Aspects of a Technical Directors job

Since a theatrical design is a dynamic, collaborative effort, the technical director is actively involved with conceptualizing hundreds, if not thousands, of creative solutions to realistic and aesthetic problems. The design production process is a series of problems to be solved within a particular set of deadlines. It is influenced by a budget and challenged by several artistic egos engaged in the common goal of creating a unique production for a paying audience. The TD must have skills that range from carpenter to diplomat in a process that demands the ability to know when to take a risk (and when not to!) He/She is a full-time problem solver who must meet the needs of everyone from the producers to the actors, and ultimately the audience.

In a university environment the technical director/professor also carries the obligations and responsibilities of a teacher, advisor, counselor, and mentor. The TD/Prof must deliver a curriculum that provides the technical information necessary for theatre graduates to be well-versed in the full range of theatre work possibilities while also supporting the technical needs of the particular theatre(s). Many students enter the university wishing to become great actors. Many of them leave and become great technicians, designers, and managers. The TD/Prof must create classes which go beyond informing. The learning environment must provide students with opportunities for close personal involvement with the myriad elements of technical theatre and graduate technicians who are considered "skillful" or at least "properly trained." A TD/Prof has two more than-full-time jobs which he/she must balance carefully, maintaining high academic standards while meeting a rigorous series of deadlines, leading to the highest quality art that can be produced.

The position of technical director is now firmly and clearly established. It exists as a separate, recognized, creative job in the theatre. A fully trained technical director has been a faculty member at the University of Oklahoma since 1975.