How to Direct a Play

It is important to have a sense of the potential cast for a play that will be directed.  If realistically only 5 males will audition, it is not reasonable to select a play that  requires 10 males and is not suitable to the casting options.  The first step, if a director is new to a school or community production is to do an "all-call".  This is a calling for all potential actors and actresses.  This can be a brief meeting format along with collecting resume information on these actors.  From these resumes, the director can have a better sense of the cast that will definitely be auditioning.

The next step is to select a play.  Most theaters choose to select the plays for a season in advance to aid in preparation.  The plays that are selected for a season may include a variety of types of productions from comedy, drama. one-act plays, interactive plays or musicals.  It is important to select a play that suits the facility, the potential cast, and the amount of time necessary to successfully complete the performance 

Read through the play many times to gather a sense of the meaning and tone of the play.  Then prepare the expectation of the set and convey this to the technical staff or volunteers.  Plan the blocking, costumes. and lighting for the play. It may be that there are paid or volunteer staff members that may help in this regard, but it is possible for a high school production that the director wears all the hats.  Either way it is essential to develop a clear plan for the technical aspect of the play in advance.

It is important to order the play scripts for the cast at least six weeks in advance of the auditions.  Plan for7-10 days for scripts to arrive.  Some companies are more reliable than others.  Orders have been known to get lost, so it is better to not be down to the wire with the delivery of the scripts. Order the number of royalty performances.  Remember that each performance for the public whether they pay to wattch or not is a royalty performance.

Next it is important to plan the auditions.  Set dates for the first round of auditions and call backs. Have perusal copies available for auditioners to view and practice with. Advertise the auditions. Have a plan for any large or small group auditions and do those first.  Have readings marked and prepared for each audition.  Have an idea of what the characters need in a performance. 

Once the auditions and call backs have been held, the next step is to make some essential casting decisions.  Try rearranging differnt people in unconventional parts for a unique approach to the play.  Make the final decision and post the cast list along with a date for the first rehearsal.

Plan a rehearsal schedule. Create a calendar with the times of the rehearsals and the expected accomplishments for each day,  For example one day may be a read through rehearsal, another may be blocking pages 6-15, or indicating that pages must be off book. Setting up a definite schedule with the cast in advance leaves nothing to doubt about the director's expectations for progress and the times of rehearsal.

Over the next couple weeks the director should work with the cast on delivery and memorization of the lines as well as characterization.  Each character should come to life and stand out individually as characters that the audience will remember.  During this period the director should encourage the cast to improve vocally in volume and variety.  The cast should reduce its dependancy on the scripts and eventually become off book.  It is difficult to act with a play book in the actor's hands, so it is essential to gradually expect the cast to let go of their scripts one scene at a time.  Once the books are being used less, it is the time to start working with hand props and develop gestures and specific body movements that add to the characterization.  At this point this is where the actor begins to walk, talk and behave in character. It is acceptable to experiment during this stage, but the cast should develop a consistency by the end of this period.

Earlier in the analysis stage the director should have prepared the basic blocking of the stage movement of the actors.  After a few read-through rehearsals are held, the next step is to work with the cast in small scenes to plot and memroze the movements on the stage.  While working on the stage movement, concentrate less on characterization.  Instead just try to get the basic movements on the stage consistent.  Make sure as a director that you have the basic understand of stage terminology such as upstage, downstage, stage left and right.  Over a period of a week or so in small steps the play should eventually all be physically blocked.

Things Needed

• Binder
• Calendar
• highligher
• pencil
• stage diagram
• set diagram

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