"The production of a play ... is like another chance at life, a chance to emerge
cleansed of one's imperfections. Here, as when one is very young, it seems possible
again to attain greatness or happiness or some otherwise unattainable joy... In
the production of a good play with a good cast and a knowing director, ...there is formed
a fraternity whose members share a mutual sense of destiny. And everywhere in the
world where the life of the spirit often seems impossible, there are still little
circles of actors in the dead silence of empty theatres with a director in their
center. A new creation is taking place."
-- Arthur Miller, playwright
"Go to the gym -- a lot."
-- Stephen Spielberg, director
"First of all, be a good craftsman. This will not keep you from being a genius.
-- Jean Renoir, artist
"Some of the best directors I've ever worked with are from CMU."
-- Susan Lucci, television actress
***********************************
DIRECTING -- Introductory Materials,
first semester:
How "Directing III: Styles & Genres"
fits into the total Directing Curriculum:
"The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for
existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity,
of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely
to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose a holy curiosity."
- Albert Einstein
"If it's not all about learning, then what the hell IS it about?"
- Sam Shepard
"Sensationalism makes us forget the sweet shock of the eternal."
- John Lahr
"An artist must never be a prisoner of himself, prisoner of a style, prisoner of a
reputation."
-- Henri Matisse
Utilizing skills learned in
Directing II
(the Director's Tools, including play analysis, research, workscript preparation,
groundplanning, telling a story visually & in time, composition & picturization,
movement, rhythm, etc.) --
DIRECTING III
explores the use of those tools in varying genres & styles:
Genres to be explored:
- Tragedy - Comedy
- Melodrama - Farce
- Dialectical theatre
Styles to be explored:
- Realistic Drama - Brecht
- Shavian Comedy - Classic French Farce
- Shakespeare - Murder mystery/thriller
Other (possible) Styles that could be explored:
- Greek Tragedy - Commedia dell'Arte
- plays of Oscar Wilde - Restoration Comedy
- plays of Noel Coward - Expressionism
- Surrealism - Constructivism
- Naturalism - Moliere Comedy
- Hyperrealism (Shepard) - Musical Comedy
- Musical Drama
...with an eye toward laying groundwork for
Directing IV
(1st semester: camera directing; 2nd semester: 20th Century directing styles) and
for the authority & responsibility of your
Senior Directing Project
.
***********************************
My role as teacher of this class:
First, I am concerned with Theatre as an Art Form, not as a business. My taste in
theatre is very broad, including everything from the Greeks to Vaudeville. I am
not narrow-minded when I think of the aesthetic possibilities of theatre, but I do
try to divorce myself from theatre as only a means of making money.
Broadway is the so-called pinnacle of American Theatre, but in fact, in all the years
I lived in New York, there were only five shows that I truly admired. Broadway is
not the "best" theatre in any kind of artistic sense. It is simply the biggest contract.
There are other teachers who can approach the business or saleability aspects of theatre
much better than I.
"Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgment."
-- Mark Twain
"Give a man a fish & you feed him once. Teach a man to fish, & you create a market
for bait & tackle."
- on a wall in GSIA
"Let a thousand flowers bloom."
- Mao Tse-Tung
"Teaching is an activity of giving...The student, not the work, is the product. Teaching
is a private relationship beween each student and the teacher... Teaching is partly
nurturing. The predominant ethos has to be one of care, flexibility and the student's 'becoming'."
- Charles Taylor, Ethics of Authenticity
"I became irritated when (the Artistic Director)... addressed the cast at large on
how a scene should be played. I hope he's going to observe the rule of filtering
his opinions through the Director, and not speaking privately to the actors."
- Michael Blakemore, director
"Qualification is mainly the horsepower of the individual."
- Sonny Bono, entertainer/Senator
"...(T)he definition of the university (i)s a place to transmit universal
knowledge......Authenticity is defining one's own identity against the background
of things that matter."
- Charles Taylor, Ethics of Authenticity
"I love working. It's my obsession."
- Charlie Peters, writer/director
"First of all, be a good craftsman. This will not keep you from being a genius."
- Jean Renoir
I would like my relationship with the directors in this class to be like that one
would find in a professional theatre: you are the Director, hired to direct this
play; I am the Artistic Director or Producer
, guiding and overseeing your work and that of the class as a whole. Please use me as a resource
, someone who perhaps has gone down this road before and could be helpful in your
navigation of it.
One of the objectives of this year is for you to get hands-on experience, for you
to direct a lot, for you to get in there, crash & burn, fail gloriously -- to learn
through doing. The best way to learn to direct is to direct, especially in the safer
environment of a school. You must have the right to Try and perhaps to Fail. (After
school, sadly, no one seems to be allowed to fail.) Trying, failing, assessing,
& trying again with new eyes: this is the process I want to encourage because I
have found it to be the best way to learn.
Remember: your actors are still students, and you
are still students. If you have nothing to learn, why be in school?
You are about to be given a Director's authority over actors and over a text. Therefore,
you must also live up to the responsibilities of the Director. The interpretation
of the scene & control of rehearsals belong to you, within reasonable limits. You will schedule and run your own rehearsals, and meet the due dates I outline. I will
come into your rehearsal, observe, take notes. I will respect your authority as
Director of this scene. If I feel you are misinformed, confused, unprepared, unconstructive or somehow abusive to the actors, I will step in. But otherwise, my communications
will be primarily with you, guiding & offering advice.
I will also lead the post-showing critiques and set personal goals for you in each
Round of work. In the critiques, I am not your judge; I wish to help.
So, to quote Linda Ellerbee, from "Nickelodeon":
"If you want to know -- ask."
As a teacher, I tend to be more conservative than I am as a director. There is a
reason for that. A phrase that has currency at the moment is "think out of the box",
that is, don't settle for the time-worn solutions. Think as if anything
is possible.
We can only truly think "outside of the box" if we first understand the inside & nature of the box
-- its needs, possibilities and parameters. Thinking "outside the box" in fact references
the box, requires an understanding of the box. Experts in any field -- whether it
be business or theatre -- know the box.
By the simple fact that you are students, you are evidencing that you do not yet know
the box.
At Each Rehearsal:
Here is a sample of a
Rehearsal Evaluation Form
that I will fill out and then hand to your after watching your rehearsal. In the
upper right-hand corner is the list of Suggested Steps in A Creative Process that
I will be referring to throughout your work.
Following the Steps there are spaces for comments regarding various aspects of directing.
I will be observing not only your "concept", but also your practical rehearsal room
behavior & demeanor, how you work with actors, whether your groundplan is effective, etc.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DIRECTING III / ACTING LAB (1st semester)
1: Enthusiasm; Validation; Respect.
DIRECTOR: 2: Clarity; Understanding; Focus; Empathy.
3: Emotional Investment; Sympathy; Proper Meaningfulness.
PLAY: 4: Personal Artistic Risk; Adventurousness.
5: Dynamic Variety; Range; Musicality.
DATE: 6: Economy; Re-Focus.
ACTORS: 7: Ease; Spontaneity; Smoothness;
8: Self-Assessment.< < < < < Believability
&/or Mastery.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Groundplan: Blocking/Action & Change:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Working With Actors: Directorial Working Process:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rehearsal Organization: Understanding / Interpretation:
(over)
And, below I have provided you with a copy of the Rosetta Stone. Remember the Rosetta
Stone? Napoleon's soldiers found it in Egypt and it was the key to deciphering the
ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. My penmanship has often been likened to hieroglyphics, so this is provided in case you have the expected difficulty in reading my handwriting
on your rehearsal evaluation forms.
Insert:
Picture: The Rosetta Stone
***********************************
If you prefer avant-garde or offbeat theatre/the Picasso example:
What follows is an early painting by Pablo Picasso, when he was learning his craft
-- on the way to becoming
Pablo Picasso.
Insert:
Picture: an early painting by Picasso
If you prefer offbeat scripts, drama that is more "out there" rather than Ibsen or
the classics, let me pose this to you: I believe that you should try to broaden
your appreciation of kinds of plays to form a strong foundation for your continued
interest in the offbeat -- and not accidentally avoid understanding & liking really solid
writing that just doesn't happen to be "out there".
I believe that experimental or avant-garde theatre is certainly valid -- but you have
to be sure that you approach it in an informed way, and not as an avoidance of more
mainstream work. Look at the Picasso painting in the Introductory Materials. It
is a very realistic, representational painting of a scene in a church: not what we think
of as "Picasso". The point of my placing that painting among the introductory materials
was to point out that even Picasso needed to learn basic brush technique, basic composition,
basic linking of content with expression. From that firm base of knowledge & craft in a more mainstream kind of art, he lept to new expressions. He didn't
avoid mainstream art; he transcended it.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Why work on "old" plays by dead playwrights?:
"There are always new emotions going back to something that I know very well. I suppose
this is very odd, because most people have to find fresh things to paint. I'm actually
bored by fresh things to paint. To make an old thing I've seen for years seem fresh is much more exciting to me."
-- Andrew Wyeth, painter, 1976
Needless to say, I think that the production of new plays is vital to the future of
theatre as an art form and as a form of employment. Theatre Lab (taught by Milan
Stitt & myself) is a class that involves directors with newly written scripts and
all the joys and problems inherent in working on them. But I also believe that being familiar
with great theatrical writing throughout the ages can only help to inform and enrich
a young director's talents. And it is with tried-and-true writing that we will primarily work this year.
What follows are two articles: "Inventing the Enemy" by John Lahr, and "The Shock
of the Old" by Neal Weaver to provoke further thought on this subject, and on what
makes a producer respect a director enough to hire him -- and rehire
him.
Insert:
Article: "Inventing the Enemy"
by John Lahr (2 pages)
Insert:
Article: "The Shock of the Old"
by Neal Weaver
Insert:
Article: "Why Directors Can't Direct"
by Jon Jory (1 page)
***********************************
The History of "the Director":
While the function of the director has certainly been in existence as long as there
has been Theatre, the job itself has not. We know that playwrights and actors can be traced back to antiquity. But can we do
the same with directors? Not all theatrical functions have actually been fulfilled
by a person dedicated solely to that function until very recent history.
Of all the theatrical collaborators, perhaps the most recent addition is the Sound
Designer, having joined the creative team within the last twenty-five years. Before
that, the Fight Choreographer came aboard, and prior to that (believe it or not)
the Costume Designer came to be.
So, when did the role of the Director become a known quantity?
The History of the Director can be divided into three phases:
PHASE ONE:
For centuries the function of the director existed without there literally being such
a position or job description. Here is who served that function in various, early
theatrical periods.
Ancient Greek Theatre:
- The playwright oversaw staging of his own plays.
Medieval mystery cycle plays:
- were figured out piece by piece by various (& sometimes
competing) performing groups.
Elizabethan theatre
(16th-17th Centuries):
- the theatre manager selected plays & casts. Playwrights exerted
influence on actual performance as did popular actors.
Moliere
(17th Century):
- as lead actor, set example for his company, & maintained quality.
18th & 19th Centuries:
- Stars (like
David Garrick & William Macready
) led the way, with
little rehearsal, plugging stock actors into stock roles & stock
scenery into stock scenes. Development of the "actor/manager"
system later personified by Edmund Booth.
1850's: - Charles Kean
-- determined specific & detailed scenery per pro-
duction. Great detail. Desired harmony in effect, blending the
elements (steps taken more scenically than with actors).
1860's: - The Bancrofts
(in Britain) introduced rehearsals more akin to
current standards.
***********************************
1st Watershed: the idea of integrating all theatrical elements into an artistic whole from one "directed"
point of view: this resulted in the actual creation of the position of
the Director & the next phase.
***********************************
PHASE TWO:
There is an academic controversy concerning which of the following two figures is
the "first director". Suffice it to say that the job became a job & took on specific
definition largely to the efforts of these two men:
Henry Irving
(see cover photo; England, late 19th-early 20th Centuries):
- sometimes called "the first modern director"; late 19th-Century
actor/manager who worked from the idea that all aspects of play
production should grow from a central interpretation; the Lyceum
Theatre, off the Aldwych in London. (Trivia fact: his Business Manager
also wrote novels in his spare time: Bram Stoker.)
The Duke of Saxe-Meiningen
(Germany, late 19th-early 20th Centuries):
- sometimes called "the first modern director"; synthesized
production elements, emphasized a need for unity of style, developed ensemble playing.
His ensemble toured Europe
(1874 - 1890), establishing the role of "director" as unifying & dominant force.
That tour inspired:
- Paris:
Andre Antoine
& the Theatre Libre (circa 1887);
- Berlin:
Otto Brahm
& die Freie Buhne (circa 1889);
- Moscow:
Konstantin Stanislavski
, the Moscow Art
Theatre & the work of Chekhov (circa 1898).
***********************************
2nd Watershed: World War One (and then World War Two) shattered the Western World's view of itself.
No longer was there a commonly held view of the universe or of Man's or Society's
or God's place in it. The invention of the cinema (& later television) further called
for definition & purpose in the function of theatre. The unifying function of the
Director now became more than a focus of efforts, but of Vision & Phase Three.
***********************************
PHASE THREE:
An incomplete list of visionary & influential directors:
Vsevolod Meyerhold
(Russia): Constructivism & Biomechanics; reaction to
Naturalism & the work of Stanislavski. (By the way, Meyerhold was the first
actor to play Konstantin in Chekhov's The Seagull
, calling for the theatre to
have "new forms!".
Antonin Artaud
(France): The Theatre of Cruelty. The book: The Theatre and Its
Double. The play Jet of Blood.
Max Reinhardt
(Germany/USA): a careful preparation & planning of visual & aural impressions.
Harold Clurman & Elia Kazan
(USA): both from Stanislavski school, made detailed script
studies, centering on the psychological backgrounds of characters.
Tyrone Guthrie
(UK/Canada/USA): worked on "pure inspiration", but shaped by
years of prior experience.
Bertolt Brecht
(Germany): Dialectical (or Epic) theatre; Berliner Ensemble;
developed a new purpose for theatre.
Jerzy Grotowski
(Poland): the Polish Laboratory Theatre; book: "Towards a Poor
Theatre". The "holy actor".
Peter Brook
(UK/France): sees directors as both "boss" & "guide". To re-interpret a
play in terms of its present relevance; book: "The Empty Space".
Peter Stein
(Berlin),
Trevor Nunn, Peter Hall
(London),
Hal Prince,
George C. Wolfe
(New York),
Adrian Hall
(Trinity Square),
William Ball
(A.C.T.).
Insert
Picture: Peter Brook & Jerzy Grotowski
(yet to be placed here)
***********************************
All of the following are required to be part of your process in this course:
1 - Research
(the gathering of useful
information/inspiration):
- the location of each style or genre in history &/or
theatrical history.
- the "purpose" of theatre in each place & time.
- the "purpose" of the playwright in writing the play.
- the nature of the Stage/Audience relationship.
- the universal qualities of the particular play.
- the function of each of the six Aristotelian elements.
of drama in the particular genre or style.
2 - Preparation
(giving the inspiration form; plan formulation):
- production script.
- consideration of the interplay of the six elements.
- concept / vision -- your purpose in directing the play.
- groundplan; scheme of production.
- casting.
- rehearsal plans.
3 - Rehearsal
(plan execution, experimentation, discovery):
- clear communication of directorial vision.
- use of production script & rehearsal plans.
- collaboration with actors.
- use of spatial & visual controls (composition, picturization).
- use of time & dynamic controls.
- productive use of the (always) insufficient time.
4 - Performance
(realization):
- in this course, always a work in progress with an
eye to what future steps would be.
&
5 - Self-Assessment
(reflection; future course charting):
- to be detailed in future classes.