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Tips for new directors A veteran’s guide to successful

BY MICHAEL DAEHN

if you’re a relatively new fines the show with the actors, design considering plays to , you need to teacher and haven’t had much directo- team, and technicians, and then usually take into account your students’ edu- rial experience, it might not be clear to moves on to the next project. The stage cational needs and the nature of your you exactly what a director contributes manager runs the actual production . So, as much as you may to the creation of a successful stage from opening night until it closes. have always dreamed of mounting the work. Simply put, directors tell stories. Directing a high school theatre first Beckett or Pinter festival in your A more detailed description might be: production is another matter. Even school district, please keep that dream A director is the individual who, after if you’ve only directed a few shows, in your sleep. Start by doing a careful much research, , and planning, you already know that your work is assessment of the capabilities of your conceives and develops the boundar- never done. You coordinate auditions, casting pool. Do you have students ies of a unique world within which a , and production warm-ups, with lots of experience doing a wide ’s story and ideas will come solve production problems on a daily range of work, both straight plays and to life. In the process, the director de- basis, and usually see most of the run musicals? Or is your program relatively termines which , , or de- (if you’re not fixing box office snafus new and undeveloped, with students sign elements need to be emphasized or wardrobe malfunctions). of little or no experience? What so that a production’s spine, or central What I’m going to do here is pres- are their technical capabilities and ex- idea, is communicated to an audience. ent a few points every new director perience? And so on. You also need to To draw this artistic blueprint of ought to bear in mind before stepping take into consideration your own expe- the world of the , the director into the role of storyteller. I’m not sug- rience, or lack of: do you really want collaborates with designers, di- gesting what I have to say is the last to take on the complicated challenge rectors, a choreographer, actors, and word on directing a stage play—this is of a full-length musical, for example? technical staff. To share her vision and just to get you to start thinking about And, finally, what is it you’re trying ac- inspire the production’s creative team, the basics. For more in-depth directo- complish educationally? Do you want she uses poetic images, lines from the rial advice, check out some of the texts to show your students what it’s like to script, musical riffs and lyrics from the included in the sidebar on page 27. work in a large ensemble, or would it score (if it’s a musical), and any other Here’s my to-do list, more or less in make more sense to break them into means at her command. chronological sequence. groups for an evening of small-cast In a professional production, as Pick your play with your cast short plays? opening night nears, the director re- and audience in mind. When you’re Along with your students’ needs and abilities, you need to choose stories Master storytellers at work: director Vance Fulkerson (in stripes, top photo and bottom left) leads that will engage the folks who fill your rehearsals for Hairspray, in preparation for International Cast production at the 2008 Thespian Festival; seats. They are the ones who pay your and Holly Stanfield (in red sweater, bottom right) works with two principal actors in the 2007 International Cast much-needed ticket revenues, drive staging of Thoroughly Modern Millie. your novice actors to rehearsals, and

TEACHING THEATRE 21 provide support in general for your otherwise would be to them a vague, caretaking character roles. A reading theatre program. They deserve some foreign world—one that would be is a reading, but if you know what value. very difficult for who lived lives at the core of each character in Read your play the right way. through these events to believe. your play, you can link those roles to By this, I mean the way you listen to Determine the voice of your play. students who project those very same your favorite tunes—over and over Figure out what you want your compa- qualities. again. Good directors get to know their ny’s production to say to the audience Know your story backwards plays extremely well by reading them who will experience it. That means you and forwards. Before you can allow frequently and with purpose. Each need to know what your central mes- your actors the freedom to explore the reading should focus on a specific ele- sage or spine is throughout the entire world of the play, you must possess a ment. One time it’s entrances, exits, creation process—from first production clear understanding of the play’s struc- and possible staging; another is to find meeting through opening night. Any- ture. For instance, is it linear, with one key events or character subtext; a third thing that helps to tell that story ought event leading to the next in chrono- might be to read aloud for rhythms to be included while, at the same time, logical fashion? The Crucible is a good and considerations; a fourth to you should be careful to discard things example, as are the musicals Grease explore the arc of story and characters that are either not relevant or poten- and Hairspray. Or is your chosen play alike; the fifth, for whatever reason you tially confusing to an audience. an episodic or “string of pearls” work, think is necessary. Here’s an example of the latter: in which scenes are presented in a dis- Do your homework. We have all The director of a production of Agatha jointed sequence, such as The Laramie had a research assignment we pro- Christie’s Ten Little Indians might want Project and Godspell? Either structure crastinated on and ended up with a the audience to believe every character requires that you do a careful analysis less-than-desirable project as a result. is capable of being the murderer, so of every dramatic and event that To create a world, you need to know she emphasizes the potential for evil occurs in the entire play. a lot about it. That means serious re- in every character in the play. Such a One type of analysis is called back- search—online and off—of the cultural, directorial choice might achieve the wards and forwards. It’s a strategy historical, and behavioral aspects of director’s intent but only by ignoring developed by the director David Ball your chosen script through written, the script’s equally compelling roman- to help directors gain a clearer under- visual, spoken (such as dialects and tic, heroic, and even comic storylines. standing of each progressive step of a class-generated language), or musi- Another director discovers a comic play’s story and relationships. To use cal sources that will help you imagine moment in , perhaps a hic- this system, you start at the end of the and share the playwright’s story. Your cup or burp or passing of gas, which play and work toward the beginning, homework or the lack of it will serve could easily translate into a modest, listing every dramatic action and its as either an inspiration or an obstacle very enjoyable laugh once the produc- cause backwards. Ball calls this process to your company. The more thoroughly tion opens. Unfortunately, the mistaken the “trigger and heap” of each event. you describe your world vision of the belief that this moment can grow in Ball teaches that a dramatic action is play, the easier it will be for them to comic size or become a running gag or comprised of two events: a trigger and help you create it. throughout the production often a heap. Each heap becomes the next Here’s an example of the kind intrudes on a play’s dramatic rhythms. action’s trigger, so that actions are like of research I mean: In the summer To perhaps gain a few laughs, the story dominoes toppling one into the next. of 2004, I directed a production of itself is put on hold and never quite His theory is, by preceding backwards, Arthur Miller’s The Crucible at the reaches the emotional peak it could trigger domino by heap domino, there American High School Theatre Fes- have attained. Again, it is important can be no accidental detours since we tival in Edinburgh, performed by we keep our eyes on the directorial already know how the story ends—a Senator Joseph McCarthy’s hometown prize—a clearly realized and under- much sounder approach than heading high school in Wisconsin, Appleton stood, audience-engaging, dramatic in from the beginning of the play. West. We set our deconstructed pro- story. Similarly, Ball’s idea of a forward duction in 1954 at the height of the Cast the right students in the event refers to those moments in the House Anti-American Activities Com- right roles. Good casting is crucial, play that grab an audience’s attention mittee hearings. Our rehearsals re- and sometimes the most difficult part and make them want to keep watch- quired a keen understanding of both of your directing experience happens ing. For example, the lights go out and local and national politics, the social at auditions. My philosophy is to match we hear a shot and scream. We want etiquette of the 1950s, and the era’s the personality of the student to the to know who’s dead, who did it, and cultural icons (many of which perme- role. Pay attention to who the tension- to find out if anyone else is in danger. ated our Jasper Johns-inspired set). releasing comics are and put them in In , the ghost is mentioned As director, my extensive research your comic parts. Watch carefully to repeatedly before he speaks. By that was crucial toward our company’s see who’s nurturing the other fright- time, we’re dying to know what he’s ability to immerse themselves in what ened actors: cast them in the soothing going to say to his son. Those are re-

22 TEACHING THEATRE Questions for actors during moment-to-moment rehearsals

These are some of the questions I ask my actors when we’re breaking down the individual moments of a play. In some cases, one question leads to the next. This only a starting point—you can tailor your own questions to the needs of your students and the play.

1. What do you want from the other 7. How can you set your stakes 11. Can you take a more or less partner(s) in the scene? higher for your character and the direct approach to pursuing your in- scene? tentions? 2. What are you going to do to get it? What are your tactics? 8. Can you find some of the opposite 12. What’s the subtext in the line in your character? (For example, a you’re reading, and what is your real 3. How can you make that choice sympathetic aspect of the or a intention when you say it? clearer/larger/simpler/bolder? flaw that makes the hero less perfect and more human.) 13. What’s your inner 4. If that approach didn’t work, how while you listen to others in this can you make a more successful ad- 9. What part of the (char- scene speak? justment? acter fashioned from text and informed imagination) informs your 14. How would your character find 5. What is the very specific rela- character choices or motivations dur- and use humor or charm in this tionship between you and your ing this moment? stressful scene, using the text and partner(s) at this very moment? given circumstances you have to 10. Are you listening intently to your work with? 6. What are the “operative” words or partner or are you trapped in your phrases for you to emphasize in this own head? —M.D. line if you wish to accurately com- municate your intention? ally effective forwards. Directors must places and bookshelves), along with more focus than a sitting one; a seated identify and clearly shape each of the furniture placement. This schematic, character draws more focus than three forwards in their plays to keep an audi- whether you sketch it out on notebook standing ones because of the contrast. ence engaged. paper or create it on your laptop, is Finally, actors standing on boxes or Shape your space on a stone an organic part of the dramatic action. platforms draw more attention than soup budget. As a director in a school It is the scenic designer’s guide to the those at stage level. theatre program, one of your challeng- world you’re trying to communicate • Stage your scenes at appropriate es is determining how to produce a and a map for your actors learning the focal points. Remember that downstage play on a minimal or non-existent bud- rhythms and behaviors of the story. For right—the closest area to the edge of get. It’s possible to tell a story in any instance, entrances and exits must be the stage, from the actor’s right, fac- space with minimal or no scenery as situated to accommodate the signifi- ing the audience—is the hottest spot. long as your actors are invested in the cance and timing of the entrances and This is true because that’s the way we work. If that happens, your audience exits of key characters. Furniture should read in the West, from left to right. So will commit to the story as well, bring- be arranged and clustered into multiple if a character has a pivotal moment ing with them the capacity to imagine playing areas (not just center stage) so in a play, you might consider staging locations and effects far greater and the staging is constantly fresh, not static. it down right. Downstage center and grander than any designer can create. A set design forcing the actors to repeat- downstage left are the two next-most Look at Shakespeare’s plays. His lan- edly move in a figure-eight fashion sim- prominent focal points to place your guage conjures such highly descriptive ply draws attention to the pattern, not actors. Upstage left is the area of least images, that the scenes could be clearly the actions being played or the progres- emphasis for audience attention. Center visualized in the mind’s eye of ground- sion of the story. stage is the safest and most emotion- lings and aristocracy alike. Here are three other things to bear ally neutral onstage area as it is equally Create a ground plan for your in mind when formulating your ground distant from all others and halfway re- set. The plan should include, per the plan, and for that matter, when you moved from the audience. demands of the play, the arrangement begin your play: • Establish several “emotional” - of walls, doors, windows, and other • Use levels to help establish re- ing areas to keep the staging dynamic. architectural elements (such as fire- lationships. A standing actor draws Perhaps certain areas have special im-

TEACHING THEATRE 23 portance for individual characters (their Keep it real. Your job as actor surface of the lines or discovered only comfort, guilt, terror zones). Perhaps, coach is to inform your actors when in the context of how a scene is played for example, a grandfatherly figure has they’re listening and responding to in rehearsal. But the humor is always a personal oasis with furniture like an each other in the moment, playing the there, and you must find it if you ex- old recliner or a wall filled with photos intention of a scene, and making bold, pect your story to ring true. of departed loved ones. interesting choices. It’s also your re- Pick eight to ten framing mo- Use your blocking to help tell the sponsibility to take them to task when ments. When I do my preproduction story. A master storyteller grabs the they’re doing the opposite. Specific analysis, I identify eight to ten major attention of his audience, unfolds the and honest choices are always the framing moments in a full-length play sequence of events with increasing ur- most effective ones you can encour- and two to five in a shorter work. gency, drives the dramatic intensity of age an actor to make. Audiences will These are the moments that should the story to an amazing or amusing cli- relate more on both a personal and stand out in the audience’s mind as max, and concludes with a philosophi- dramatic level to characters who are they connect the storyline you’re cal or emotional resonance that leaves willing to themselves through constructing for them. Each of these the audience wanting more. Of course, authentic choices. Your blocking with events or moments will require more it’s not as easy as it sounds, but this is either help or hinder that process. Be emphasis in rehearsal. They invariably your recipe if you wish to be a success- aware. include the earliest moments of a play, ful director. A major part of that recipe Make every moment matter. when you need to grab interest, and is the approach you take to blocking One of famed acting teacher Sanford the last moments, which need to reso- your play. Here are two blocking is- Meisner’s often-repeated phrases was, nate past the final curtain. Sometimes sues to consider: “Every little moment has a life of its scenes stand out because they include Staging. How you arrange people own.” What I think he meant was that moments of high passion or , or and objects to the space should reveal every scene must be taken apart and because of the visual images you gen- the nature of relationships between rebuilt slowly through an exploration erate. Other times, a framing moment characters and make your story both of each single moment that passes and occurs because of a particularly imagi- clear and interesting. The use of tri- every action each character makes. native piece of business, a climactic angles in staging a scene with more Those moments might be physical ac- or , or a demonstration of than two characters creates a sense of tions, dialogue, or even pauses filled artistic virtuosity. dramatic tension and, generally, mov- with silent communication—all are Find the rhythm of the play. ing actors along diagonal lines (up equally essential to developing the arc Every play has a rhythm built into left to down right, for example) cre- of the story. Each moment triggers the its structure. For instance, when do ates more interest than movement in next and relationships shift, a progres- people speak soft or loud, fast or straight lines (up right to down right sion that continues until the end of the slow? When do they overlap and why? and up center to down center, for story. A good director sets aside an What’s the melody of these words in example). adequate amount of rehearsal time for the speaking? How will they work to Group pictures. Aristotle consid- this stop-and-start discovery sequence. help each character get what he or ered spectacle one of the fundamen- You and your actors might pause af- she wants? What does this story re- tal theatrical elements, and it’s more ter every few lines to talk about what quire in terms of changing tempos? If popular than ever today. It’s very hard adjustments need to happen to make you don’t know a play’s beat, you run to explain how one can create a sense those moments clearer and more effec- the risk of racing past some key mo- of spectacle onstage (though I’m sure tive. (See the sidebar of questions for ments and crawling too slowly over you can find a suitable description actors during moment-to-moment re- some others. in one of the sidebar texts). The best hearsals on page 24.) These rehearsals Develop an edge. There is some- suggestion I have is to view great art. are often the most artistically challeng- thing special about the work of certain To immerse oneself into the world ing and exciting part of your story-as- directors, a personal style that tran- of Brueghel’s hardworking peasants, sembling process—and indispensable scends mere storytelling. These stage Hogarth’s spoiled elite, Benton’s cow- to the clarity of your production. artists easily shift from one interesting boys of the Wild West, or Hopper’s Find the humor. In his amazing world to another, their characters al- lonely late-night diners is to get lost primer on acting, Audition, Michael ways seem to make brighter, bolder in an alternate aesthetic vision that Shurtleff says, “Humor is an attitude, a choices, and their stories are told in has much to teach a theatrical direc- survivor’s way of looking at life. It’s not unusual or unexpected ways. For some tor. I’ve found that the more I dissect about telling jokes.” If humor is present undefinable reason, their stage pic- and analyze the stories told through in our most dramatic real-life moments, tures linger in the mind, and you enjoy all the composition choices made by why wouldn’t it be included in every thinking about the work long after it’s the world’s great painters, the easier it play you direct? A script’s humor might over. These directors don’t approach is for me to create similarly expressive not always be immediately apparent; storytelling timidly—they have an edge. pictures onstage. sometimes a laugh is hidden under the You have one, too. The more plays

24 TEACHING THEATRE you direct, the finer that edge will be- come. Better get to work and start tell- ing your stories now.

Michael Daehn is an assistant profes- sor of theatre education and direct- ing at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. He’s directed more than one hundred productions at the high school, college, and professional levels.

TEACHING THEATRE 25 Further reading On Directing, by Harold Clur- man (Macmillan Publishing, 1997) The Dramatic Imagination, by Robert Edmond Jones (Theatre Arts , 2004) The Viewpoints , by Anne Bogart and Tina Landau (Theatre Communications Group, 2005) Directors on Directing, by Toby Cole and Helen Chinoy (Macmillan Publishing, 1986) Play Directing: Analysis, Com- munication, and Style, by Francis Hodge (Allyn & Bacon, 2004) Fundamentals of Play Directing, by Alexander Dean and Lawrence Carra (Thompson Learning, 1989) Backwards & Forwards: A Tech- nical Manual for Reading Plays, by David Ball (Southern Illinois University, 1983) Creative Play Direction, by Rob- ert Cohen (Allyn & Bacon, 1983) The Empty Space, by Peter Brook (Touchstone, 1995)

26 TEACHING THEATRE Originally published in the quarterly journal Teaching Theatre. More info: Schooltheatre.org