choosing scripts

It has been said that 80%-- or 90%, depending on who is speaking-- of directing is casting the play. I would agree that a great percentage of good directing is selecting the right actor for the role AND the right combination of actors for the production.



However, even before casting, the director must consider the script. Most of the time I have had the luxury of choosing my own scripts. Most directors have at the very least the option to accept or decline the assignment of directing a particular script.



I prefer to work with excellent scripts. Of course, who doesn't? It is more fun and more rewarding to work with great material. However, I think we often overlook another reason: much of the directing work is done for you by a great playwright. Characters are rich, conflicts are strong.



I am most interested in theater as a collaborative art. I believe in the excellence of ensemble over salesmanship of star power. This also influences my selection of scripts.



When I am looking at scripts for a relatively large cast-- 10, 15 or more-- I look for meaty roles for all characters. This is one reason I often choose Shakespeare: even relatively small roles are often rich and juicy.



With a large cast with a number of newer actors, I will often look for a play that has a group of characters that work together. This might be the Elders of Thebes of the Chorus in Antigone, or the street urchins of Oliver Twist. This strategy allows newer actors to get up there on the stage, while still providing the safety of being one of the crowd. In these character groups, however, it is important that the group has action. Being part of a group that are essentially stage decorations does not give the new actors a chance to develop character, goals and focus.

For me, a good script has a great story, strong conflict, engaging characters.

write, right?

One lesson I have learned from my professors is:

The write ones remain.

Especially in this profession, this art, we only know/ learn from/ remember the directors who write, or those about whom articles and reviews are written.

Directing is the most ephemeral of arts: directing is the selecting, the seeing, the process, the forging of relationships.

It is the process, and only partly reflected in the product-- and, in theater, the product is also ephemeral.

So, it is only right that I write about these rites.

Right?

director's concept

I am working/struggling with this term. Maybe a better term for me is "director's vision"-- I often begin with an image, a feeling, a mood.

Around this seed the production forms.