<Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (May 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article possibly contains original research . Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations . Statements consisting only of original research should be removed . (May 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article possibly contains original research . Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations . Statements consisting only of original research should be removed . (May 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> A theatre director or stage director is an instructor in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production (a play, an opera, a musical, or a devised piece of work) by unifying various endeavours and aspects of production . The director's function is to ensure the quality and completeness of theatre production and to lead the members of the creative team into realizing their artistic vision for it . The director therefore collaborates with a team of creative individuals and other staff, coordinating research, stagecraft, costume design, props, lighting design, acting, set design, stage combat, and sound design for the production . If the production he or she is mounting is a new piece of writing or a (new) translation of a play, the director may also work with the playwright or translator . In contemporary theatre, after the playwright, the director is generally the primary visionary, making decisions on the artistic concept and interpretation of the play and its staging . Different directors occupy different places of authority and responsibility, depending on the structure and philosophy of individual theatre companies . Directors use a wide variety of techniques, philosophies, and levels of collaboration . </P>

When did the director as we know it come to be