Directing isn’t reserved for the lucky few. It’s a skillset.
Five of them, in fact. And it can be taught.
Every year, at least 30,000 people direct theatre in upstream spaces like schools and community theatres. They shape first auditions, first ensembles, first cues, and first standing ovations.
Most of us were never really trained.
They’re doing this work without roadmaps, mentorship, or real recognition. And yet these are the directors who keep the entire theatre ecosystem flowing. Without upstream, there is no downstream.
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In most theatre circles, community and educational spaces get treated like the bottom of the ladder.
We reject that.
Theatre doesn’t flow top-down. It flows like a river: from upstream, where most artists begin (community, educational, and indie theatre), toward downstream institutions that depend on that energy. Upstream spaces are where values get formed. Habits take root. Artists fall in love with the work…or walk away from it.
That makes upstream directing not just important, but foundational.
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We teach directing as a set of five interconnected skill areas:
Facilitation: shaping process and energy in the room
Leadership: making decisions, building trust, navigating power
Artistic Insight: crafting taste, initial vision, and point of view
Management: organizing time, people, and resources
Education & Mentorship: supporting growth in everyone around you
No single show can teach us all of this. That’s why directors need ongoing space to train.
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Kindness is a skill, not a personality trait.
Reckless Kindness means that we prioritize kindness even when “common wisdom” says not to.
It’s not weakness. It’s specificity, especially when stakes are high.
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Fact 1: The American Association of Community Theaters estimates 6,000 active community theaters in the US.
Fact 2: The US Government says that as of 2021, there were ~23,000-24,000 high schools in the US.
Assumption: it is safe to assume that, on average, every high school and community theatre director has (at least) one theatre director. Some will have more, some will have fewer, but there almost always seems to be school plays, even without formal theatre teachers. Note: this doesn’t count middle or elementary schools, churches, community centers, etc. An average of one per high school seems quite conservative, in fact.
Which is why we say 30,000+.
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The Library: A 100% free online resource library for directors, with didactic content and free worksheets and handouts for your own practice.
The Upstream Director’s Studio: A “yoga-style” studio of online drop-in application classes on a variety of different subjects for directors, priced accessibly.
Direct(or’s) Line: A coming-soon feature that will offer
Automated reminders for moving through The Library material and a certificate of completion for each Act completed.
The above, with written feedback on your worksheets
A mentor-in your-pocket service for directors, coaching them from pre-production through tech week.
Andrew Roblyer (they/he/any), Founder and Archivist
Deconstructing Directing was launched in 2024 by Andrew Roblyer, a queer, nonbinary, and neurodivergent storyteller and theatre artist based in Houston, TX. Andrew first began acting in 1995 and (if you don’t count the neighborhood “play” he organized in second grade) began directing, coaching, and teaching in 2005. Over the years Andrew has developed a penchant for creating new theatrical opportunities and organizations that are based in accessibility, kindness, and innovation, including The Honorable Bards, a student-run theatre company at Texas A&M University, This Is Water Theatre, the first-ever professional theatre company in Bryan/College Station, TX, and now The Octarine Accord, Houston’s only production company dedicated entirely to speculative fiction. Along the way Andrew has advised and supported multiple theatre company startups and founders from around the country, including Seth Johnson and Flexible Grey Theatre in Dallas, TX and Cora Hemphill and Firebox Theatre in Wake Forest, NC.
As of 2024, Andrew has produced, directed, and/or designed for over 50 full-length shows, including musicals, plays, and immersive theatre, covering almost every staging configuration possible, casts ranging in size from 1 to 50+, and budgets ranging from $0 to over $35,000. They are currently pursuing their MFA in the second-ever cohort of Randolph College’s innovative low-residency MFA Theatre program, focusing in directing. Andrew is also a proud company member of Strange Bird Immersive, home to the immersive theatre escape room The Man From Beyond, voted #1 in the USA for five years running.
Andrew lives in Houston with his husband Joe and their pandemic-pup Mimi. www.andrewroblyer.com