Synopses & Reviews
Play Directing, Sixth Edition describes the various roles a director plays, from selection and analysis of the play to working with actors and designers to bring it to life. The authors emphasize that the role of the director is not as a dictator, but as a leader of artists working in collaboration who look to the director for ideas that will give impetus to their fullest, most creative expressions. The text emphasizes that directing is not a finite and specific system of production, but rather is a means for providing an intensive look at the structure of plays, of acting and actor-ownership, and of all the other crafts that together make a produced play.
New to This Edition
- Features new author Michael McLain, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles and founding Artistic Associate and Literary Director of the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles, who brings a fresh new voice to Play Directing, Sixth Edition while retaining the point of view and fundamentals that have made the text a success in its earlier editions.
- Adds new chapters on working with actors (Chapter 16) and on the director and the dramaturg (Appendix 2), as well as new material on the director in opera, offering a wealth of new information on the director's role.
- Revises many exercises for increased focus on points discussed in the text, expanding the opportunities for practical application.
- Includes an expanded bibliography with an updated survey of a diverse range of works related to directing, providing students with valuable guidelines to further study.
Synopsis
Play Directing describes the various roles a director plays, from "calling the plays" to orchestrating and blending a symphony of actors and elements. The author emphasizes that the role of the director is not as a dictator, but as a leader of multiple craftsmen who look to the director for ideas that will give impetus to their fullest, most creative expressions. The text emphasizes that directing is not a finite and specific "system" of production, but rather is a venue for providing an intensive look at the structure of plays, of acting and actor-ownership, and of all the other crafts that together make a produced play.
Synopsis
Play Directing describes the role of the director as artist-leader working in collaboration with actors and designers in bringing a play to life. Some of the key topics include: play analysis, interpretation, fundamentals of staging including developing effective groundplans and blocking, mastery of style in playscripts and prduction, and effective working with actors and designers as key collaborators. This text is ideal for Introductory and Intermediate-level stage directors.
Synopsis
Play Directing describes the various roles a director plays, from selection and analysis of the play to working with actors and designers to bring it to life. The authors emphasize that the role of the director is that of an artist-leader working in collaboration with actors and designers who look to the director for partnership in achieving their fullest, most creative expressions. The text emphasizes that directing is not a finite and specific “system” of production, but rather it is a means of providing an intensive look at the structure of plays, of acting, and of the process of design in the major areas of scenery, costume, lighting, and sound that together make a produced play.
Table of Contents
Dedication
Preface and Credits for Photographs.
1. Why the Director?
2. What Is a Play? Analysis and Improvisation.
I. PLAY-ANALYSIS: TAKING A PLAY APART.
3. The Foundation and Facade of the Playscript: Given Circumstances and
Dialogue.
4. The Core of the Playscript: Dramatic Action and Characters.
5. Idea and Rhythm-Mood Beats.
6. The Director's Preparation.
II. COMMUNICATION 1: THE DIRECTOR-ACTOR RELATIONSHIP AND STAGE BLOCKING
7. Directing Is Working with Actors 1.
8. Learning to See: The Games of Visual Perception.
9. Helping Actors Communicate through Groundplans.
10. Composition: Helping Actors Discover and Project Basic Relationships.
11. Helping Each Actor Intensify: Gesture and Improvisation with Properties.
12. Picturization: Helping a Group Intensify.
13. The Dynamic Tool of Movement.
14. Coordinating the Blocking Tools in Director-Actor Communication.
15. Helping Actors “Speak” a Play
16. Directing is Working with Actors 2.
Major Project 1A: Scene Practice.
Major Project 1B: Diagnostic Criticism.
COMMUNICATION THROUGH STAGING OPTIONS .
17. The Director’s Responsibility for Working Effectively with Design.
18. The Director and the Stage Machine: Symbolization and Synthesis.
19. Director's Options: Choice of the Stage.
20. Director's Options: Scenery, Properties, and Lighting.
21. Director's Options: Costume, Makeup, and Sound.
HELPING AUDIENCES RECEIVE A PLAY
.
22. Responsibility to Audiences.
Major Project 2: Designing and Directing Your Own One-Act Play Production.
III. INTERPRETATION: A MATTER OF STYLE.
23. Style Is Individual Expression.
24. Style in Playwriting and Playwrights.
25. The Director's Analysis of Style in a Playscript.
26. Style in Production: Making Decisions.
27. Style in Production: Modern Plays.
28. Style in Production: New Plays.
29. Style in Production: Plays of Past Ages.
IV. COMMUNICATION 2: THE DIRECTOR-DESIGNER RELATIONSHIP
30. Preparing To Be a Collaborator in the Design Process
31. Directing Is Working with Designers
Major Project 3: Directing a Full-Length, Fully-Produced Play with Designers
Appendix 1. Directing Musical Theatre and Opera.
Appendix 2. The Director and the Dramaturg.
Appendix 3. Your Future as a Director.
Bibliography.
Index.