On
Directing
SCRIPT ANALYSIS: Script is everything. The Alpha and the Omega. It's the blueprint for production, the road map to character, conflict and action. My work always begins with in-depth script analysis.
I am a child of The Group Theatre, and have throughout my career immersed myself in the writings and teachings of its Principals: Lee Strasberg, Stella Adler, Sanford Meisner and (as a director) Harold Clurman. It's the Clurman model of script analysis that I most frequently employ.
The notion of the "spine" of the play - the overriding thru-line action which runs as a unifying thread throughout each scene and each character's individual actions - is one I find both illuminating and practical. In preparing for rehearsal, I spend considerable time with each scene searching out that thread: breaking each scene into individual beats, developing a sense of tempo-rhythms, conflict-in-the-moment, actions of each character, and especially the 'event' of the scene. That analysis becomes my guidebook in rehearsal...
COLLABORATION: I believe in the rehearsal hall as a place of collaboration; a place where individual contributors -- director and designers, cast and crew -- work together to shape the production. Certainly the director must take a strong lead, have a firm vision and function as the ultimate lens through which everything must pass. But a good idea doesn't care where it comes from. An open rehearsal hall in which ideas flow freely will inevitably lead to a stronger production.
That's especially true in my work with actors. I've been flattered over the years to have many actors refer to me as
"an actor's director." That begins with the notion that in my rehearsal hall, there's no such thing as a bad choice.
Actors should never feel reluctant to try something new, something different, something outrageous. Creativity evaporates if actors feel that by exploring a different interpretation, they open themselves to criticism from their director. Bottom line, I strive to create a rehearsal environment in which actors feel safe. That means my actors have a sense of comfort and security in rehearsal. It means that through their creative exploration, they often reveal to me something about the script I hadn't realized -- which in turn can change my view of a particular moment, a beat or sometimes an entire scene.
a few thoughts on directing...
CONFLICT & ACTION: Acting is a verb. It's about action -- character action. It's not about "attitude", well executed blocking, clever stage business or technique. At the risk of sounding a bit pedantic: I want something. You in some way stand in my way. That means we have conflict. And without conflict, there is no Play. Neil Simon comedy or Jacobean Revenge Tragedy, no conflict...no Play.
It's within the framework of this conflict that actions arise. What action do I take to overcome the obstacle you present and get what I want? Do I attack? Deceive? Pursuade? Undermine? Blackmail? Shame? Seduce? What the action of choice will be is dependent on script, character traits, established character relationships, previous action, depth of motivation and more. But the lesson is clear. If an actor just hits his mark onstage while reciting lines without doing something -- without taking action to move things forward, toward what he wants -- the audience will soon be taking a collective nap.
STAGING: My friend and first directing mentor (Jack Welsh, retired Professor of Theatre Arts, University of Richmond) once said that, even if your audience is locked in a sound-proof booth, the majority of the action of the play should be apparent, based solely on what's seen on the stage. Conversely, even the best acting performance can be undermined by inadequate staging.
In film, camera position, lens, editing are some of the director's tools used to tell the audience where to look, where to focus, what to see. In effect, the audience is presented with a "moving proscenium." Live Theatre lives and breathes in a unique space, defined by the Theatre's physical plant, stage configuration, groundplan, set design and lighting.
In this space, the director employs an entirely different set of tools. These include stage composition, picturization, balance, tension, sequence, stability. Taken together, these tools help create the visual experience of a stage production. In one instance, the audience's eye is guided to an actor the director wishes to emphasize. In another, the audience is riveted to a stage picture which communicates action more vividly than words. The stage is an actor's medium, a medium of words and sound. But it is also a visual medium, a place of pictures and movement and choreographed action critical to telling the story and moving the audience. In the Theatre, the verbal and the visual are forever intertwined and are together essential to successful production.
Eric Dobbs
Craig Cauthen
director
writer
producer
Tom Palmer
