Thespian Musings: My Opinion on Directors and Style

I've been surrounded by scripts lately.

What with friends in shows, and participating in New Play Exchange Script Challenges and prepping for #EndofPlay next month I've had scripts and theatre-making on the brain.

I've also been thinking Other Theatre Artist Thoughts.

Those who know me really well know that I'm not only a playwright, but also a director. Sadly, I haven't doing much directing lately, but that doesn't mean I don't think about it a lot.

And I keep having this same Thought.

Just as there are "Acting Styles" for every play an Artist participates in, there are also "Directing Styles" for every play an Artist participates in.

Yes, I know I'm not the first person to make this discovery; but I really wish that this was discussed more in the training of a Theatre Artist.

(Although, maybe it was only my experience which was slightly lacking and that's all my own fault. Which I am prepared to wholeheartedly own. If not, I'm overthinking, so whatever.)

So.

Here's my Opinion on Directing(which is fully acknowledged as biased and complete with an anecdote from my life. Because of course it is.)

You can't direct Shakespeare the same way you would direct Qui Nguyen.

You can't direct Qui Nguyen the same way you would direct Euripides.

You can't direct RENT(a musical) the same way you direct a "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime"(straight play).

And you can't direct "August Osage County the film" the same way you direct "August Osage County the play".

It

Doesn't

Work.

Musicals have anywhere between 5-100 actors and actresses involved onstage at a time. "Be Our Guest" wouldn't look the same if all we had was Lumier, Mrs. Potts and Cogworth onstage standing around singing.

It's still cool to see three talking household objects prepping for their surprise guest, but it's breathtaking  when they're accompanied by dancing napkins, forks,  dusters and the like. Plus, Gaston storming the castle alone doesn't have the same punch as leading a roaring mob to "kill the Beast!"

When directing a musical, a director needs to keep track of all 5-100 actors and actresses so that he/she/they can create big and impressive pictures on the stage. Plus, they need to work with the choreographer and music director to make sure that the singing and dancing meshes with the acting, or the show implodes and everyone wants to scrub the memories from their minds.

Hamilton is awesome--but you have to keep track of *so many people*!!!!!

Shakespeare--in my experience at least--is very technical. He wrote almost no stage directions and his poetic language is difficult to understand(witness every single student in my freshman English class who thought "Romeo and Juliet" was the most boring thing on the planet. It's not--it's one of the most interesting. But that's a post for another time).

Directors involved in a Shakespeare production need to not only have a grasp of the language(because sometime verbatim translation is required); but they also need to understand the relationships of the characters, the vocal techniques and patterns of each line, and the schematics of each scene(see "no stage directions" above).

 Also they need to be up to date on the social, historical and political context of the show. Shakespeare plays have been set in numerous times and places, but the original context is still written down.

And Shakespearean directors need to the know the original context before they can play with it.

If they don't it shows.

While Shakespearean directors(or any director, for that matter) shouldn't outright dictate how scenes or characters are played, they should be well prepared enough to be a guide for those actors who need it.

I've heard contemporary plays are much easier to direct than classic works(and some musicals) and I wholeheartedly agree. Playwrights have begun to write more stage directions as a way of communicating with the creative team; the dialogue is in a language we understand; it feels much less technical, and more straightforward.

Just a sample page, but looks easier than Hamlet's soliloquy, right?

Directors still have to do their homework when directing contemporary theatre. They still need a Director's concept; they still need to communicate with the rest of their creative team(which is why one of my mini-soapboxes is Production Meetings, but that's another post); and they still need to be a guide to their actors when a guide is needed.

And, because contemporary theatre is less technical, it's my favorite kind to direct because if you're really lucky you'll get a cast who knows exactly what they're doing so all you have to do is sit down, shut up, and let the actors play.

I haven't done many films, but I like to think that it's the same as directing a contemporary show. Yes, you are thinking about camera angles and takes and other things, but (mostly) you've hired people who know what they're doing, so you let them play and give notes when you need to(see "sit down, shut up" above).

When I was sixteen, I started working with the After School Drama program at the elementary school across the street from my high school, where I stayed for the next nine years. Every year, I would direct two Shakespeare(one comedy and one tragedy) and two contemporary(for lack of a better description) a year.

I'd been directing children's adaptions of Shakespeare with children in my neighborhood since I was fourteen, so I knew how to coach the students in the command of the language, the character relationships, vocal tricks and also create movement pieces and dances that meshed with the overall feel of the show(Fairy Dances for Midsummer Night's Dream; Battles for Lear and the Prologue we created for Much Ado; the duel scenes in Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet).

We would spend half of our two hour rehearsals hashing out the dialogue and relationships and sometimes getting hung up on one little thing that wasn't clear and probably would sort itself out later or didn't matter as much as we thought(kids have really deep thoughts on things--sometimes so deep it's scary what they figure out).

We'd warm up our voices so that they could speak in the necessary patterns that were required for different characters. One time we had a tongue twister contest between the "nobles" and the "peasants". The fourth grade "noble" who beat the sixth grade "peasant" had a big soppy grin on his face for days afterward.

All this in addition to actually blocking the scenes.

Which, thankfully, took up the entire rehearsal period.

Directing non-Shakespeare productions?

Whole different ballgame for this high school junior.


The show that we did every Christmas was "A Christmas Carol"(because duh); and the language in that script didn't need explanation because--according to one little third grader-- "it's in real English"; relationships were easier to suss out; the whole outlook for me was totally different (see "straightforward" above.)

So much so that the first time I directed it, we'd end rehearsals early cause I didn't know what to do.

Needless to say, I fixed that problem in a hurry.

I was in one of those situations(see "really lucky" above) where my students had read the script and knew the story forwards and backwards; so rehearsals changed from technical and relationship work to what one of my students called "playtime", where I would tell them what scene we were doing, position them at their entrances and only stop the scene when it was time for a character to exit.

We'd run scenes multiple times to make discoveries about the characters. Some of these discoveries were in the dialogue, and some were not. One year, the second grader who played Tiny Tim pointed out a sibling dynamic in the Cratchit family that no one had thought of before--and it blew my mind.

In this particular show, "Tiny Tim" and "Mrs Crachit" were brother and sister, which was also really cute to watch. The "discovery" that he made--presented to me in a very long and complicated speech that I think is perfected by every earnest seven-year-old on the planet--was that while "Tiny Tim" was crippled, he still wanted to do things by himself, and his "siblings" should understand that; and he should be "allowed" to, "very carefully put cups on the table while [his siblings] got out food [or something] rather than just sit and do nothing". Most impassioned speech I've ever heard out of a seven-year-old I wasn't related to, and the cutest "Family Getting Ready For Dinner" scene I've ever seen.

Instead of vocal warmups, we'd do physical warmups and exercises(sometimes "theatre games") that would strengthen relationships onstage. Some of my students would "come early" or "stay late"(aka skip the after school snack, or talk outside while waiting for their rides) to talk to each other about who their characters were and things they could try. When they did this they couldn't wait to tell me what they figured out and could they try it onstage to see if it worked?

We didn't always (if ever) have to worry about hashing out things that were unclear or needed discussion because usually there weren't any. And when there were it was partly because one particular actor wanted attention so would suck up rehearsal time just to put the spotlight on him/her/them/self(ves) more than was strictly necessary. Because they were kids.

And it was beautiful.

My last year at the school we did a musical. And we had to call in a Musical Director cause I had no clue what I was doing.

I still don't, and will probably not direct a musical in my lifetime.

Too many people.

*Introvert shudder*

Every Director has his/her/their own style, and this also applies to the types of shows that they excel at directing.

One more tiny little note that I think applies to all directors, no matter what style of play or film you happen to be working on.

At the risk of repeating myself(which I'm sure I've done in a previous post, but repetition builds muscle memory so whatever) make sure you read the material beforehand.

I'm talking before very rehearsal.  Whatever scene you're going to do, read it, study it, pick it apart so that when you get to the actual rehearsal your prepared to give advice, or hold discussions or answer questions or whatever.  In short, it's my opinion that every page of the director's script should look something like this:

All right, yes, this is an example of how to analyze poetry, but the concept is still the same

And make your very best effort to also read it the day of so that the scene is fresh in your mind when you enter the rehearsal room.When I was directing the elementary school students, I knew the play already, forwards, and backwards, and inside out. I'd read my copy of the script so much it was dog-eared and smudged and covered with little notes to myself and blocking diagrams(I was also the stage manager, because After School Budgets).

But I made myself get into the habit of still reading the scene we were doing to do at least twice before the rehearsal started(sometimes I'd do it on my commute from school to work and vise versa--thank you Public Transit System), so that when the students had a question or there was part of scene that needed discussion I wouldn't stare at them like a deer in the headlights.

Being so familiar with the script you can perform it completely memorized on your own in your sleep(should you ever have to) is part of your Director's Homework.

So do it.

If you haven't and it shows, then you make a complete cake of yourself at rehearsal.

And this is coming from someone who has made a complete cake of herself at rehearsal more than once.

Not every show is technically based.

Not every show is straightforward.

 Not every show is a musical.

But knowing what your going into and doing your Director's Homework will save everyone a headache in the long run.

Thespian Musing Over.

And scene😛

Thespian Musings: Table Reads--the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Hey.

Hi.

Can you spell T-E-R-R-I-F-I-E-D?

I can.

Cause I'm about to put my latest script("Lure of the Fox") in front of a bunch of my peers for a Closed Amateur Table Read.

What is a Closed Amateur Table Read, you ask? It's when the script you have slaved over for doesn't matter how long finally gets read by (hopefully) a group of very supportive friends.

For the First Time.

Out Loud.

And then--if all goes according to plan--it gets shredded within an inch of it's life and you take the pieces and start all over again.

Also known as Revision.

Yay?



The good news is that it's not a professional read, so there are no financiers or audience members in the room in case I happen to make a Big Social Gaff.

Which I am sometimes wont to do(thank you ADD😛).

I've done a couple of these Table Reads now both in academic and other amateur settings as both an actor and at playwright; and there are ways to make them successful and ways to make them....suck.

So this week it's about the Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Table Reads, complete with my dorky little anecdotes. Some of them apply to all Table Reads, some are just personal preferences,  cause that's how I roll!

"Do"s and "Don't"s of a Table Read(According to This Theatre Artist)

DO:

DO Plan Ahead
When I was a theatre major, I had a group of people that I could usually snag for a quick read like a week in advance and then we'd get together in an empty classroom to read the script. That, or we'd read the script as part of a class assignment(like in New Script Workshop or something).

That is not the case outside of school.

We all have busy lives: day jobs, families, social-obligations-outside-of-the-theatre, etc.; so when you're going to do a reading of your script, create an event on Facebook, or in Eventbrite, or Meetup or whatever and invite people to see who happens to be available.

My highest success rate is when I do it a month in advance at least. If you're really lucky, you can do it a week in advance, but chances of success are super slim.


At least in my experience.

DO Send Out the Right Script
I'm not kidding.

Double check and triple check that everyone has not only the right script, but the right draft of the script before the reading takes place.

The first Table Read I ever had was my second year as a theatre major, so it was part of a class assignment.

I got my actors together, scheduled my time-slot, showed up to class with notebook and pen and ready to take notes and get feedback.

And the actors started to read.

And a few of them looked really confused.

And after about fives minutes, one of my actors said "um, I think I have the wrong script." And another actor said "yeah, me too".

Guess what?

I'd sent out three different drafts.



As far as I can tell, what happened was that each time my actor friend said yes to coming to my class, I'd sent out what I thought was a copy of my current draft.

Except each time, I'd made changes to the previous draft as saved that one instead.

And now the whole class knew about it.

Can you spell M-O-R-T-I-F-I-E-D? I can.

Once you send out your script to the actors leave it alone. Save it as a PDF if you have you, so that you don't even have the temptation.

DO Your Homework
If you're the playwright/screenwriter your homework is making sure that the script gets sent out on time(say 3-7 days before the reading) and compiling a set of questions(mental or otherwise) that you can potentially ask. If you trust the actors enough, you can even send the questions to them ahead of time so that they are thinking about their answers while reading the script.

If you don't have any specific questions(I usually start my post reading Q&A Session by saying something like "shred me!"), be prepared to answer questions that will be asked by the other actors.

You will get them.

I promise.

And it's ok to say "I don't know". That's a clear signal that there is some revision that needs to happen, which is always a good thing.

If you are an actor the first part of your homework is the read the script beforehand, if you have time. Even if all you read is stage/camera directions and scene headings.

I'll say that again.

Read the script beforehand if you have time.

Even if all you read is stage/camera directions and scene headings. 

Understanding writers will know that your world doesn't revolve around their reading.

But if the writer is anything like me, they will get the impression that a particular line of dialogue that was stumbled over is clunky and needs revision, when maybe the only reason the actor stumbled is because he/she/they hadn't read the script before the reading.



There is nothing more frustrating than stumbling over lines that you haven't read before.

You have other obligations.

We get that.

And that's ok. We're all busy. But if you have time, it's better in the long run.

The second part of your homework only applies if you got questions from the writer beforehand.

Read those questions.

Apply those questions to the script.

Have answers so that you can provide them when needed.

Homework isn't as big a deal in closed amateur settings, but in the professional world, if it's clear you slack off, you could get fired. So practice homework now for professionalism later.

DO Provide Sustenance 
Every single reading I have had outside an academic setting, I've made everybody food.

Sometimes it's a full meal, sometimes it's just cake(I love cake!!).



People might bring water bottles cause they talk so much(scripts are full of dialogue after all), but energy can sap even when all you do is read, and water doesn't replenish energy.

Like at all.

You don't have to host a formal dinner while you read, but it's totally ok to break in between acts(which is much easier in a play script than a screenplay) to allow your actors to replenish and refill. This will prevent burnout--which is a thing even at readings.

Also, it's a great way to thank people for helping you out without breaking the bank.

(Quick Note: when you do this, it's best to stick to Actors Guild/SAG Break Rules: 10 minutes break for every 80 minutes of rehearsal time just so you don't go over your allotted reading time)

DON'T:

DON'T Read it Just to Read It
Several times in academic settings, I participated in readings where the author came in, we read the script, they said "thank you" and walked out.

No feedback, no nothing.



Call me crazy, but find this unproductive.

In my book, you hold a reading not just so you can hear it out loud, but also so that you can improve your work. If all you wanted was to read it, then why didn't you do it yourself?

Hold a reading because you want to, not just because you need to.

Saves everybody a headache.

DON'T Ignore Feedback And/Or Be Offended
Guess what?

Everybody has opinions. Everyone. If they don't they ain't human.

Part of a reading is the giving and receiving of feedback, also known as readers expressing opinions of what can be stronger, what makes no sense, and what should be thrown out the window.

And while you should take everything said with a grain of salt (because sometimes the feedback is either pure opinion or the "you can't write so I'm going to write it for you" variety), there are still things you need to do in the feedback stage of the Table Read:

Write down every single thing that is said.

I'm serious.

Write it down.

Think about it.

Let is stew.

Then go back and delete the things that are pure nonsense--because there's going to be those types of notes.



Getting feedback hurts sometimes. It's like lying your baby naked in front of hungry machete wielding cannibals and saying "have at it". They don't hold your script in the same type of esteem that you--the writer--do. That doesn't mean that they hate you, or the script. It means they respect you and want to help you improve.

(there are those very rare times when people say things that are deliberately unhelpful because either they have a participation grade riding on this or they're just maddeningly  unhelpful grumpy people but I can count the number of times this has happened to me on the fingers of one hand)

Things people say are gonna sting. They're killing your darlings. Because of course they are so that your script can get better.

Listen to what they say. Think about it. They want to help you.


DON'T Expect People to Bring Copies of the Script
This is nitpicky, but it happens.

We currently live in a world with laptops, cell phones, tablets--hundreds of thousands of ways that we can access digital files. Sometimes actors will bring these digital files with them to read off their devices.

Other times, they won't(if it's a professional Table Read, it is your responsibility to provide all of the scripts for every single actor. Amateur readings have a little leeway).

My personal practice has been to have several copies of the script on hand for those actors who don't have copies with them--on my phone, my laptop, hard copies, whatever(if I'm feeling really generous, I'll even bind the hard copies so they look extra nice).

This will save time in the long run.

DON'T Go Over The Allotted Time
Best practice is to arrive on time or early to a reading.

But we are human.

There is traffic.

 Our car dies.

Our watch stopped.

Previous engagement accidentally bled over.

We just plain forgot.

It happens.

Particularly in the Amateur Table Read.



So, be prepared to compensate for late-comers, but do your absolute best to start and end the reading on time.

If you said it would run three hours, the reading runs three hours.

Not three and a half.

Not three and fifteen minutes.

Three hours.

People have lives. Unless it's a professional gig, they are nice enough to be doing you a huge favor, so you are obligated to respect their time as much as they are respecting yours.

Readings are fun. 

They are nerve-wracking.

They are part of a Theatre Artist's lifestyle. Follow the above "Do's and Don't's" and it'll be successful.

Now all I gotta do is get through mine.....

Thespian Musings: Back It Up

My brother has a strong dislike for every single Disney re-make.

He says that they are a horrible idea that should never have been carried out in the first place;

That all they're doing is re-hashing old stories cause they have nothing else to do

And even doing it shot-for-shot("Lion King" specifically).


I would find his opinion totally valid.

But he has yet to see any of them.

Not once.

Ever.



I think the worst food in the world is an avocado.

I don't like the way it smells

Or the way it tastes

Or the way it feels in mouth(which is a totally different thing)

I wouldn't eat one if you paid me

(which hasn't stopped certain siblings from sneaking it into my salad just to see me gag, but that's beside the point)

Here's the difference between these two situations: one of us can back our opinion up, and the other one can't.

This happens so much in life that it's ridiculous. We all have emotions and we all have opinions and we all like to express them(some more than others).

But if we express an opinion based on nothing but emotion and hearsay we tend to go haywire and make ourselves look like complete morons.

And this is coming from someone who has made herself look like a complete moron.

More than once.

In the same day.

(this is why I don't make a practice of getting into any form of political debate, or discussion, or anything to do with politics--well, that and my ADD, but that's not the subject of this post so moving on...)

I took a Fundamentals of Argumentation class back in college and one of the things that was drilled into my head is "have valid and logical backup for what you say".

Ok, fine, they expressed it a lot more eloquently than that, but the principal is the same:

If you're argument/opinion is based on nothing but emotion, we will lose(see "complete morons" above.).

My sister figured that out when she was four years old. Whenever we'd fight or have sibling tiffs, all she had to do was make me mad.



And then she would win the argument/not get in trouble and I was left seething and trying to figure out how she got away with it.

It took me fifteen years to figure it out.

I know!

So what does all of this have to do with being a Theatrical Artist?

Everything.

Casual theatre goers have no idea what it takes to actually "put on" a play.

No. Idea.

Because all they see the the pretty result--or in some very rare cases, the gorgeous-enough-to-make-you-want-to-buy-multiple-tickets-to-multiple-shows-cause-you-can't-get-enough-result.

Whether people realize it or not, theatre and film are almost always based on an opinion(yes, even documentaries) that someone wants to express and feels that the most efficient way to do so is on the stage or screen.


Opinions are formed based on facts gathered, and/or personal and cultural experiences. If someone feels strongly about a certain something, they will either speak up or write it down--and both are equally effective.

However.

Emotion does a great job of bolstering opinions close to the illogical side of the spectrum(I know cause it's happened to me  a lot); and this can get you into trouble.

Do your research--even if it starts on Wikipedia--so that you have a legitimate way to back up your opinion.

There's always the chance that you will still get slaughtered--by critics, and/or your peers--but if you can back up what you think and you can back it up logistically and coherently, then you at least walk away bloodied but unbowed.

Or something like that.