The Joys of Directing (Experience #3)

Last year, I discovered I had a passion for directing through my required directing class. I spent the semester working on my own production of a short 15-minute play. I spent countless hours breaking the script apart and analyzing it half to death. I developed my concepts for characters, costumes, set, lighting, and sound. All of that and more was before I’d even held auditions and cast the show! Once I’d found my actresses for my small cast of two and rehearsals began, I fell even more in love with the directing process. It was exciting and rewarding to collaborate with my cast to create a unified vision. I loved being able to watch the show from the outside and give my feedback, and I loved it even more when my cast took what I said and created something completely on their own.

Needless to say, I was determined to pursue my interest in directing. I spoke to the head of our department about being his assistant director on an upcoming collaborative production with a professional equity theatre, and he accepted me. As the director’s assistant, I did dramaturgical research, transcribed all the notes he dictated, and provided an extra set of eyes. Above all else, I learned even more about directing.

That brings us to this January, where I had the pleasure of directing a show once again. This time, though, it was very different from the others. I had been selected to direct a staged reading (meaning the actors would not be memorized, but have the scripts in their hands) of a play written in the playwrighting class last year, which meant I got to collaborate and discuss the show with its writer in a way that many directors never get to do. It was a wonderful learning experience being able to talk to the playwright about her intent and how she viewed the characters and situations she had written out. I was able to take what she said and infuse it with my own ideas and interpretation as I prepared for auditions where I would find my cast. She sat in on auditions with me, and together we took notes about who we thought would make good choices for what character. I was pleased to discover that our views on potential actors for the roles aligned very closely with each other. It was like I was being told that I had the right idea and was heading in the right direction if my ideas aligned with the playwright without having to speak about it. It was my first time as a director that I had collaborated with someone other than actors, and it was incredibly rewarding. I loved listening to her ideas and processing them as I shared my own with her. 

Once I'd gotten the show cast, I had another new experience as a director: dealing with a cast of more than two people. I had seven actors total, which is still relatively small, but it made it immediately more difficult to create a rehearsal schedule. In the two-person show I'd directed before, both actors were always onstage doing something. The show I was currently directing was a full one-act play with multiple scenes, and everyone was not in every scene. I wanted to have the most efficient and productive rehearsals possible without having any of my actors feeling like I was wasting their time, and in order to do that, I needed to avoid calling people to rehearsals where they weren't needed for lengthy amounts of time. I realized, as I worked out my rehearsal schedule, that I had taken for granted the seamless rehearsal schedules I'd had under previous directors. Once I'd gotten it worked out, however, I felt much more accomplished than I'd been before.

There was one big new experience that came with this production. I only had one week to rehearse with my cast. The play I was directing was a part of Theatre TCU's Kaleidoscope Series that we do at the beginning of every semester. All the productions are staged readings, and all of them only have a week to rehearse. It is a fast and furious rehearsal process where you have to be constantly aware of time and what absolutely needs to get done. I've been a performer in several of our Kaleidoscope shows before, but directing one was a whirlwind. It was honestly exhilarating, and it forced me to crack down on efficiency more than ever before.

Every time I've had the opportunity to take part in directing, I've managed to learn something new while fulfilling my need for creativity. It seems to me that directing is potentially the ultimate form of theatrical collaboration. Every aspect of a production has to pass through the director, and it is the director's job to take everything in and lead a production through to the end result of a strong, unified performance. I would be happy to do that for as long and as much as I possibly can.