are SCHOOLS ADEQUATELY TRAINING Technical Directors for Professional CAREERS? by david b. vogel Placement rates for theatre students who graduate with degrees focusing on technical direction are arguably among the highest in the theatre industry, due, no doubt in large part, to the relatively small pool of trained technical directors. But do training programs that claim TD-specificity generally offer appropriate courses and the breadth of training needed to prepare students for professional careers? The genesis for a project to help answer this question came out of conversations with a number of teaching faculty in the field of technical theatre education. One common thought among them was that TD proTHEATRE F A L L 2006 DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY 45