What are the key elements that go into creating a work of art for the stage? Which are the most productive conditions and methods of rehearsal? In this collection of interviews, 18 international artists share their experience and offer practical advice on the creation of performance work. Their answers provide a goldmine of tried and tested approaches as they discuss the common problems and difficulties of creative work, their turning-point experiences, and ways in which they have challenged performers and themselves to go beyond conditioned reflexes to create groundbreaking new work.

ContentsList of IllustrationsAcknowledgementsNotes on ContributorsPreface by Paul AllainIntroduction: No one's ever asked me that by Barbara SimonsenInterviews1. Annabel Arden (director, Complicité, UK)2. Eugenio Barba (director, Odin Teatret, Denmark)3. Jérôme Bel (choreographer, France)4. Rachel Chavkin (director, The TEAM, USA)5. Kirsten Dehlholm (director, stage designer, Hotel Pro Forma, Denmark)6. Maxine Doyle (choreographer, Punchdrunk, UK)7. Jan Fabre (director, visual artist, Troubleyn, Belgium)8. Richard Foreman (director, Ontological-Hysteric Theatre, USA)9. Heiner Goebbels (director, Germany) 10. Helgard Haug (director, Rimini Protokoll, Germany)11. Bojan Jablanovec (director, Via Negativa, Slovenia)12. Elizabeth LeCompte (director, The Wooster Group, USA)13. Richard Lowdon (performer, Forced Entertainment, UK)14. Soheil Parsa (director, Modern Times Stage Company, CAN)15. Diane Paulus (director, USA)16. Catherine Poher (director, France/Denmark)17. Berit Stumpf and Sean Patten (performers, Gob Squad, UK)18. Wayn Traub (director, composer, Belgium)Appendix of Interview dates and translatorsIndex