Lessons on directing
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Topic: Lessons on directing
Posted By: GoldCanyonLady
Subject: Lessons on directing
Date Posted: 2/05/05 at 11:23am
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Hi, I am about to be made the director for next year's play. It's been ages since I directed a full-length play. I have been in a fair number of plays and I always observe what is going on like how the director gets people to do what they do and so on. I hope that the saying "You are never too old to learn" works. But where do I begin? I should explain that we are a senior community in southern Arizona and have a lot of talent here. I am technical director for this year's play, Neil Simon's Rumors. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Barb ------------- Barb Hofmeister, MountainBrook Village Players, Gold Canyon, Arizona. |
Replies:
Posted By: Mike Polo
Date Posted: 2/05/05 at 12:04pm
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A place to start is with a couple articles here on the Green Room called http://www.communitytheater.org/articles/bootcamp.htm - The Director's Boot Camp and http://www.communitytheater.org/articles/bluecol.htm - The Blue-Collar Director , both of which can be found in the Articles section at http://www.communitytheater.org/articles/articleindex.htm - http://www.communitytheater.org/articles/articleindex.htm . ------------- Mike Polo Community Theater Green Room http://www.communitytheater.org http://www.twitter.com/CTGreenRoom"> 
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Posted By: GoldCanyonLady
Date Posted: 2/05/05 at 1:00pm
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Thank you. I just read them both. Good articles. I also looked at the
books you recommended. I will decide which I should order. The play I will be directing is a full year away. But we will be having try-outs the middle of March so I get my feet wet right away by casting. Then when everyone returns in the fall, we will start rehearsals. We will rehearse over a fairly long period of time--a few in November and December then begin serious in January. The play dates will be the end of February next year. I started out this year by being the understudy director under a very insecure director who had a lot of community theatre experience. She made it very clear that I was to be silent. But she didn't teach either. After I was voted the president of the Village Players, she would hardly talk to me (she said it was a conflict of interest), but I watch what she does. A lot of which I would do differently. In our current play, Neil Simon's Rumors, she wants the actors to move the first act along faster and most do, but one gal drags her lines out so that it is like putting on the brakes and it drives me crazy and she has done that from day 1. Right now we are only 2 1/2 weeks before opening. Another actor always turns toward the center of the stage leaving his back to half of the audience. Also he is supposed to have whiplash but moves his head much to freely. I have never heard her direct either of them in this. Believe me I don't say anything; I just observe. We are in a large senior community and share the stage with the chorus and dance bands who come to play for dances and anything else that comes along so some of our problems have to deal with getting the set up. Our play dates this year are February 24, 25, 26 & 27 and our set only goes up on the 13th. It will be that way next year too. The set is built and in storage. The furniture is ready and so is everything else. I just wanted to share some of the hurdles we have to jump over. Thanks again. Barb ------------- Barb Hofmeister, MountainBrook Village Players, Gold Canyon, Arizona. |
Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 3/11/05 at 9:34pm
| Does anyone know where I can find out a script with a props list for the play "Rumors" by Neil Simon? |
Posted By: JCCTony
Date Posted: 3/11/05 at 10:02pm
| I imagine it'd be listed in the script |
Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 10/13/05 at 3:31pm
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Get the script now and start analyzing it. Then start a floorplan so you can let the set designer where you want your entrances and where you expect the furniture to be. Keep in contact with the set designer constantly as you start on blocking. Get "General Principles of Directing" from a used bookstore or online (written in 1936) or peruse the more modern textbooks. They do help. It's great that you've been in the theatre for so long. You probably have a good visual brain and can interpret lines without having to puzzle them out. ------------- |
Posted By: POB14
Date Posted: 10/13/05 at 5:45pm
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Since her auditions were last March, I'm guessin' she's got the scripts by now . . . You've posted to a bunch of really old threads. Not that there's anything wrong with that ------------- POB Old Bugger, Curmudgeon, and Antisocial B**tard |
-- just not sure you were aware of it.