{"id":30785,"date":"2025-07-17T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/?post_type=article&p=30785"},"modified":"2025-12-15T05:10:40","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T05:10:40","slug":"drama-lesson-how-an-actors-creativity-flows-when-the-director-relinquishes-control","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/drama-lesson-how-an-actors-creativity-flows-when-the-director-relinquishes-control\/","title":{"rendered":"Drama Lesson: How an Actor\u2019s Creativity Flows when the Director Relinquishes Control"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
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\n 17 Jul 2025 <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>Articles<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

Drama Lesson: How an Actor\u2019s Creativity Flows when the Director Relinquishes Control<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n \n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Category<\/div>\n Leadership & Culture<\/a> <\/div>\n
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British actor Michael Fox explains that the best directors know that the answer can come from anyone in the room.<\/p>\n \n \n \n

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By John Portch<\/h6>\n
It is common for athletes to spend much of their time trying to please the coach.<\/h6>\n

While not a bad thing per se, if the athlete is overly focused on doing what their coach may see as the \u2018right\u2019 thing, they\u2019re not focused on performing to the best of their ability. Performance can be suboptimal if the coach imposes a creative straitjacket.<\/p>\n

There are parallels between the athlete-coach relationship and the actor-director dynamic in the performing arts, as British actor Michael Fox explains onstage at the 2024 Leaders Sport Performance Summit in London.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about quality listening,\u201d he says. \u201cThe director\u2019s role is to lead, to steer the ship, but the frustrating thing is that you can lose answers if the actors are not able to voice their opinion and put it out into the room.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s good to be heard, and the director can do what they want with it, but if you\u2019re allowed to voice it then you can let it go. You can lose people’s creative instincts if they\u2019re not able to voice their opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fox, who is best known for his work on Downton Abbey<\/em>\u00a0and Dunkirk<\/em>, has also appeared in numerous theatre productions and voiced characters in several video games since graduating from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.<\/p>\n

On occasion in his subsequent career, he has encountered directors who see themselves as \u201cgurus\u201d. \u201cYou can make people really shrink around you,\u201d he says of such characters. \u201cAm I just an instrument for you to share with the world how amazing you are?\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Fox\u2019s observations struck a chord with the coaches in the room at the Kia Oval and raised several questions:<\/p>\n

Does the responsibility sit solely with the director?<\/strong><\/p>\n

No. In fact, as Fox says, \u201cyou have to still value the things that you need to do to make sure that you\u2019re at the top of your game.\u201d His routine includes yoga and meditation and, since he \u201cspends a lot of time unemployed\u201d he must do whatever it takes to ensure he is ready to go following a successful audition.<\/p>\n

It sounds quite insular. How does that translate to a company setting?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cYou do the work separately and then come and be crafted,\u201d says Fox. \u201cYou\u2019re taking the edges off to push in the right direction. You don\u2019t want the director to do all the work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking of directors, surely no two are alike?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Not at all. \u201cThat first week we just don\u2019t know what we\u2019re expecting,\u201d says Fox. \u201cYou have to adapt to their way of working.\u201d He appeared at the summit during the London production of The Fear of 13<\/em>, which was unique in its genesis. \u201cWe were up on the first day and we nearly staged the front half of the play, which is madness, but it was amazing. But most directors talk over a coffee for the first few days.\u201d<\/p>\n

What qualities define the best directors, in Fox\u2019s opinion?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe directors I like working with are the ones that come into the first day of rehearsals and say \u2018I don\u2019t have all the answers \u2013 we\u2019ll find them together\u2019,\u201d says Fox. \u201cI respond better to that sort of mentality because I think it\u2019s more honest. We don\u2019t<\/em>\u00a0have all the answers. The best idea can come from anywhere in the room.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, it is still common practice, as he explains, for film call sheets to rank actors by importance on any given day. \u201cThat kills creativity, personal agency and instinct,\u201d adds Fox. \u201cThey feel like their voice is less important.\u201d<\/p>\n

Therefore, \u201cthe best directors can give trust and individual agency to the actor over what they\u2019re doing, their artistry, then you feel like you\u2019re growing as an individual.\u201d Critically, \u201cin the moments where you need to be instinctive onstage you\u2019re not thinking about getting it right for them or making a mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

How might this look in practice?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A good example is Sin\u00e9ad Rushe\u2019s 2023 production of Shakespeare\u2019s Othello<\/em>\u00a0in which Fox played the character of Iago.<\/p>\n

It was notable for the fact that three actors played Iago onstage at the same time and Othello was given a more prominent role than in traditional stagings.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to take Iago\u2019s complicity with the audience away and put Othello much more at the centre of that play,\u201d Fox told The Uncensored Critic Podcast <\/em>earlier this year. Iago\u2019s famous soliloquys became dialogues between the three aspects of his character rather than the usual series of knowing asides to the audience.<\/p>\n

Rushe, who also taught Fox at Central, facilitated creative discussions from the off. \u201cWe\u2019ve had two periods of development just of ten days each just to begin to workshop this idea of three actors playing Iago,\u201d Rushe told The Theatre Audience Podcast<\/em>\u00a0on the eve of the second preview.<\/p>\n

She also wanted to protect actor Martins Imhangbe in the titular role. \u201cThere\u2019s a racial dynamic there that\u2019s very problematic and there are these very interesting histories of actors who\u2019ve played Othello over the years of finding it actually quite a distressing experience of feeling like the entire audience is laughing at them through the vehicle of Iago.\u201d<\/p>\n

Imhangbe himself also spoke at the time of the company\u2019s work \u201cdismantling\u201d and \u201creconstructing\u201d the play. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to do something different with it, so it means we have to see it with fresh eyes,\u201d he told The Rendition<\/em>. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to bridge the gap between what was written and how it\u2019s relevant today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rushe added that the production provided \u201ca feeling of kindred spirits and people up for working in a collaborative and ensemble way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fox agrees. \u201cIt was an unusual take but actually it meant that people could hear the play anew. And I loved it.\u201d<\/p>\n

What to read next<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

How to Transform an Underperforming Environment into a Thriving Hub<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n