Actors need more than ‘traffic cops’

Bless Charles McNulty for having told the truth with intelligence, insight, kindness and honesty [“A Lack of Direction,” Aug. 19]. It’s about time someone took these “self-appointed directors” to task. I personally have worked with quite a few: I am a professional actress and have directed several plays as well as teaching, acting and directing privately and on an academic level.

Usually there is no director’s vision, no point of view about the script, no sense of place and things are not even well-staged. Most directors, as McNulty points out, block the play. Period. That’s why actors call them “traffic cops.” You cannot know how painful this is to actors, most of whom are very serious about their craft and well-trained.

The executive director of the society of stage directors wrote in response to McNulty’s article, “We . . . are always struggling to explain to the layman . . . what a director does.” Perhaps she should explain to the directors in her society what they should be doing!

Delia Salvi

Los Angeles