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Chapter 10: Directing

            The director is the individual who is responsible for the artistic integrity of a theatrical production.  The director is the leader who provides the artistic vision for the play.

            The director reports directly to the producer(s) who then are ultimately responsible for the financial stability and success of the production.  In many educational and amateur productions, the director may also serve as her or his own producer.

            The director is responsible for taking the script in its literary form and turning it into a living, breathing event.  The director gives direction to the actors, the designers, and the stage manager(s) who then carry out the direction provided them.  If everyone commits to the director’s vision, and if the vision is a coherent goal, the play will come together well . . . one hopes.

Play Selection

            The director of a theatrical production may not always have input into the selection of the script; however, an understanding of how a play is selected for production will help the director in analysis of the script even if she or he was not consulted in the play selection.  Other times, the director may have an opportunity to select the script he or she wishes to direct.  Whoever eventually makes the final decision, there are four main areas of consideration which should influence the selection of a script for production.

            Therefore, the best place to begin our discussion of directing is with play selection.  The four considerations are Talent, Budget, Facilities, and Audience.  Depending on the producer, the director, and any other personalities involved in selecting a play script for production, these four elements may shift and move in terms of greater and lesser influence.  Yet all four should be included in the deliberations if the final selection is to be the best possible selection.

            For our discussion, we will assume that the director has the authority to select the script for production.

 

Talent

 

            Talent is defined as a special, natural ability or aptitude, but it also refers to the capacity for achievement or success.  Some directors believe that talent cannot be taught or acquired; you are either born with it or you are not.  Some directors believe that talent alone is not sufficient, it must be developed.  Some directors distinguish between talent (natural ability) and skill (learned ability).  And, of course, directors will always debate how much weight talent should have in the final decision to cast a particular actor for a particular role.

            Here, talent refers to the director’s understanding of what talent (natural and learned abilities) is available in the pool of actors.

            If the director is a professional, selecting a play for production in a union house, the director can assume that the talent pool will provide any special demands the script may have.  As a result, this aspect of the decision-making process may have little impact.

            If the director is an educator, or is working in a community theatre setting, the script may require certain talent which may not be readily available in the talent pool.  For instance, you may be selecting a play for a community theatre, in a town where your talent pool is made up largely of young actors (also involved in their school productions) and housewives.  You would need to stay away from play scripts that require a significant number of older, adult males.

            In educational settings, directors tend to select scripts with their veteran actors in mind.  The juniors and seniors have been in the program for a year or more, and the director has had an opportunity to work with them and get a feel for what their strengths and weaknesses are.  Similarly, in community theatre settings, a group of actors seems to be cast in every show; this is because the producer(s) and director(s) know that these actors are available and what they can handle.

            Actors, on the other hand, may seek adventure.  They may seek out roles which stretch their abilities as actors.  If the director understands that an actor is seeking a challenge, and a particular script may provide just such a challenge, then (again) talent bears upon the selection of a given script for production.

 

Budget

 

            Productions cost money.  It takes money to pay royalties for a given script, to acquire costumes and settings, to print up posters and programs.  Some productions cost an enormous amount of money; others can be produced relatively cheaply.  A company that has a huge store of Elizabethan costumes can more easily produce an Elizabethan play than can a community theatre with no permanent home.

            Royalties vary from script to script.  A play that no one has ever heard of will be available for a few dollars royalty; a play by Neil Simon will require more dollars in royalty because the play’s title itself will draw in audience members.

            Professional shows produced on Broadway can quickly run into the millions of dollars necessary to open the show.  Educational and community theaters will often work with budgets of several hundred dollars.  Experimental and student productions may be accomplished with very little financial assets.

            The point is that the available funds need to be part of the decision to produce or not produce a given script.  You might have enough money to pay the royalties for a popular script, but then have little or nothing left for costuming and publicity.

 

Facilities

 

            Facilities are more than just the size of the stage or auditorium, though these are very important aspects to consider in selecting a play for production.  Facilities include the available work spaces for costume construction, repair, and cleaning; set construction stock and building capacities; parking and restroom access for audience members; etc. 

            The size of the stage is an important factor is selecting a script.  Some facilities have adequate space onstage and offstage for quick changes of multiple settings.  Some facilities have no room for set changes of any kind.  A script which requires multiple locations may have to be carefully designed if no set change is available.

            Some facilities have areas adjacent to the stage for set construction and storage.  Some facilities have to build the set pieces at some distant location, and transport the sets to the theatre in what is called a load-in. 

            Some facilities are dedicated spaces for the production.  This production and only this production will have full access to the building during preparations for performance.  Other production companies or educational programs must share their performance space with other civic groups who schedule the use of the facility.

            Some facilities have high ceilings; some have low ceilings.  Some facilities have sectional stages on hydraulics which can be raised and lowered by pushing a few keys on a computer.  Some facilities have cement floors and roofs that leak in the rain.  All these factors should be considered in the selection of a script for production.

 

Audience

 

            No matter how much blood, sweat, and tears you and your company have shed working to prepare your script for performance, it doesn’t mean anything if no one comes to see the show.  It is vitally important that the director develops a sense of the community, a sense of what is acceptable and desirable and what is not.

            Some audiences are very giving.  They love theatre (and they have an educated understanding of different types of theatre), and they are very supportive of new and challenging scripts.  Some audiences are very unforgiving.  They are easily offended by a script which contains vulgarity, and ten subsequent plays of conservative values and family entertainment will not be sufficient to win them back again.  They will forever remember that vulgar play.

            Audience development is necessary for any company or theatre producer.  Developing an audience takes time and patience.  It requires having a good sense of the community, and a willingness to listen to the comments shared about past performances in the area.

            Some audiences are generally conservative.  They like certain types of theatre.  Some audiences are generally liberal.  They like certain other types of theatre.  Most audiences can be influenced with compassion.  Some audiences won’t leave their homes except for Shakespeare and musical theatre.

            When a director is considering a script for production, it is important that the director consider how the audience might respond to the production.  Years of careful audience development can be lost with one inconsiderate choice.

Script Analysis

            The director has been hired to direct the play.  The script has been selected.  The director’s job is to turn the script into a living, breathing performance.  Therefore, the director must study and analyze the script carefully to gain the best possible understanding of the script, its parts, and its potential.

            Some directors do little more than read through the script several times to develop an understanding of the text.  They are consciously working the script while they read, and they are subconsciously working the script when they read it several times.  By sitting down and reading straight through a script several times, the directors are developing a subliminal sense of rhythm and flow.  Their imaginations are picturing the actors on stage, moment by moment, as the action unfolds.

            Other directors are more deliberate in their script analysis.  They typically have some tool of analysis that they use, such as a list of questions which prompt them to seek answers within the text of the script.  They too will read the script several times, but they will be deliberate in seeking for specific details in the script.

            The first type of director mentioned will carry their script analysis in their heads.  It is intuitively understood.  The second type of director mentioned will typically carry their script analysis in a notebook, and they will refer to their notebook often in a rehearsal with actors or in a design meeting with designers.

            Ultimately, however, both types of director will have a thorough knowledge of the script, its parts, and its potential.  Both types of director will come to rehearsal prepared to work on interpretation with the actors and designers.  Both types of director will have a particular vision, or goal, for the production.

            The following questions can be answered by the director who has developed a full understanding of the script.

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  1. What is the meaning(s) of the title of the play?  Why do you think the playwright gave it that title?

  2. What is the play about?  This is not a question about the storyline.  This question is aiming at a deeper understanding of the theme(s) or idea(s) of the play.

  3. Where is the climax of the play?  How does it come about and how is it resolved?  The climax of the play is the point which answers, or begins to answer, the main question of the play.  The question is typically focused on the primary character.  Will Oedipus understand that he killed his own father?  Will Everyman be successful in giving an account of his life?  Will Antonio be saved from Shylock’s vengeance?  What will Dora do?  The climax answers, or begins to answer, the question.  And, typically, the climax is not a single moment but has its own interior beginning, middle, and end.

  4. What kind of world does the play create?  Every play is a world unto itself.  The playwright creates a world where things work in the way the playwright wants or needs them to work.  Shakespeare created a world of fairy kings and queens (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), where craftsmen from the village can be turned into men with donkeys’ heads.  Ibsen created a world where women question their traditional roles in the culture and in the family (A Doll’s House).  Some playwrights attempt to create very realistic worlds within their plays.  Some playwrights deliberately create a world which is unreal or surreal (The Breasts of Tiresias).

  5. How does the play arouse interest in the reader/audience?  How does the play sustain that interest?  And how does the play satisfy that interest?  These questions will help the director understand the beginning, the middle, and the end of the action of the play.

  6. What kind(s) of emotional effects does the play produce?  Is it a comedy aimed at nothing more than general entertainment?  Is it a tragedy with a feeling of helplessness before an uncaring universe?  Does the playwright mix comic and tragic elements?

  7. Whose play is it?  Is there more than one major role?  What are the major characters of the play?  What are their relationships?  How does each of the major characters move the action forward or impede the action?  What is the main objective or goal of each of the major characters?

  8. What is the basic conflict of the play?  In some plays, the basic conflict is between the main or primary character and some concept or truth.  Peer Gynt by Henrik Ibsen has been referred to as a play of Man versus the Universe.  But most plays have a central conflict between the primary character and a secondary character.  The director needs to know which characters are drawn in opposition with which other characters.

  9. What are the complications of the action?  The primary character rarely goes straight to the climax of the action.  Rather, the playwright interferes with the primary character’s progress by placing obstacles in her or his way.  The complications are sometimes nothing more than distractions.  But sometimes, the complication is a learning opportunity for the primary character.  The complication, once overcome, will provide the primary character with some new insight or skill with which he or she can finally reach the goal of the action.

  10. What are the settings in which the action of the play occurs?  How many are required?  How should these settings appear to create the right mood and atmosphere?  Now the director is beginning to think in terms of bringing the text to performance in a particular space with a particular cast and crew.  Some of this information was already considered when the play was selected for production.  Now the decisions need to be more carefully thought through and developed.  The director will soon sit down with the set designer and give instructions on what is needed and what is desired for the physicalization of this script.

  11. What are the given circumstances of the play?  The given circumstances are those elements of the play which cannot be changed.  The director needs to know what they are and how they are involved in the action of the play.  What is the geographical location(s) for the play?  What is the climate like?  What is the date, the year, the time(s) of day in which the action takes place?  What is the economic, political, social, education, and religious environments in which the play takes place?

  12. Are their particular characteristics of the dialogue?  Does the character’s regional or national or language background impact on the action of the play?  How is the speech structured?  Are the lines of the characters long, short, smooth, broken?  Is there a particular sound the director needs to strive for with the actors in order to meet the demands of the script?

  13. Are there any special demands or talent needed for any of the characters?  Does any actor need to be able to play a musical instrument?  Sing?  Smoke?  Dance?  Is there any nudity required?  Does any character have to be a particular height or weight?  Does any actor have to have a particular vocal quality?  Does any actor have to have a particular look?

  14. What type of audition do you want?  Will you use an open call or private interview format?  Do you want the actors to bring prepared monologues and/or songs?  Or will you provide scenes for cold readings?

  15. What about your set design?  What about your costume design?  Are there any special requirements in terms of hairstyle or makeup?  Are there any particular lighting or sound requirements?

  16. And finally, the director should decide upon a directorial concept.  A directorial concept is an idea, usually in the form of a metaphor, for the entire production.  It is a statement of an idea that can communicate the director’s vision equally well to the actor and to the designer.  The famous line from Forrest Gump comes to mind: “Life is like a box of chocolates.”  This is an excellent, brief communication of an idea that can inform the actor and the designer equally well.

Working with Designers

            We most often think of the director’s role as working with actors in preparing their roles for performance, but the director actually provides artistic leadership to all of the artists working on a production.  This includes the designers of sets, costumes, lighting, sound, properties, makeup, etc.

            In many educational and community theatre programs, the director may serve as her own designer, or the production company may have one person direct and one person serve as the designer for all design areas.  In larger programs, and definitely in professional theaters, there may often be a different designer for each design area.

            The director will analyze the script thoroughly and decide upon a directorial concept for the production.  Similarly, the designer will also spend time studying and analyzing the script before working out the details of the design.  However, because the director is responsible for the artistic vision of the production, the designer should meet with the director (sometimes even before reading the script) to learn about the director’s vision or approach.

            For instance, the company may be producing a Shakespearean play.  The director may want to place the production in a contemporary setting.  If the designer doesn’t know this early on, the designer might waste many hours designing a traditional Elizabethan setting.

            The director needs to discuss the play and her or his directorial concept with the designer(s).  The director needs to be clear on two things: (1) what is needed and (2) what is desired.

            What is needed?  Does the director need three different entrances or does the director really only need two?  Does the director need at least three different acting areas on stage or will more be required to accommodate the acting?  In terms of costume, does the director need the actors to be able to move freely and easily, or does the director need a particular type of costume which may in fact restrict the movement of the actor?  Does the director intend to cast a young actor in the role of an older character, which will require special makeup?

            What is desired?  The director may need three different entrances, and she might want one of those entrances to be a set of French doors.  The director may need three separate acting areas on stage, but a small area up right will really be nice because there’s that special dialogue in the second act which could be staged there.  The director wants to use traditional costuming, so he will need the hoop skirts as early as possible for the actors to get used to the restrictions on their movement.  The director would like to have the lighting simulate evening for scene eleven, but she can survive without it if lighting potential is limited.

            And then, there are always budget considerations.  The stairway which the director must have is simply not possible with the company’s budget.  The director’s need becomes a desire which will eventually be replaced by something just as good or better when the designer comes up with a better idea (within budget).

            The idea here is that the design elements of the production are in need of artistic direction as much as the actors.  All of the elements of the production must align with the director’s vision in order to provide a unified performance to the audience.  If lighting and costuming are not coordinated, the colors will not look right to the audience, the actors may look ill in the off-color lighting, and the audience will be confused by what they thought was going to be a comedy but what looks more like a surrealist performance.

Casting

            The director has the responsibility for the artistic integrity of the production.  Therefore, the director has authority over which actors will be assigned to which roles in the play.  In nearly every theatre environment, the director has sole and final authority over casting – deciding who plays which role.

            For the actor, an audition is the industry equivalent of a job interview.  As such, the director is the supervisor who will make the final hiring decision.  And just as actors prepare for auditions, the director must also walk into the theatre fully prepared to make these critical decisions.

            It is said that for every paid position in acting, in the United States today, there are one thousand actors fully capable of performing the role.  This doesn’t count those actors who would really love to play the role, but who lack the skill or talent or other necessary attribute for the role.  In most cases then, the director has the problem of sorting through many qualified candidates to find the right person for each role.

            The various types of auditions have been discussed in the earlier unit on acting.  Here, let us examine auditions from the director’s point of view.  As actors are often heard saying, “What is the director looking for?”

            Obviously, the director is looking for talent – a degree of natural capability to perform the task.  Some actors are very talented; some are less talented.  But the director is ill-advised who makes casting decisions solely on the basis of talent.

            Skill in acting, as opposed to talent, would include all learned habits and abilities that can be brought to the development and performance of the role.  An actor may lack natural ability (talent) but have worked hard to develop good skills.  In fact, a skilled actor may appear talented simply because she is well trained.

            Another consideration for the director is the actor’s range.  Performance involves an intangible quality called by several names: life-likeness, truthfulness, believability, credibility.  The actor will have a range of truthfulness or believability.  For instance, a young actor may be 19 years of age, but he may be able to pass as young as 16 believably or as old as 24 believably, typically depending on how he carries himself.  This would be his range as an actor.

            Some actors can play realistic drama very well, but they may have difficulty with comedy.  Some actors can perform realistically only, and anything of the classical or non-realistic genres will be outside their range.  Some actors have well-developed voices; they can sing and speak clearly enough to fill a large auditorium.  Some actors cannot be heard beyond the tenth row of seats in a large auditorium; their vocal ranges are more limited.

            The director keeps in mind the demands of the script and the potential of his or her vision for the script.  The director seeks an individual actor for each individual role who can comfortably bring the character to life; that is, the director wants to find an actor for whom the role falls in the middle of her range.  This way, the actor will be working from her strength as she develops the role, rather than putting her in a position where she is weaker.

            As a general note, however, it needs to be pointed out that this is not always the case.  In professional theatre, the director may have a particular actor that he likes to work with.  And the director may cast the actor, not because the actor is the best fit for the role but because the actor is a good fit for the director.  Similarly, in educational theatre, the director may cast a student actor in a role that will very definitely be a stretch, or challenge, for the actor.  This is part of the educational process.  And in amateur theatre, it is sometimes necessary to cast someone who is not right for the part simply because the actor is the only actor available.

            Having mentioned the actor’s suitability for the role and the actor’s suitability to the director, there is a third area of consideration in casting – the actor’s suitability to the cast as a whole.  The individual actor will become part of the cast, part of the team of actors who must work together to bring about the best possible performance.  Sometimes, a very good actor will not be cast because the director is aware of problems with the actor working with other actors in other productions.

            Directors often talk to other directors.  Actors need to remember that they are always auditioning, not only for this particular show, but for other productions in the future.

Blocking

            The blocking of a play refers to the director’s instructions to the actors as to when and where they should move on stage.  The early Greek performances were choreographed so the members of the chorus could move and speak as a single entity.  In the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance, the movement of the actors onstage diminished until performances became little more than recitations.

            With the advent of Realism, it became important for the actors to move about the stage in normal (or realistic) ways.  The director came into prominence as the person who could provide a watchful eye and feedback to the actors regarding their positions on stage.

            To assist the directors in providing clear information to the actors, the stage floors were marked off in squares.  Each square on the floor was given a number.  The director could then tell an actor to enter the stage and move to block 37.  Thus, blocking was born.

            Eventually, the system of numbered squares on the stage floor was discarded.  The language of theatre evolved to accommodate any stage environment by taking a reference from the actor standing in the center of the stage, facing the audience.  From this center stage position, the stage area is then broken into roughly nine areas.

            Directing the actor to move right will let the actor know to move to her right – the audience’s or director’s left.

            Directing the actor to move left will let the actor know to move to his left – the audience’s or director’s right.

            Telling an actor to move up will let the actor know that you want her to move away from the audience, or upstage.  Telling an actor to move down will let the actor know that you want him to move toward the audience, or downstage.

            The resulting nine stage areas were discussed in more detail in an earlier chapter.

            The director blocks the play.  That is, the director is responsible for providing the actors instruction and feedback as to how their performance looks and sounds to the audience.  In this way, the director serves as an ideal audience member, providing information and feedback to the actors while they prepare for performance.

            The actors standing, sitting, and moving about the stage setting will always form a visual composition to the audience.  Because the actors do not remain fixed, the composition does not remain fixed.  Therefore, the director should always be aware of the stage composition, watching the flow of movement of the actors, and the resultant balance of the composition.  In a comedy, the director will want to maintain a sense of visual balance so the audience will feel comfortable and safe watching the comedy.  In a tragedy or serious drama, the director will want to maintain a sense of visual imbalance; this will communicate subconsciously to the audience that the world of the play is out of balance, out of control, and anything might happen as the play unfolds.

            Additionally, the director wants to be aware of picturization.  This concept deals with the idea of story-telling, without the text or in support of the text.  (The next time you rent a movie to watch at home, mute the sound and watch the director’s picturization.  The director will attempt to tell the story visually; this is picturization.)  Picturization helps the director and actor communicate on a visual level with the audience.  Picturization helps the director and actor communicate elements of character, helps the director and actor ensure that the audience sees what it needs to see, and helps the director and actor communicate what is going on inside the character’s minds (subtextual information).

            As an example of picturization, recall your reading of Oedipus Rex earlier in this course.  In a production of the script, the director may block the chorus to stand and move in close proximity to Oedipus during the first scenes of the play.  The director wants to communicate to the audience that Oedipus is a well-loved monarch.  But later, after Oedipus’ fate has been revealed, the director can block the chorus away from Oedipus while he is onstage.  They may cower in the corners and to the side of the stage.  They may hide their faces so they cannot see him.  The director is creating a picture for the audience that supports the fact that Oedipus has become disgraced in his country.

Rehearsing

            The casting decisions have been made, and each actor has accepted the role offered.  The designers are busy finishing their designs and starting construction and acquisition.  The director has analyzed the script and has a thorough understanding of her vision for the production.  In the coming weeks (sometimes months), the director will work with the actors in rehearsal.

            Rehearsal is actually a process involving several different phases.

 

Read-Through

 

            Even if the majority of the cast members are already familiar with the script you have selected and cast, it is important to start the rehearsal process with one or more read-through rehearsals.  This is an opportunity for the actors to read through the script, aloud, in their assigned roles, and to hear the voices and intonation of the other actors in their assigned roles.

            Familiarity with the script begins here.  For the actor, script analysis begins here, because the director guides the read-through rehearsal by providing insight and direction.  Characterization begins here, as the actors begin to see their roles in relation to the other actors around the table.

            Read-through rehearsals also provide an opportunity for the designers to come in and share their designs with the actors.  Even as the actor is beginning to develop the character, he or she can get an idea of what the setting(s) will look like, what the costumes will look like, whether there will be any special lighting, sound, or makeup involved in this production.

            Additionally, the read-through rehearsal gives the actor an opportunity to start working on timing/pacing.  Most directors know that the time frame for the first or second read-through is a very good estimate of the run-time for the performance.

 

Blocking

 

            Blocking rehearsals can take several different forms.  Some directors start on page one and move straight through the entire script, providing verbal instructions to the actors as they move about the stage.  Wherever they leave off in this rehearsal is where they pick up in the next rehearsal.  When the entire play is blocked, the director/actors move into the next phase of rehearsals.  This type of blocking provides the actors with a sense of the whole.

            Other directors prefer to work the script in sections, and out of order.  This type of director will select what are perhaps the most difficult and/or the most important scenes of the play, and block these scenes first.  This type of blocking gives more rehearsal time to these pre-selected scenes, and helps the actors understand which scenes are more important in the highs and lows of the script.

            Some directors start with the actors onstage, providing verbal instructions as the actors move through the text.  Some directors will have the actors start at a table or desk, writing the blocking into their script before standing and walking through the text.  Some directors, with a pre-selected scene, will take a good amount of time re-reading the scene and discussing the internal action(s) of the scenes.  Only after the director feels that the actors understand what is going on in the scene will he or she have the actors stand and walk through it.

            Some directors use what is called organic blocking.  This process shifts responsibility for blocking to the actors; it gives the actors freedom and authority to move on stage as they feel inner impulses to do so.  The director serves as an audience member, providing important feedback to the actors regarding how their movements onstage assist or impede the communication of the script to the audience.  This is a very good approach if the actors in the cast are skilled and experienced in theatre production.  Young, inexperienced actors will be lost with this type of direction because they do not yet understand the concepts of composition and picturization.

 

Run-Through

 

            Once a section of script has been blocked, or after the entire script has been blocked, several run-through rehearsals are scheduled.  This is an opportunity for the cast to move through the script without interruption.  The director typically sits in the audience with a notepad to take notes.  What the actors and director are looking for are problem areas, scenes that don’t quite work yet, areas where the blocking in one scene does not easily move into the next scene, etc.

            A good metaphor for the run-through rehearsal would be reading through the draft of a research paper once the rough draft has been completed.  The reading provides the student author with an opportunity to check for flow, to note missing materials, and to recognize areas which need revision.

 

Working or Character Rehearsals

 

            Called by different names, this next type of rehearsal is scheduled as needed.  There are times when a particular actor needs extra help.  There are times when a particular scene is not working and needs to be re-examined from the beginning.  There are scenes in which a large number of actors are onstage together, and they are confused as to who is moving or standing where, and when.  These types of rehearsals are sometimes called working rehearsals, and sometimes they are called character rehearsals.

            Sometimes, an actor has to be replaced and a new actor joins the company.  A special rehearsal, working rehearsal, or character rehearsal will be scheduled to help bring the new actor up to speed as quickly as possible.  Obviously, the need for special rehearsals will be directly related to the size of the role being replaced.

 

Polish

 

            Some directors like to schedule polishing rehearsals.  These are opportunities for the actors to finalize and polish their performance, before the added distractions of sets and costumes and lighting and makeup.

            Some directors, in educational or community theatre groups, will schedule a marathon Saturday.  The company will arrive early in the morning and run straight through the play two or three times.  They will have a lunch break together, and work straight through the day.  Marathon rehearsals will often help the cast pull their individual work together into a unified performance.

 

Technical

 

            Now the cast is ready for set changes, costumes and costume changes, lighting changes, sound and music, and makeup.  All these things can be very distracting for actors, particularly if the costume doesn’t allow the same type of movement the actor has rehearsed, or the wig is too tight, or the sound cue for the telephone ringing isn’t exactly the same type of ring the actor imagined in rehearsals, etc.

            Technical rehearsals are really designed for the technicians.  Actors can be more successful, and calm, if they understand their function in a technical rehearsal.  They can help the director incorporate the technical aspects of production by providing helpful, professional information to the director during these rehearsals.

            The technical rehearsals usually follow a sequence as well.  The director and stage manager will usually start with what is called a paper tech.  This is a meeting with the technicians, going through the script page by page, and talking about what effects are going to happen, when, and how.  Depending on the complexity of the technical work, these rehearsals can be lengthy.  But they will save time later, when everyone is working in different parts of the theatre and the actors are running around, if they take the time they need now for full understanding.

            After the paper tech, the stage manager will take the technicians to their work stations and show them their equipment.  In professional theatre, the technicians will already be certified on the equipment.  In educational or community theatre, the technicians may need training.  Communication is established with each work station, and the stage manager begins to move through the script, from technical cue to technical cue, in what is called a dry tech.  The dry tech is a rehearsal for the technicians without the actors present.

            Next comes the cue-to-cue rehearsal.  The actors arrive and are given their instructions.  The stage manager will start again at the beginning of the play.  The actors and technicians will be readied, and the first cue (or set of cues) will be run with the actors in places.  The section of the script will be run with actors and technical cues, as many times as necessary, until the director and stage manager are content that everyone knows what they need to do for that particular cue (or set of cues).  Then everyone skips through the text to the next technical cue.  The rehearsal proceeds cue to cue.

            Depending on the complexity of the technical effects, a cue-to-cue rehearsal can take a long, long time.  However, if the play really only needs lights up at the beginning and lights down at the end, some directors will just skip the cue-to-cue rehearsal altogether.  The director will have the technician(s) come to run-through rehearsals and incorporate the technical cues with the action while the actors are working onstage.

 

Dress Rehearsal

 

            At least once, and sometimes for a full week before opening, the entire company comes into the theatre for dress rehearsal(s).  The dress rehearsal is the script in full performance, but without an audience.  Everything is performed at performance level as if an audience were present.

            Sometimes the director will invite selected individuals or groups to view a dress rehearsal.  Such a rehearsal may be called a preview performance.  Some directors invite selected individuals or groups to a dress rehearsal so the actors can begin to get a sense of audience response.  This is very helpful when preparing a comedy for performance, because everyone involved with the script during rehearsals stopped laughing at the jokes a long, long time ago.

 

Performance

 

            Everything is ready, and the audience has arrived.  It’s time for the performance.  The goal is a unified performance, and the company has spent literally hundreds of hours of work in preparation.

 

Pickup Rehearsals

 

            If the play will run in performance for many weeks or months (some professional productions run for years), the stage manager will occasionally call for a pickup rehearsal.  This usually occurs if some scene or actor has begun to slip from the director’s original vision.  This also occurs when an actor will be replaced.  Professional productions usually have understudy actors ready to step in for a missing actor, but a pickup rehearsal may be called to help the understudy polish her or his work quickly.

Directing: Exercise for Students

            Take a short scene and a couple of friends, and direct.

            Actually, directing is a little more difficult than that.  As you read earlier, there are four criteria to consider when selecting a play for production.  For the purposes of this exercise, however, you don’t need to go to that much trouble.  But you will need to select a short scene.  Here are some suggestions.

            You might consider the 10-minute sample play, “Late for Class.”  Or you might take a look at the 10-minute play you (or someone else in the class) developed at the end of the chapter on Playwrighting.

            Another option would be to select a short scene from one of the plays you’ve read in this course.  For instance, there is a brief scene in Act II of A Doll’s House which would be an ideal subject for a directing exercise.

 

(Nora and Rank are onstage, talking, when the Maid enters.)

Maid:  Ma’am – please!  (She whispers to Nora and hands her a calling card.)

Nora:  (Glancing at the card.)  Ah!  (Slips it into her pocket.)

Rank:  Anything wrong?

Nora:  No, no, not at all.  It’s only some – it’s my new dress –

Rank:  Really?  But – there’s your dress.

Nora:  Oh, that.  But this is another one – I ordered it – Torvald mustn’t know –

Rank:  Ah, now we have the big secret.

Nora:  That’s right.  Just go in with him – he’s back in the inner study.  Keep him there as long as –

Rank:  Don’t worry.  He won’t get away.  (Goes into the study.)

Nora:  (To the Maid.)  And he’s standing waiting in the kitchen?

Maid:  Yes, he came up the back stairs.

Nora:  But didn’t you tell him somebody was here?

Maid:  Yes, but that didn’t do any good.

Nora:  He won’t leave?

Maid:  No, he won’t go till he’s talked with you, ma’am.

Nora:  Let him come in, then – but quietly.  Helene, don’t breathe a word about this.  It’s a surprise for my husband.

Maid:  Yes, yes, I understand – (Goes out.)

Nora:  This horror – it’s going to happen.  No, no, no, it can’t happen, it mustn’t.  (She goes and bolts Helmer’s door.)

 

            Find a couple friends or classmates to rehearse this scene with you.  But do your homework first!  Review the play, and jot down some responses to the analysis questions posed above.  You want to have the best possible understanding of what is going on in this short scene before you start working with your actors.

            Your actors may not be familiar with the play script as a whole, so you will need to provide them with sufficient background on their characters.  They will need to know what’s going on in this scene, so far as what their character knows.  Let them read through the scene a couple of times.

            And then place your first two actors onstage.  This scene grows naturally out of the previous scene.  Nora and Dr. Rank are having a conversation when they are interrupted by Helene.  They are already on the stage, sitting or standing as you determine, when Helene enters.  How are they positioned?  How does Helene enter?  How does Nora respond to Helene’s interruption?  How does Dr. Rank respond to Helene’s interruption?  Etc.  Etc.

            If you will spend about thirty to forty-five minutes working with your actors, you will find that they will begin to memorize their lines through simple repetition.  Once the actors have a sense of the lines and their objective in the scene, sit back and watch it come together.

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