This volume assesses the work of Meredith Monk, Richard Foreman, and Robert Wilson, three artists who have revolutionized the craft of directing and the art of theatre in both related and unique ways. Though their early artistic backgrounds differ, ranging from architecture, music and dance to writing, they are similar in that none of them began their career as a director per se or received formal training as such. They each assumed the director's role based on the demands of their complex artistic visions, which combine art forms, but resist synthesis, finding expression in the differences and tensions between the forms. The essays in this volume explore how these auteur directors combine text, movement, film, sound and music, installation and visual arts to achieve their visions, employing multi-perceptual modes to evoke full and rich theatrical experiences. The Great North American Stage Directors series provides an authoritative account of the art of directing in North America by examining the work of twenty-four major practitioners from the late 19th century to the present. Each of the eight volumes examines three directors and offers an overview of their practices, theoretical ideas, and contributions to modern theatre. The studies chart the life and work of each director, placing his or her achievement in the context of other important theatre practitioners and broader social history. Written by a team of leading experts, the series presents the genealogy of directing in North America while simultaneously chronicling crucial trends and championing contemporary interpretation.

List of Figures
Series Introduction, James Peck (Muhlenberg College, USA)
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Theatres of Perception, Ann M. Shanahan (Purdue University, USA)
Meredith Monk
1. Meredith Monk: Five Decades of Embodied Innovation, Nancy Putnam Smithner (New York University, USA)
2. The Theatre of Meredith Monk: Embodying Wholeness by Working Between the Cracks, Ann M. Shanahan (Purdue University, USA)
Richard Foreman
3. Make 'em dance: The Directorial Strategy of Richard Foreman, Neal Swettenham (Independent Scholar, UK)
4. "What a Time It Was": Richard Foreman and the Heyday of the East Village Avant-Garde, David Callaghan (University of Montevallo, USA)

Robert Wilson
5. Robert Wilson's Sonosphere, Maria Shevtsova (Goldsmiths, University of London, UK)
6. Standing at the Threshold: Robert Wilson as a Designer-Director, Ewa Kara (Independent Scholar, USA)
Notes on Contributors
Index