The subject of this book is theatre directing in four internationally famous instances. The four directors--Konstantin Stanislavsky, Bertolt Brecht, Elia Kazan, and Peter Brook--all were monarchs of the profession in their time. Without their work, theatre in the twentieth century--so often called "the century of the director" --would have a radically different shape and meaning. The four men are also among the dozen or so modern directors whose theatrical achievements have become culture phenomena. In histories, theories, hagiographies, and polemics, these directors are conferred classic...