Advice for directors
Tue, 21 Dec 1999, 02:36 pmGrant Malcolm13 posts in thread
Advice for directors
Tue, 21 Dec 1999, 02:36 pmSpotted these... er... gems on a mailing list:
> 1. Pick or write your own material.
> 2. Know the story.
> 3. Know the characters.
> 4. Do not try to find exercises for actors.
> 5. Cast well - direct less.
> 6. Trust your instincts.
> 7. Do not let actors direct other actors.
> 8. Demand that actors learn the words.
> 9. Demand the best that each actor has.
> 10. Keep your car near the rear exit on
> opening night and leave the engine running.
And if these were the 10 best bits of advice i could think of for a budding director, i think i'd leave the engine running too. I'm sure we can all do better than this.
Anyone care to submit their own? I'm going to work on one in between writing Christmas cards :)
Cheers
Grant
> 1. Pick or write your own material.
> 2. Know the story.
> 3. Know the characters.
> 4. Do not try to find exercises for actors.
> 5. Cast well - direct less.
> 6. Trust your instincts.
> 7. Do not let actors direct other actors.
> 8. Demand that actors learn the words.
> 9. Demand the best that each actor has.
> 10. Keep your car near the rear exit on
> opening night and leave the engine running.
And if these were the 10 best bits of advice i could think of for a budding director, i think i'd leave the engine running too. I'm sure we can all do better than this.
Anyone care to submit their own? I'm going to work on one in between writing Christmas cards :)
Cheers
Grant
RE: Advice for directors
Mon, 28 Feb 2000, 11:18 pmHaving failed dismally to follow through on my earlier pledge (December 99!) to provide a few pointers of my own, i hesitate to nit pick over someone else's pearls of wisdom.
*hesitates*
okay, now that's out of the way...
The Banished One wrote:
-------------------------------
> 10 rules for Community Theatre Directors.
rules? the things that are made to be broken?
> 1)If you must pre-cast a play either by necessity or
> choice,do it discreetly
So people can discover later that you led them on, letting them think they had a chance of a role when you'd already snuck around behind their backs and pre-cast?
Can't agree with you on this one TBO. If the role is pre-cast, don't waste people's time having them audition for that role. Be up front and honest. Tell people when they ring to audition that certain roles are already cast.
Mind you, i would draw a mirky grey line between pre-casting and having people in mind for a role - perhaps this is what you are referring to?
I'd think a director is pretty silly not to at least have some people in mind for major roles. As long as you take an open mind into the audition and are prepared to be surprised by and maybe cast the auditionee that stuns you and is perfect for the role, you haven't pre-cast.
> 2)If its a choice between putting on a sub-standard
> play,and cancelling the show,cancel the show,either
> way the theatre company will send you to
> Coventry,but at least you know that somewhere in
> this town,SOME company will let you direct again!!!!
Hopefully the decision to pull a season should never rest entirely with the director. If the director can't convince the company the show is better off cancelled, then perhaps there was something seriously wrong from the outset.
> 3)If you are not well liked or supported by your peers
> don't even think about putting on a play in this fair
> city of ours ,at auditions or performances NO-ONE will
> come.
I'm with Jay (you're pregnant - wow! congratulations!) on this one.
> 4)Grow an extremely THICK skin,if you can't take
> criticism of any kind,directing(yea even acting!!)is
> not for you!!!DON"T DO IT!!!!!!!
But then we won't have our directors grow that thick skin into a tough, impervious, chitinous coating that doesn't admit new ideas, plays or ways of doing things, will we :)
> 5)Be honest at all times,if an actor stinks in your
> opinion,say so,the person's ego may be bruised,but it
> can save years of wasted time on the part of
> someone who thinks they can,but can't ACT well,and
> probably will never be able to.
wooo! big judgement call here! who am i to say someone can't act? i might be sure of my own opinion on the subject, (Gwyneth P. was pathetic in Shakespeare in Love!) but i'm not sure that that gives me the right to brutalise someone with that same opinion - particularly in community theatre where the focus is often more on participation than product.
> 6)Never,Never,Never cast your
> husband/wife/lover/pretty young thing you're dying
> to get it on with in your play,your judgement is
> clouded from the start and you run the risk of ending
> your relationship as well!!!
There must be countless examples to prove you wrong! What about Kenneth Brannagh and Emma Thompson?
Oh... okay. But they were great when they were together! :)
> 7)Don't saddle yourself with a rotten play,if the script
> is a great one,it only needs a good cast to make it
> work,
*snip*
i'm with you ninety percent of the way here. Choose the right play and the right cast, you're ninety percent done.
> 8)Avoid competitive theatre(ie Finley Awards,Drama
> Festivals)its a hobby after all, and in the end ,in this
> game it all starts and ends with a bare stage,and
> quite frankly,I think it takes away the fun,and as
> most of us will only be doing this for pleasure and not
> payment,what's the point,it will only lead to tears
> before bedtime.
Yup! I dislike the competitive bits as much as the next person - even if it is nice to label yourself "award winner" on occasions. If that was all the Finley Night and DramaFest were about, then fine. But they can, should and do mean so much more than just competition and awards. As adjudicator at last year's DramaFest i spent nearly two hours giving my personal responses, enthusing and i hope constructively critiqueing the remarkable entries in the youth festival. Presenting the awards took all of ten minutes. I like that balance.
> 9)Take it as a given that if you submit to direct a
> season at a theatre and are unsuccessful,don't
> expect to be notified that you were
> unsuccessful,why you were unsuccessful,or even get
> your submitted scripts scripts back,it seems that in
> this day and age,those common courtesies are far
> too tiresome for a theatre company to bother with
> (Playlovers please note!!!!)
This may have been your experience, it doesn't match my own, either with Playlovers or anyone else. I'm sure it does happen and i guess i'd understand that some voluntary committee members are better organised and prepared than others.
> 10)If in doubt,don't.
Oh do, DO!
I can't believe this is the same person that wrote bemoaning the conservative choices of some companies under the subject Drama for Deckchair on the Gossip board:
"I want to see innovation and daring come back to the theatre on a more regular basis"
Surely innovation and daring are entirely about having doubts but doing anyway?
Thanks for livening things up with some interesting ideas and discussion!
Cheers
Grant
PS. You may find that people frequenting these boards will regard your assuming a nom de plume as a licence to flame mercilessly.
*hesitates*
okay, now that's out of the way...
The Banished One wrote:
-------------------------------
> 10 rules for Community Theatre Directors.
rules? the things that are made to be broken?
> 1)If you must pre-cast a play either by necessity or
> choice,do it discreetly
So people can discover later that you led them on, letting them think they had a chance of a role when you'd already snuck around behind their backs and pre-cast?
Can't agree with you on this one TBO. If the role is pre-cast, don't waste people's time having them audition for that role. Be up front and honest. Tell people when they ring to audition that certain roles are already cast.
Mind you, i would draw a mirky grey line between pre-casting and having people in mind for a role - perhaps this is what you are referring to?
I'd think a director is pretty silly not to at least have some people in mind for major roles. As long as you take an open mind into the audition and are prepared to be surprised by and maybe cast the auditionee that stuns you and is perfect for the role, you haven't pre-cast.
> 2)If its a choice between putting on a sub-standard
> play,and cancelling the show,cancel the show,either
> way the theatre company will send you to
> Coventry,but at least you know that somewhere in
> this town,SOME company will let you direct again!!!!
Hopefully the decision to pull a season should never rest entirely with the director. If the director can't convince the company the show is better off cancelled, then perhaps there was something seriously wrong from the outset.
> 3)If you are not well liked or supported by your peers
> don't even think about putting on a play in this fair
> city of ours ,at auditions or performances NO-ONE will
> come.
I'm with Jay (you're pregnant - wow! congratulations!) on this one.
> 4)Grow an extremely THICK skin,if you can't take
> criticism of any kind,directing(yea even acting!!)is
> not for you!!!DON"T DO IT!!!!!!!
But then we won't have our directors grow that thick skin into a tough, impervious, chitinous coating that doesn't admit new ideas, plays or ways of doing things, will we :)
> 5)Be honest at all times,if an actor stinks in your
> opinion,say so,the person's ego may be bruised,but it
> can save years of wasted time on the part of
> someone who thinks they can,but can't ACT well,and
> probably will never be able to.
wooo! big judgement call here! who am i to say someone can't act? i might be sure of my own opinion on the subject, (Gwyneth P. was pathetic in Shakespeare in Love!) but i'm not sure that that gives me the right to brutalise someone with that same opinion - particularly in community theatre where the focus is often more on participation than product.
> 6)Never,Never,Never cast your
> husband/wife/lover/pretty young thing you're dying
> to get it on with in your play,your judgement is
> clouded from the start and you run the risk of ending
> your relationship as well!!!
There must be countless examples to prove you wrong! What about Kenneth Brannagh and Emma Thompson?
Oh... okay. But they were great when they were together! :)
> 7)Don't saddle yourself with a rotten play,if the script
> is a great one,it only needs a good cast to make it
> work,
*snip*
i'm with you ninety percent of the way here. Choose the right play and the right cast, you're ninety percent done.
> 8)Avoid competitive theatre(ie Finley Awards,Drama
> Festivals)its a hobby after all, and in the end ,in this
> game it all starts and ends with a bare stage,and
> quite frankly,I think it takes away the fun,and as
> most of us will only be doing this for pleasure and not
> payment,what's the point,it will only lead to tears
> before bedtime.
Yup! I dislike the competitive bits as much as the next person - even if it is nice to label yourself "award winner" on occasions. If that was all the Finley Night and DramaFest were about, then fine. But they can, should and do mean so much more than just competition and awards. As adjudicator at last year's DramaFest i spent nearly two hours giving my personal responses, enthusing and i hope constructively critiqueing the remarkable entries in the youth festival. Presenting the awards took all of ten minutes. I like that balance.
> 9)Take it as a given that if you submit to direct a
> season at a theatre and are unsuccessful,don't
> expect to be notified that you were
> unsuccessful,why you were unsuccessful,or even get
> your submitted scripts scripts back,it seems that in
> this day and age,those common courtesies are far
> too tiresome for a theatre company to bother with
> (Playlovers please note!!!!)
This may have been your experience, it doesn't match my own, either with Playlovers or anyone else. I'm sure it does happen and i guess i'd understand that some voluntary committee members are better organised and prepared than others.
> 10)If in doubt,don't.
Oh do, DO!
I can't believe this is the same person that wrote bemoaning the conservative choices of some companies under the subject Drama for Deckchair on the Gossip board:
"I want to see innovation and daring come back to the theatre on a more regular basis"
Surely innovation and daring are entirely about having doubts but doing anyway?
Thanks for livening things up with some interesting ideas and discussion!
Cheers
Grant
PS. You may find that people frequenting these boards will regard your assuming a nom de plume as a licence to flame mercilessly.