What question did this study set out to answer?

The article aims to establish the significance of actor-led theatre in Original Practice, challenging the need for directors.

March 25, 2026

‘Merely players’: Actor-led Shakespeare

Key Points

The article aims to establish the significance of actor-led theatre in Original Practice, challenging the need for directors.
Critique of current Original Practice theories involving minimal rehearsal and cue-script techniques.
Exploration of actor-led theatre dynamics without the oversight of a director.
Analysis of historical and contemporary practices surrounding actor-led performances.
Argues that returning to actor-led performances is a radical shift in theatrical practice.
Demonstrates that current practices require fictional directors to maintain coherence.
Suggests that true Original Practice can exist without a directing figure.

Abstract

This article argues that a return to actor-led theatre without a director is the most important, and radical, form of Original Practice (OP) possible today. This involves a critique of the now-established OP theories of minimal rehearsal time and cue-script techniques of acting practice, which have concomitantly needed to posit or invent a director of sorts, in the form of the book-keeper, theatrical manager, or the playwright himself, to preserve theoretical coherence. The theory of no group rehearsal, cue scripts isolated to single actors who know nothing of the play, and a putative director, to ensure a theatrical coherence, go hand-in-hand.

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‘Merely players’: Actor-led Shakespeare

Key Points

Abstract

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