SOURCE: An interview in Black American Literature Forum, Vol. 21, No. 4, Winter, 1987, pp. 425-33.

In the following interview with Sandra G. Shannon, Baraka explores his own vision as director of his dramas.

[Shannon]: The questions that I'd like to ask you today are specifically oriented toward directing. My first question is this: I see that you have directed several of your own sixties' plays. What motivated you to want to direct your own works?

[Baraka]: Well, because directing was something that I hadn't done, but I always had a great appreciation for directing. Also, I thought that I could give the work an added kind of accuracy in terms of the interpretation. I like to direct actually. Directing is more work that people might think.

Does directing, for you, involve everything—such as teaching the actors how to convey a particular point in your works, incorporating music…?

Well, I...