To answer your questions in reverse order - Our director has absolute final decision on what happens on the stage BUT we expect our directors to reach decisions collaboratively. Those who don't don't work for us because no one will work with them.

The title Artistic Director is usually reserved for the person who is responsible for the entire season - selecting a balanced slate of plays to present, selecting directors and/or producers, insuring that the artistic quality and presentation meets the standards of the organization. In many theaters with paid staff, the Artistic Director is in charge of the organization and the business affairs are handled by a Business Manager. Some theaters have an Executive Director in overall charge and the Artistic Director reports to the Executive Director.

At the individual production level, the Producer is in overall charge of the production and has final say on everything except for the stage - rehearsal scheduling, advertising, printing, rights, comps and on and on. It is a very busy job and in those shows I have produced, I look at my job as to insure that the Director directs and is not innundated with minor items that I can take care of.

Under the Director there are a series of designers - Costume Designer, Lighting Designer, Sound Designer, Set Designer, Musical Director, Choreographer and so on. Each of these individuals has their own crew if necessary to help with the work load. There are two other critical positions that report to the Director: The Stage Manager and the Prop Coordinator. The Stage manager has a Deck Manager backstage and a Booth Manager who calls the show from the booth. During Tech week, the Director backs away and the Stage Manager takes over in an operational capacity to run the show. When I direct, I spend the entire run sitting in the audience letting the others run the show.

The Producer should have regular production meetings where all those listed above share their efforts, progress and problems (will the costume colors conflict with the set color type issues).

By the way - we are also a small group and all these things are done by a small core of four people which expands when we do a full blown production. For smaller plays, I do the set design (and often construction - I enjoy it) and the lighting design. Others do the rest - we pretty much know who will do what because it is always that way and we have grown comfortable working together.

Only knowing that the person in your situation is assisting with the rehearsal and not knowing what their doing for you in specific detail, I would refer to them as the Assistant Director (AD). This position can be a thankless job. In situations I've been in, the AD is usually the one who has to be bad cop for the director when conflicts occur during rehearsals. They also help keep the director focused on his job of staging and handle the small detailed tasks that pop up, such as providing the directors notes to the actors, or following up with staff on items the director wants done, such as with costume, props, set or such. In our productions the Producer does most of the duties mentioned in these other replies, along with making sure that the staff of directors stay within the budget of the production.

Usually is the case with a small staff the AD and producer end up being the same person. Some people confuse the position of AD as being one that also helps in staging and that should not be the case. The AD is there to provide assistances to the director, they can be a sound board for the director if he is having difficult with staging of particular scene, but that would not be the normal duty of the AD.

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