My policy: the director can be present. The director will be given a clipboard and a pen, and will make whatever notes they want. Silently. We can discuss the show afterwards. Not at intermission, not during the curtain call, but
afterwards, once the show has well and truly been put to bed.
Beyond that, unless someone is
literally about to die, stay in that seat and shut up.
Post Merge: Jul 31, 2013, 02:16 am
Incidentally, if you need to provide a reason why the director needs to shut up and not interfere (and you're uncomfortable saying "BECAUSE IT'S A PRICKISH THING TO DO, YOU DWEEB"), there's an extremely good reason for this, even moving beyond the whole issue of distraction and concentration and juggling other priorities.
During the show, the stage manager must be in control. Having someone hanging out in the booth looking over your shoulder and questioning you and telling you how things ought to operate is going to directly undermine that control: it makes it more difficult for the SM to assert their authority, it makes it more difficult for the SM to feel in-control, and it can reduce the respect that any witnesses have for the SM. All of these are bad things, but they seem to be something to which most directors are oblivious.
Mind you, telling the director that
they're no longer in charge of the show might be a recipe for a divafit.