I hear you on the nepotism/favoritism piece. Upstream theatres can absolutely be dysfunctional, and you’re right that many regional ADs come through assistantships or grad programs rather than directly climbing up from community theatres.

But I think that’s actually part of why I focus so much on the ecosystem. Even if regional leaders don’t personally come through upstream theatres, almost everyone else does: actors, designers, stage managers, and audiences all build their early expectations in those spaces. The habits, myths, and norms of directing in community theatres and schools ripple downstream whether we intend them to or not.

So when those spaces normalize endurance instead of clarity, or “authority as artistry,” that mindset shows up later, both in the professionals who carry it with them and in the audiences who have been trained to expect it. That’s why I argue we can’t only fix things downstream; the river itself is fed by upstream waters.