who is credited as being the first director
Theatre director
Because of the relatively late emergence of theatre directing as a performing arts profession when compared with for instance acting or musicianship , a rise of professional vocational training programmes in directing can be seen mostly in the second half of the 20th century . Most European countries nowadays know some form of professional directing training , usually at drama schools or conservatoires , or at universities . In Britain , the tradition that theatre directors emerge from degree courses ( usually in English literature ) at the Oxbridge universities has meant that for a long time , professional vocational training did not take place at drama schools or performing arts colleges , although an increase in training programmes for theatre directors can be witnessed since the 1970s and 1980s . In American universities , the seminal directing program at the Yale School of Drama produced a number of pioneering directors with D.F.A. ( Doctor of Fine Arts ) and M.F.A. degrees in Drama ( rather than English ) who contributed to the expansion of professional resident theaters in the 1960s and 1970s . In the early days such programmes typically led to the staging of one major thesis production in the third ( final ) year . At the University of California , Irvine , Keith Fowler ( a Yale D.F.A. and ex-producer of two LORT companies ) led for many years a graduate programme based on the premise that directors are autodidacts who need as many opportunities to direct as possible . Under Fowler , graduate student directors would stage between five and ten productions during their three - year residencies , with each production receiving detailed critiques .
Because of the relatively late emergence of theatre directing as a performing arts profession when compared with for instance acting or musicianship , a rise of professional vocational training programmes in directing can be seen mostly in the second half of the 20th century . Most European countries nowadays know some form of professional directing training , usually at drama schools or conservatoires , or at universities . In Britain , the tradition that theatre directors emerge from degree courses ( usually in English literature ) at the Oxbridge universities has meant that for a long time , professional vocational training did not take place at drama schools or performing arts colleges , although an increase in training programmes for theatre directors can be witnessed since the 1970s and 1980s . In American universities , the seminal directing program at the Yale School of Drama produced a number of pioneering directors with D.F.A. ( Doctor of Fine Arts ) and M.F.A. degrees in Drama ( rather than English ) who contributed to the expansion of professional resident theaters in the 1960s and 1970s . In the early days such programmes typically led to the staging of one major thesis production in the third ( final ) year . At the University of California , Irvine , Keith Fowler ( a Yale D.F.A. and ex-producer of two LORT companies ) led for many years a graduate programme based on the premise that directors are autodidacts who need as many opportunities to direct as possible . Under Fowler , graduate student directors would stage between five and ten productions during their three - year residencies , with each production receiving detailed critiques .