As far as directing goes..

Mood = important
With every performance, the director has the job of creating the right mood. To do so, a latent message should be reflected in all of the elements in the piece...from the lighting to the arrangement of the props on the stage. This then creates the spine of the play. For instance: the spine in Fences was of racial heritage in contemporary America.

Professor Fusi did a good job of showing how our own interpretation (the director's interpretation) can change the scene by asking students to read aloud from Fences. [by the way you guys did a great job] From each scene it was the director's job to decide who she thought was the main character. In one scene where Gabe, Troy, and Rose all play a prominent roll, I thought that Rose had the dominant role whereas another girl thought that the focus should have been on Gabe. This is all up to the director's interpretation.

One thing that I'm not sure I am comfortable with is when a director takes a show into his own hands. Meaning, that a playwright has taken the time to write something that they poured their heart and soul into, and then allowing a director to interpret this play in their own style. Granted in all works elements will be interpreted differently by different people, but the idea of totally changing the story is uncomfortable to me. Some say this allows for more creativity, and that sometimes these are the best plays, but I still am not comfortable with it. I guess that it really depends on the work.