Introduction to the Theatre Directing

Bryan L. Viray

Brief History

Directing (as defined by de la Cruz, 2004)

A process in which a directors creative intelligence engages and meshes with other creative intelligences at a variety of levels and intensities of commitment. These other intelligences, called collaborators, help achieve the directors goal and purpose.

Job Description
Mediating with producers Choosing the script Absorbing the script Conducting dramaturgical research Performing a structural analysis Auditioning and casting Planning a rehearsal schedule

Job Description
Preparing for and attending design conferences Meeting with additional collaborators, such as choreogprahers, composers, audiovisual specialists Rehearsing the actors Participating in the paper tech Attending the technical and dress rehearsals Fine-tuning the performance

Director
As an organizer Labor Leader Facilitator Orchestrator of the theatrical score

The period of gestation/development

Period in which the play was written Playwrights life and other works Kind of stage for which the play was written Theatrical conventions of the time Studies about the playwrights plays and the play I wish to direct Reviews of previous productions of the play

The period of gestation/development

Material related to things mentioned in the play, e.g. Historical references, place names Anything else that might help to understand the playwrights art Visual and aural possibilities that is, pictures and music that may refer to the production or inspire me toward the choice of mise en scene Meetings w/ the playwright and listening to him talk about the play

Transforming the text into a performance

Visual implications of structure Clues to the symbology of the action rooted in the culture Metaphors for the myth trajectory of the souls search for regeneration Suggestions for some overpowering image of the existential person framed by the theatrical void of the performance space

Qualities
Maturity (not necessarily age), or life experience Literacy about theater and related arts Proficiency in the use of theater tools The ability to articulate thoughts, passions, visions, and intentions A general sensitivity to ones culture, world events, and life

Qualities
A compassion for humanity A bravery in defending ones beliefs, and a strength of personality that commands respect A voracious appetite for knowledge, feelings, and experience A strong sense of mission about what theater art can do for society, and become, in society

Qualities
A fertile imagination, a sense of fantasy, a strong sense of self, and a feel for the spiritual and ineffable, and An unmistakable gift for the theatrical and an aptitude for working in the theatre in collaborative situations.

Reference/s
De la Cruz, Edgardo Bengson. (2004). Directing for theater: A Personal Approach. Diliman, Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press.