This practice-based dissertation has two purposes. One is to document the working process of my MFA graduate production, which is based on French playwright Michel Vinaver’s play 11 Septembre 2001/11 September 2001. Vinaver is known for his unique innovation of ‘polyphonic dramaturgy’ that challenges traditional methods of directing as well as requires innovations on the director’s part. The second purpose of the dissertation, therefore, is to present my reflections on the directorial challenges in the process as well as my thoughts about the methods of directing a text, actor-spectator relationship and politics in theatre.

The dissertation consists of four chapters and an appendix. The first chapter explains the text selection process, my personal connections to the text, Vinaver’s background information and his dramaturgy. The second chapter demonstrates the compositional features of the ‘polyphonic dramaturgy’ of 11 Septembre 2001/11 September 2001 through textual analysis and the process of deciding the directorial rationales. The third chapter presents my ideas on directing the play and documents the collaboration with other theatre designers, dramaturg, and actors. The fourth chapter is my post-production reflection and reevaluation on the whole directing process. Finally, the appendix includes related documents of the production, reviews and the reference bibliography.