What do you do, exactly?

"So," my friend said. "You're the director, right? So what do you do, exactly?"

She'd just watched the play I directed. It was the first time she'd seen a play that I'd directed; I think it was the first time she'd watched a play when she knew the director personally.

Great question. It's also a tough question to answer for a theater person talking to a non-theater person.

I've written before about the value of the director. There, I noted that the work of the director is often almost invisible to the audience.

What do I do?

Often, I choose the play. Sometimes I'm invited to direct a play that has been chosen by the producer or the theater company. Sometimes, I write the play!

Usually, I cast the play. I've written about this a time or two. Casting is an important part of the director's work. Finding actors that fit the characters, and actors that work well together, and work well with the director, is a delicate and challenging job.

With the stage manager, I work out the rehearsal schedule.

I work with the designers- scenic, costume, sound, lighting, promotion- in creating a unified look, sound, feel for the production.

I lead the actors in rehearsing the play. This is the largest part of the director's work, certainly in terms of time. For me, one of the most critical, and hardest to define, elements of this process is creating ensemble. I work to create an atmosphere of trust and freedom, which I believe is essential to the creative process.

Together with the actors, we study the script in depth. Who are these characters? What are they doing? Why are they taking these actions? What does all of this mean?

Then, we "put the play on its feet." Blocking is the choreographing of the characters' movements on the stage. In my process, this is a shared discovery with the actors. Moving in the outline of our set in the rehearsal hall, we find when characters are approaching one another, when fleeing from one another. When are they embracing, or longing to embrace? When are they retreating? When are they attacking?

And why are they moving? All action on stage must have purpose.

Much of this work is breaking the action down, moment by moment, beat by beat. Then we have the task of putting it all back together. I watch while we run through first the acts, then the entire play.

I take notes. I've written about how I give notes.

These are the main tasks of the director. However, what I do is really difficult to describe. I'm the first, best, most appreciative and most critical audience eye for the production. I take a blueprint on the page, and a group of individuals, and create a unity, a oneness, an ensemble.
 

WHAT do we say about Beckett?

In my Development of Drama class, we are about to discuss Beckett.

WHAT to say?

In a word,
He's Absurd.

giving notes; or, how I exercise my drive to be a standup comedian

I actually enjoy giving director's notes to the cast.

During much of the rehearsal period, as a director, you are breaking the play down into scenes, into moments. I am very vocal during this period, jumping to my feet YES! or ACK! Stop! Do it again- think about where you just were! What do you want?

Later on, however, we have to put it all back together, establish continuity, rhythm, pace, the long arcs of the characters and of the play itself. We can't stop. We run through, all the way through the scene, the act, finally the entire play.

While I, like most directors, take notes.

Sometimes, because the hour is late and actors (and I) have to go home, I type up the notes and email them to the actors after I've returned home. I don't like to do this because A) actors may not understand a specific note, B) actors may not read the notes and C) I like to give notes.

I like to give notes. I do. I make eye contact. I make jokes. I exaggerate, exhort, and expound. I prance and I posture, I prod and I praise.*

From time to time, I may have to shush the actors who are starting side conversations. After all, for many years, the actors with whom I have worked have been teens.

Still, all in all, I have fun giving notes, and the actors have fun receiving the notes.

Here are some of the key ingredients for good note-giving:

• Make eye contact. Make sure the actors are listening.
• EVERY actor should receive a comment. Each actor should know that they are important, and that their work is (literally) noted.
• Use humor. I use a lot of humor at my own expense... I tease and challenge them to be bigger, bolder, more energized than this "old lady"
• Catch them doing something right; be specific about when it happened, and what it was. Comments like "you're great" or "good job" might feel good for a moment, but they don't tell the actor where they are succeeding or how to build on that success. A comment like: "I could really see you focus on the other character on your line 'Not now, darling''" tells the actor what is working and when.
• Be specific about what you want the actor to change. Comments such as "That's no good" or "I didn't like that" again do not give the actor any useful information. A comment like "When you enter in scene two, try rushing straight to the couch- remember what just happened to the character before you entered" gives the actor useful information about what needs work in the scene, and a suggestion for a new approach.
• I try to give both the "director's reason" and the "actor's reason" for a direction. For instance, in the above example, I might remind the actor that the actor's reason- the character's reason- for rushing in is that the character is escaping from an uncomfortable encounter in the other room; while I will admit that my "director's reason" for asking you to rush in and cross to the couch is that the scene needs more energy, and I need you out of the doorway!
• Be a believer. Believe in the play, believe in your actors, believe in theater magic. Keep cheering, keep watching, noting, and sharing what you see. Eventually, it all comes together- how? It's a mystery!

*In fact, over the years many parents have confessed they stayed at rehearsals for the entertainment value of watching me give notes!

criticism

In teaching acting, or in giving workshops, I also teach feedback, or specific criticism.



In the Intro to Theater class I teach, the students are required to attend three plays and write reviews of these plays.





My instructions are to choose an aspect of the production, such as acting, directing, scenic design or costume design, and write about how that aspect aided or did not aid in that production's realizing the vision/message of the play.

Each semester, I find ways to further refine instructions to guide students to seeing and evaluating the performer's art.

I am trying to get closer to providing a template for meaningful criticism of the production, not the play; of these particular actors' performances, not the characters.

I try to guide students to choose an aspect of the production, such as scenic design or costume design, where choice of line, color, texture, pattern are easier to distinguish. Do color and shape set a mood of light-heartedness or shadow? Does the costume tell you where the play is, in time and space? Do the setting and costumes work together to tell you if the play is striving for realism, abstraction, or fantasy?

It is easy to get drawn in by the acting, but harder to critique the actor's work. Like the director's work, the actor's work is ephemeral, hard to describe, hard to find that specific moment and describe what made it work.

For me, the best criticism gives the theater artist constructive information about what is suceeding and about what needs improvement in the creative work. While it is nice to hear "You were great!" such grand, vague comments give one no more to build on than a general negative comment.