Artistic Director - Jobs in the Theatre - Part 2

The artistic director is the person who is responsible for maintaining and developing the major artistic goals of the theatre. Once again, these posts are general and each theatre may differ. However, in general, this means that the artistic director is above and sometimes even hires all of the designers.

It is common for the artistic director to make the decisions about hiring the set designer, lighting designer, sound designer, costume designer, and prop designer. This does not mean that the artistic designer will have full say in what happens artistically in the theatre. Mostly likely he or she will supervise the designers who will report to the the artistic designer.

The artistic director is on the same level as the managing director. In some theatres, the artistic director is the same person as the managing director. Whether or not these two positions are filled by one or two people, they both report to whoever is above them in the theatrical hierarchy. Sometimes this is the producer who reports everything to the board of directors. Other times, these people or this person reports directly to the board of directors. Sometimes the artistic director is the president of the board of directors, so a report is still given to the board.

Other possible duties of an artistic director are being the chief spokesperson for the theatre and coordinating talk-backs that relate to the plays. The artistic director may also possibly find the theatrical companies (or at least the director and the actors) who will produce the plays, as well as the plays that will be at the theatre.

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