1. Original Monologue – Rehearsal Practice: The Art of Directing
DRAMA II
Original Monologue – Rehearsal Practice:
The Art of Directing

2. REMINDERS and ANNOUNCEMENTS
Turn in drafts if you haven’t to Mr. Byron immediately. If on GoogleDoc or online, please share/send to
Rough drafts will be returned with comments on Monday and Performance Rubric will be distributed.
Final Draft is now due on 2/4 – to give time to edit during rehearsal process.
Performances will begin 2/4.

3. Directors Turn the script into a production
Coordinate the efforts of a team of collaborators
Represent the intentions of the playwright and the expectations of the audience
Inspire the actors to perform their best
Create an environment in which each member of the theatre ensemble can excel
Offer creative solutions to questions and problems
Demonstrate strong communication skills

4. Directing: A History
The word director comes from the Greek didaskalos, or teacher
Middle Ages pageants and the conducteur des secrets
The playwright as director (i.e. Moliere)
The actor-manager of the 19th century

5. George II, the Duke of Saxe-Meiningen (1826-1914)
First director in the modern sense
Long rehearsal periods
Attention to detail in acting
Advocated historical accuracy in the scenography
Keen ability to stage large ensemble scenes

6. Konstantin Stanislavky (1863-1938)
Viewed directing as a process of discovery rather than simply being that of a traffic cop
Emphasized that each role on and off the stage was very important
Encouraged long explorative rehearsal periods

7. The Directing Process: In the Beginning
Script analysis
Explore the world of the play in terms of character, language and environment
Dramaturg
Assists the director in researching and thinking about the play, the playwrights, the audience and questions of style

8. The Directing Process: Structural Analysis
Theme
Characters
Language
Environment
Plot
French scenes - change in the composition of characters onstage
Beats
Act and scenes

9. The Directing Process: Concept to Casting
Production Concept
The primary metaphor, symbol, or concept that is essential to the production of this play
Production meetings serve to bring the production team a central point in the collaborative process
Casting
Cast to type
Cast against type
Gender-neutral casting
Cross-gender casting
Color-blind casting

10. The Director in Rehearsal: Focus
Shared focus
Stealing focus or upstaging
Profile
Stage areas
Triangulation

11. The Director in Rehearsal: Picturization

12. The Director Collaborates with Others
Assistant director
Stage manager
Assistant stage manager
Movement coach
Fight director
Vocal or dialect coach
Music director
Choreographer
Assistant choreographer
Dance director

13. Types of Directors: Interpretive
Interpretive directors attempt to translate the play as they think the playwright would want it to be.
“The dramatist expresses himself mainly through words, the director through action …”
Harold Clurman, American director

14. Types of Directors: Creative
Creative Directors create “concept productions” based on their unique ideas or interpretations of a play script
“The theatre of the future will be a theatre of visions … an art which says less yet shows more … art which springs from movement, movement which is the very symbol of life.”
Gordon Craig, scenographer

15. Types of Directors: Contemporary Trends Ensemble
Directors, designers and actors work with playwrights in the development of a play from its very conception

16. Peter Brook: Director of the International Centre for the Arts
“I know of one true test in the theatre … When the performance is over, what remains? … It is the play’s central image that remains, its silhouette, … this shape will be the essence of what it has to say.”