Questions on Directing to help you with your Journals

Terminology

Director Through line or spine

Stage manager Literal approach Translation approach

Auteur approach Actors Equity Association

Auditions Open call Casting directors

Call-backs Cold readings Stage images

Visual composition Emphasis and subordination Ground plan

Blocking Choreographer Musical director

Run-through rehearsals Technical rehearsals Dress rehearsals

I. Analyzing and Studying the Script

A. Questions that the director faces:

(were ‘play or story’ use the monologues that you are responsible for)

1. What is the basic story?

2. If the play is foreign, what translation is best suited to the production?

3. How might the play’s events and their arrangement affect a live audience?

4. Should portions of the script be cut?

5. Should certain scenes be transposed?

6. What is the significance of the play’s time and setting?

7. Should these be altered?

B. What are your play’s

1. Structural pattern

2. Units or beats

3. Your own emotional reactions or images certain moments inspire

4. Through-line or spine

a. Overall thrust b. Themes c. Point of view d. Implications

5. Characters and their individual functions in the play

6. Characters and the challenges and opportunities they pose for the actors

7. Scenic, lighting, sound, and costume demands (you can experiments with those

elements yet but you can suggest ideas if you want to)

C. Are you aware of :

1. The cultural environment depicted in the play

2. The context from which the script emerged

II. Your Approach to Directing

1

This section does not apply to your directing yet. Use

it for future reference

A. What kind of approach are you implying to your script:

1. Literal, or the page-to-stage approach: Produced as close to the playwright’s intentions as possible

or

2. Translation approach: Produced to capture the spirit of the script

B. The translation approach assumes that the audience may more fully grasp the script’s significance through choices that reveal fundamental patterns of meaning possibly hidden beneath the script’s surface detail

C. A third approach to directing places less emphasis on the script:

1. The auteur approach – treats the script as raw material to be reshaped for the director’s own purposes

2. The director is considered the principal creative force – virtually eliminates the playwright

Regardless of approach, directors have to work with others to transform their vision into reality

What the director’s vision ultimately achieves may be different from his or her original intention

III. The Director and the Designers

A. Designers must be allowed time to conceive their designs (give them time & info)

B. Directors typically are concerned with several questions when reviewing preliminary designs:

1. Do the designs adequately project the production concept?

2. Do they fit the play’s action, mood, theme, and style?

3. How do the designs for each aspect complement and support each other?

4. Will scenic and costume pieces functionally serve the uses the director has planned for the production’s staging?

5. If costume or scenery changes must occur during performance, will the proposed designs permit these changes without undue delays?

6. Can the designs be achieved within the production’s budget, personnel and time constraints?

IV. Working with the Actors

A. The director works to mesh the actors with their roles and the dramatic action

a. Supervises without dictating

b. Guides the actors’ responses with tact and understanding

B. Throughout the rehearsal process the director assesses the actors’ work and makes suggestions for improvements

1. Cultivate patience and long-term thinking.

2. Be consistent.3. Do not worry about being liked.

4. Make the text the mediator of any conflict.

5. Do not automatically blame the actor if something goes wrong.

6. Always apologise if you make an error.

7. Do not use anyone as a kicking stool.

8. Do not put time pressure on actors or waste time yourself.

9. Keep an eye on the actors' audience thinking.

10. Keep the boundaries between the actors' private lives and the work clear,Avoid last-minute instructions.

11. Hold your nerve.Katie Mitchel, The Director’s Craft, Routledge, 2009, London, pp 119-21

2

V. The Director’s Means

A. Your Resources:

1. The script

2. The actors

3. The stage space

4. Scenery, properties, costumes, makeup, lighting and sound

VI. Stage Images

A. Each moment creates an image that sends a message to the audience.

Which are your 3 stage images that convey the situation, emotional content and character relationships

B. One of the most important controls over emphasis and subordination is the position of the performers on stage

1. How and if you use…:

a. Height

b. Placement of actors within the stage space

c. Spatial relationships

d. Contrast

e. Visual focus

f. Costume

g. Lighting

h. Scenery

C. The way devices for achieving emphasis are used depends greatly upon the stage setting, which can create compositional patterns

Although there may be controversy, the importance of stage images is undeniable

VII. Movement, Gesture and Business

A. Where in your play you use movement in order to:

1. Give emphasis

2. Characterize

3. Clarify situation

4. Build a scenes to a climax, providing contrast and establishing tempo

5. To indicate of dramatic type or style

B. Movement can be divided into 3 main types:

From place to place – the broadest type, Gesture & Business

3

Does not apply for this exercise, use it for future reference.

Exception Pappas Hall

Stage , Chairs.

Does not apply for this exercise, use it for future reference.

Exception Pappas Hall

Stage , Chairs.

There are many objections to the deliberate use of stage images:

Some believe that stage images are the legacy of a time when the “picture-frame” stage was the only type in use and that its conventions have become invalidated

Some believe that concern for visual composition leads to a self-conscious or unnatural positioning of performers on stage

Flexible stages reject the traditional view that each moment should have a major focal point

Many objections concern the possibility that these compositions will draw attention to themselves and distract attention from the play’s action

1. Most directors take their cues for movement from the script:Character relationships and emotional connotations are among the most common motivators of movement (Give an example from your play)

C. Gesture, facial expression and bodily attitude are of special importance for achieving subtlety and clarity. Together these create “body language”

1. Does your actor use Gesture to:

a. Provide a subtle means of gaining emphasis

b. Convey basic psychological traits

or

2. Bodily attitude and facial expression to convey emotional attitudes or immediate reactions

D. Stage business (Stage Directions) involves physical activities frequently prescribed by the script and must be carefully timed and coordinated with dialogue

VIII.Voice and Speech

A. The director’s means also include the voice and speech of the performers

1. In using voice and speech the director has 4 main concerns:

a. The dialogue should be audible and comprehensible to the entire audience

b. The performers’ vocal qualities should be appropriate to their characters

c. The inflectional pattern and volume of the performers should be not only appropriate to

their characters, but also to specific situations and the meanings of their lines

d. The tempo and rhythm of the performers’ dialogue should vary appropriately in

accordance with the changing dynamics of the action

Can you use as an example your play to comment on the text above?

4

IX. Rehearsing the Play

A. Rehearsals can seldom be held under conditions approximating those of performance

1. The director and performers must rely heavily on imagination

B. The typical rehearsal space is a large room

1. A ground plan of the set is outlined with tape or paint on the floor

2. Rehearsal furniture and improvised doors and levels are provided

3. Rehearsal properties and garments are often provided

C. In order to plan rehearsals effectively, the director needs to know how much time is available

1. The director ascertains the approximate number of hours available and plans a schedule to utilize the time to maximum advantage

2. The director divides the schedule into progressive phases

D. Before beginning rehearsals of the play, some directors devote time to group activities

E. The first phase of rehearsal is usually devoted to reading and discussing the script

1. Performers gain a basic understanding of their roles

2. The director clarifies the main objectives

F. The next phase is usually devoted to blocking

1. Concerned with large patterns of movement

G. When the blocking for one segment is clear, the director moves on to the next

1. Initial blocking may be tentative

2. Blocking may evolve out of character relationships and the performers’ sense of their roles

H. The next phase of rehearsal is typically devoted to deepening the performers’ understanding of their lines and blocking

1. It is difficult for performers to achieve subtle characterization or to build scenes properly if they must continually consult their scripts

2. It is important that the performers understand (in detail) who their characters are, what they are doing, why they are doing it, and how they relate to one another

I. With musicals, the director’s task becomes especially complex during this and later stages of rehearsals

1. Must integrate songs and dances as well as devise transitions

J. The next phase of rehearsal usually is dedicated to ensemble playing and shaping the action for an overall effect

1. Most directors include at least one uninterrupted “run-through” of the entire play during this part of the rehearsal process

K. The final phase of rehearsals integrates all of the elements of production

1. Technical rehearsals

2. Dress rehearsals

3. Preview performances

4. Many adjustments are typically made during these final rehearsals

L. When the play opens, the director’s job is considered to be complete

5

IX. Rehearsing the Play

A. Rehearsals can seldom be held under conditions approximating those of performance

1. The director and performers must rely heavily on imagination

B. The typical rehearsal space is a large room

1. A ground plan of the set is outlined with tape or paint on the floor

2. Rehearsal furniture and improvised doors and levels are provided

3. Rehearsal properties and garments are often provided

C. In order to plan rehearsals effectively, the director needs to know how much time is available

1. The director ascertains the approximate number of hours available and plans a schedule to utilize the time to maximum advantage

2. The director divides the schedule into progressive phases

D. Before beginning rehearsals of the play, some directors devote time to group activities

E. The first phase of rehearsal is usually devoted to reading and discussing the script

1. Performers gain a basic understanding of their roles

2. The director clarifies the main objectives

F. The next phase is usually devoted to blocking

1. Concerned with large patterns of movement

G. When the blocking for one segment is clear, the director moves on to the next

1. Initial blocking may be tentative

2. Blocking may evolve out of character relationships and the performers’ sense of their roles

H. The next phase of rehearsal is typically devoted to deepening the performers’ understanding of their lines and blocking

1. It is difficult for performers to achieve subtle characterization or to build scenes properly if they must continually consult their scripts

2. It is important that the performers understand (in detail) who their characters are, what they are doing, why they are doing it, and how they relate to one another

I. With musicals, the director’s task becomes especially complex during this and later stages of rehearsals

1. Must integrate songs and dances as well as devise transitions

J. The next phase of rehearsal usually is dedicated to ensemble playing and shaping the action for an overall effect

1. Most directors include at least one uninterrupted “run-through” of the entire play during this part of the rehearsal process

K. The final phase of rehearsals integrates all of the elements of production

1. Technical rehearsals

2. Dress rehearsals

3. Preview performances

4. Many adjustments are typically made during these final rehearsals

L. When the play opens, the director’s job is considered to be complete

5