To be a successful
Director in the Theater
one must:
1.) Interpret the script for meaning and asthetics.
(find a vision for the show that will connect it to the audience, and make lists of the show's specific staging / casting requirements)
2.) Hold Auditions and cast the production
3.) Collaborate with designers and production staff
4.) Schedule and hold all of the show's rehearsals
5.) Guide the actors in their work during rehearsals.
6.) Bring the creative vision to life by opening night.
Directors also study the characters in the script, gathering as much information as they can about their physical and psychological traits.
Collaboration
Once the show opens
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THE JOB
The Director’s work is most often based on: a
detailed study and analysis of the script to be produced.
Many careful readings
of the script help the director develop an individual vision of the playwright’s
intentions, which will form the core of his or her interpretation.
This sense of
“what the play is really about” will shape a director’s thinking about every
other aspect of the production.
Directors also study the characters in the script, gathering as much information as they can about their physical and psychological traits.
This is vital preparation for casting, when the actors who
are best able to bring the characters to life in performance need to be
chosen.
Collaboration
The director’s initial meetings with the
designers typify the "creative" collaboration
vital to theatre.
Any notes the director has made on the technical needs in the
script are shared with the designers.
The free flow of ideas that takes place
here will further refine the director’s vision of the production as a
whole.
Details in the script that need to be listed by the director:
1.) The specific locale(s) in which the
action takes place need to be attended to early in the production process.
(They will determine both the basic requirements of the set and the
possible movement of the actors on stage.)
2.) Acting areas
3.) Entrances and exits
4.) Specific furniture, props, costumes and FX
BLOCKING
(or staging) is the
precise moment-by-moment movement and grouping of actors on stage. Must be recorded in the director's prompt book.
The director’s creative collaboration continues during his or her work with the actors in rehearsals.
The director’s creative collaboration continues during his or her work with the actors in rehearsals.
The actors will bring their own interpretations to the
project (perhaps inspire the director to rethink his or her interpretation.)
They will work closely together to breathe life into the lines (developing a
deeper understanding of the characters’ motivations and relationships, fleshing
out the subtext of the play.)
CLEAN-UP and POLISHING
It is the job of the Director to work with the Technical Director in creating the overall look and feel of the whole production.
Transitions between moments and scenes are smoothed out (effective pacing is achieved and all the design and technical aspects of the production are integrated.)
Transitions between moments and scenes are smoothed out (effective pacing is achieved and all the design and technical aspects of the production are integrated.)
Once the show opens
the director's work is essentially
complete.
The Director: must continue to run the preshow gatherings and have cast crew pep-talks to ensure that the show remains the same as it was solidified in the rehearsals
and throughout the run
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