Director training: A mine field or brave new world?

The relative paucity of research on directing reflects the way in which the practice of directing occurs–behind closed-doors (Trousdell 1992). Despite the power afforded to directors, the literature is often comparatively silent on how a director leads a production. Whilst delineating the role of the director can be problematic, the training of directors is a minefield. Unlike actor training where a myriad of theories and methods guide us, the dearth of pedagogical frameworks for teaching directors has resulted in an ad hoc approach at best. Two case studies, conducted by the authors, within the context of conservatoire actor training, formed the basis for research exploring how leadership and creative collaboration could influence directorial practice. This article argues that a significant, and often overlooked aspect of director training is leadership and explores ways in which it can inform director training curriculum. Global #movements over the past five years have forced universities and conservatoires to consider the voices of marginalised and excluded students. By embedding leadership pedagogy into director training there is the potential to create a ‘brave new world’ where actor efficacy and creative collaboration are the vanguard that take directors into a post pandemic world

Directing through Dialogue: A theatre director’s exploration of leadership

The esteemed position that a director holds in the creative process is a recent phenomenon. It emerged towards the end of the 19th century. Then, the role of a theatre director encompassed the idea of a single, creative force, coordinating and controlling the elements of a production. Not much has changed. Despite the significance of the role, the literature is largely silent on how a director directs and how a director leads. The paucity of research on the director’s leadership style reflects the way in which the practice of directing occurs — behind closed-doors. Its private nature can deter and even exclude researchers from gaining access to the rehearsal room. Rehearsal studies have allowed us to peek inside a director’s workplace and gain insight into the creative processes that occur there. What has been overlooked is an examination of the manner in which a director leads. Directing through Dialogue: A theatre director’s exploration of leadership illuminates the uncontested power relations that occur between a director and their company. The study draws on three different leadership models and throws light on the way in which the director’s leadership style can influence the rehearsal process. Given the centrality of the director/actor relationship to the creation of a performance, the research explores the question: How does the leadership style of a director impact upon the directing process? To investigate how leadership influences directing praxis I have used a practice-led research methodology. As a director/researcher I practiced my way through the investigation and experienced the relationship between directing and leadership. During the initial phases of the research I was an observer in the rehearsal rooms of five directors, where I focused on establishing what their leadership styles were. I then adopted the role of assistant director in four productions and experienced first-hand the influence a leader has on a follower and conversely how a follower can affect a leader. During the final phases of the study, I used an autoethnographic approach and applied a shared style of leadership to my directing practice. This activity revealed that dialogue was a useful tool to harness the shared intelligences of the cast and crew and assisted in establishing a non-hierarchical structure in the rehearsal process. My experientially acquired knowledge of leadership underlined for me the critical role of power in the rehearsal process. Interrogating the role that power plays in the rehearsal room led me to re-conceptualise the director’s position. My thesis is, that for the director, leadership is a relational process that can be shared amongst all members of an artistic company. A dialogic approach to directing can enhance actor agency and significantly enrich the manner in which a director and an actor lead each other in the creative process

How can Australian actor training be relevant in a world of 86 per cent unemployment?

Completing a University degree in actor training may have become a practice in absurdity. There is not enough work for most graduates to even pay the HECS debt that they would have accumulated over their three-year degree. What does this signify for the relevance of actor training, when most graduates can only look forward to a future of unemployment or at best, underemployment? This article charters territory for the Academy to navigate in order for actor training to become more relevant and its graduates better equipped to meet the challenges of the high unemployment rates in the arts industry. A starting point is to examine the pedagogical components of Conservatoire actor education and ask the question, How can we enhance the preparation of students for the industry? Two main areas of inquiry will be explored: firstly, the new triple threat; actor, writer, producer, where students are given specific tools as part of their training to become creators and producers of their own material. Secondly, we argue that actor training should include professional preparation units of study that teach students entrepreneurial skills and how to transfer their drama training to other areas of industry

Transcriptional repressor Blimp-1 is essential for T cell homeostasis and self-tolerance

T cell homeostasis is crucial for a functional immune system, as the accumulation of T cells resulting from lack of regulatory T cells or an inability to shut down immune responses can lead to inflammation and autoimmune pathology. Here we show that Blimp-1, a transcriptional repressor that is a 'master regulator' of terminal B cell differentiation, was expressed in a subset of antigen-experienced CD4 and CD8 T cells. Mice reconstituted with fetal liver stem cells expressing a mutant Blimp-1 lacking the DNA-binding domain developed a lethal multiorgan inflammatory disease caused by an accumulation of effector and memory T cells. These data identify Blimp-1 as an essential regulator of T cell homeostasis and suggest that Blimp-1 regulates both B cell and T cell differentiation

The American West as a social-ecological region: drivers, dynamics and implications for nested social-ecological systems

The American West exists in the popular imagination as a distinct region, and policies and politics often suggest that both the challenges and the opportunities for land management and human well-being across the region are relatively homogeneous. In this paper, we argue that there are key characteristics that define the West as a social-ecological region, and also that there are myriad social-ecological systems (SESs) within the region that require diverse and dynamic approaches to managing change over time. We first conceptualize aridity, topography, and a unique political economy of land as exogenous factors that persist over time and space to define the American West as a contiguous social-ecological region. We then identify a second set of characteristics that show high degrees of variation across SESs within the American West. Finally, we operationalize the relationships between regional characteristics and local dynamics through a set of case studies that exemplify specific types of SESs in the region. The results of these empirical representations of the regional and intra-regional social-ecological dynamics of the contemporary American West highlight the implications for research and management of taking a cross-scale integrated approach to address pressing social-ecological opportunities and challenges in complex adaptive systems

Design of a mucin-selective protease for targeted degradation of cancer-associated mucins.

Targeted protein degradation is an emerging strategy for the elimination of classically undruggable proteins. Here, to expand the landscape of targetable substrates, we designed degraders that achieve substrate selectivity via recognition of a discrete peptide and glycan motif and achieve cell-type selectivity via antigen-driven cell-surface binding. We applied this approach to mucins, O-glycosylated proteins that drive cancer progression through biophysical and immunological mechanisms. Engineering of a bacterial mucin-selective protease yielded a variant for fusion to a cancer antigen-binding nanobody. The resulting conjugate selectively degraded mucins on cancer cells, promoted cell death in culture models of mucin-driven growth and survival, and reduced tumor growth in mouse models of breast cancer progression. This work establishes a blueprint for the development of biologics that degrade specific protein glycoforms on target cells

Elevated cytokine and chemokine production in lungs of <i>Socs4^R108X/R108X</i> is associated with an increased influx of T cells.

<p>(A) Cytokine and chemokine levels were analysed by ELISA and Bioplex in lung homogenates at day 3 post-infection with X31 virus. Mean data ± S.E.M. are shown for biological replicates (n = 4 for Balb/c, n = 5 for <i>Socs4^R108X/R108X</i>), * indicates p<0.05, **<0.005. (B) Phenotypic analysis of lung hematopoietic subsets in <i>Socs4^R108X/R108X</i> and Balb/c mice at day 3 post-infection. Flow cytometry analysis was performed on homogenized lungs and extracted BAL. Data plotted include combined cell numbers from lungs and BAL, * indicates p<0.05, **<0.005. (C) Expression of <i>Socs4</i> mRNA in immune cells recovered from BAL and in the lungs of Balb/c mice infected with X31 virus. Mean data ± S.E.M. are shown for n = 3 biological replicates, u/inf = uninfected.</p

Reduced downregulation of CD62L expression on <i>Socs4^R108X/R108X</i> CD8 cells in following X31 influenza infection.

<p>(A) Flow cytometric analysis showing the gating strategy and percentages of CD62L^hi and CD62L^l°CD8 T cells on day 5 post-infection with X31 influenza virus. Representative dot plots are shown from control Balb/c and <i>Socs4^R108X/R108X</i> mice. (B) Total CD8 T cell numbers in the lymph node (MLN), lungs (BAL) and spleen (SPL) of <i>Socs4^R108X/R108X</i> and Balb/C mice on day d5, d6 and d7 following infection with X31 influenza virus. (C) Total number and percentages of CD62L^hi and CD62L^l°CD8 cells in the MLN of <i>Socs4^R108X/R108X</i> and Balb/C mice following X31 influenza virus infection.</p

Altered tissue distribution of virus-specific CD8 T cells in <i>Socs4^R108X/R108X</i> mice.

<p>(A) Total numbers (BAL+MLN+SPL) of virus-specific (K^dNP₁₄₇ positive) CD8 T cells following X31 influenza virus infection. Mean values (n = 5) are plotted, error bars represent SEM. (B) Significant differences were observed in the distribution of K^dNP₁₄₇ positive CD8 T cells in lungs (BAL) and spleens of <i>Socs4^R108X/R108X</i> and Balb/c control mice following infection. *p<0.05, **<0.005, ***<0.001 (C) Percentage of GzmB positive K^dNP₁₄₇ positive CD8 T cells in various tissues on d10 post-infection (left hand panel); percentage of CD107a positive (middle panel) or GzmB positive (right hand panel) IFN-γ positive CD8 T cells on d10 post-infection following <i>ex vivo</i> stimulation with K^dNP₁₄₇ peptide. Mean values (n = 5) are plotted, error bars represent SD.</p