The Great European Stage Directors Set 2 offers an authoritative account of the work, lineage and legacy of the major European theatre directors from the second half of the twentieth century. Across the four volumes and the companion series Set 1: Pre-1950, it provides a uniquely rich study of the genealogy and development of a practice through focus on individual directors and the wider context and artform in which they worked. For professional practitioners and those developing their skills, as well as those engaged in the analysis of theatre practices, forms and history, it will prove an essential resource.

Each volume provides substantial treatment of three major directors, with each director considered by two specialists, combining analysis of the director’s practical craft with accounts of the historical, cultural and theoretical context of their practice. Links between the featured directors and other artists and directors from the period are traced to round out the picture of influences and artistic development.

Volume 5: Grotowski, Brook, Barba (edited by Paul Allain, University of Kent, UK): explorations in space, audience and place in the theatre across cultures; theatre and beyond; and theatre-making as research

Volume 6: Littlewood, Strehler, Planchon (edited by Clare Finburgh, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK, and Peter Boenisch, the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London, UK): refunctioning or ‘translating’ written text, and the development of new modes of ‘post-Brechtian’ staging

Volume 7: Barrault, Mnouchkine, Stein (edited by Felicia Hardison Londré, University of Missouri-Kansas City, USA): methods shaped by work with a company; artistry underpinned by responsibility for an ensemble

Volume 8: Bausch, Castellucci, Fabre (edited by Luk Van den Dries and Timmy De Laet, University of Antwerp, Belgium): three major contemporary artists with different approaches to directorial ‘authorship’