of space or equipment, special touring educational shows, etc…)

So – there you go. You also, of course, will be in charge of overseeing any classes/educational aspect of the organization, running any apprentice/intern program, and any special things that are related to the Art of the company. (For instance, in our West Lobby we have The Williamston Theatre Gallery, which I started in Fall 2006- it’s an art Gallery of local artist’s work that rotates with each WT production so that the art on display is always thematically related to the play onstage. It’s great, and we’ve gotten huge response, but it’s one more thing that I, as Artistic Director, oversee: load in/out of new work, sales of work, etc…

Now I, like most Artistic Directors have a couple of people (some paid, some volunteer) that help me with some of these things, but ultimately I’m responsible for overseeing all of it. The bigger the budget, the more projects you have (and the more people you have that you can delegate them to, essentially).

Then, in addition to all of the practical stuff, you’re expected to lead teams of creative people. To inspire others. To invent projects and programs. To nurture talent in all of your teams, and help them to grow to their potential. You’re expected to participate in your local arts scene, and find ways for your company to give back to your community in public service ways. You need to be the one who steps up and says, when needed, “This is our goal. This is our mission statement. We will forge ahead, because what we do matters!” and then you find ways to make it happen, and prove it.

That, in an off-the-top-of-my-head kind of way, is Artistic Director in a nutshell.

I’m sure that there are things I’ve forgotten, but it’s already long! And I didn’t even get into actually having a mission statement, trying to provide work for local theatre professionals to keep the industry alive, creating work that means something to the community, building a reputation for the company on a local and hopefully national level…yikes. I could go on and on!