Who would be the main influence in staging Shakespeare's plays?

Question

The actors ?Theatre owners? Shakepeare himself?

Answer 1

Most likely the director.  Shakespeare gives very few stage directions apart from enter and exuent (exit).  The producing theatre would probably have some say in it and may be the final word on anything a director would want to do (I.E. they could veto something they didn't like).  I would say however that the director has the overall blocking and staging influence on a production of Shakespeare.

Answer 2

Anything you like!

That's the beauty of Shakespeare, it's not only timeless, it's ageless, generationless and the rest.

He's simply wonderful and a pleasure to work with!

Answer 3

In a modern production, staging is largely influenced by the director, usually using what the actors have experimented with in rehearsal. (although there are a lot of professional directors who make up all the blocking beforehand.)

If you are asking about who did the staging during Shakespeare's time, the answer is the actors, especially those with the most experience/respect.  There were no directors in Renaissance theater.  In fact, 'director' is a pretty modern job--only around since the late 1800's.  So the actors would've figured out entrances and exits as a group to avoid collisions and establish conventions ("that door is the Friar's, that door is for the Prince") and maybe they would've gone through it, and maybe not 9there isn't a ton we really know about this).  But plays were not rehearsed for six or eight weeks before opening in the late 1500s; time was money and actors were expected to know their lines and show up prepared to do the play.  The actors would've rehearsed the fight scenes, but the dances were generally popular dances that everyone in the company knew how to do, and the songs were also set to popular tunes.  So it's likely that most of the staging happened during the play itself, and much of it changed from performance to performance.

Remember that in Shakspeare's time, the audience used the phrase "I'm going to hear a play"--not to 'see' or 'watch.'  The audience's focus was on the language, and the staging simply wasn't the focus like it is now.