Director

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. 

 

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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 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.)

                   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