Read an Excerpt
Notes on Directing
By Frank Hauser, Russell Reich RCR Creative Press
Copyright © 2003 Russell Reich
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-9724255-2-0
CHAPTER 1
Understanding the Script
1. Read the play.
Or hear the play from its source by having the playwright read it to you.
Unplug the telephone, don't answer the door, just sit and read it through. At the end make notes or comments, very simple ones ... "Opening a bit boring." "Don't get the bit about the will." "Last bit very moving."
2. Take a break and read it again.
This time let yourself wander: Think about the look of it, the sort of actors you're going to need, whether the problems you saw the first time round are solving themselves.
3. If you have any choice, try to fit the designers to the work.
A production of Chekhov's Three Sisters designed by Francis Bacon might be fun, but it probably wouldn't help the cast or the audience any.
4. Don't finalize the designs too early.
You'll always be pressured by the workshops, but hold them off as long as possible. Your ideas will certainly change as you get to know the play better.
5. Read each character's part through as if you were playing it.
Skip the scenes you are not in and concentrate on your own lines. This often gives you a more vivid idea of the character and helps in casting.
6. Don't overstudy.
"I know every word of this text by heart" is a favorite director's boast, but it can restrict your imagination. It's the actor's job to remember his lines, not yours. Sometimes just guessing how a scene goes can make you think more freely.
7. Learn to love a play you don't particularly like.
You may be asked — or may choose — to direct a play that for any number of reasons you don't think is very good. In such cases it is better to focus and build on the play's virtues than attempt to repair its inherent problems.
8. Identify the story's compelling question.
Every good play has a basic "will she or won't she ...," an essential question about the central character(s) that keeps the audience interested, a question around which all the action revolves. Think of Shakespeare's Hamlet: Will the prince avenge his father's murder? Ibsen's A Doll's House: Will Nora keep her secret from Torvald?
As the director, you must understand what primarily keeps the audience interested in the ongoing action.
9. Realize that the human experience is one of suffering and the resolution of suffering.
Legitimate questions to ask of any script: How are these characters suffering? What are they doing to resolve their suffering?
10. Appreciate that character is the result of conduct.
As Aristotle taught us, we know people primarily by what they do. What others say about them, or what they say about themselves, may or may not be true.
11. Understand that plays depict people in extraordinary circumstances.
It's not everyday life on stage, but something more: something extreme, defining, life-changing.
What is the source of these special circumstances? Arthur Miller said, "The structure of the play is always the story of how the birds came home to roost."
That is, the consequences of something someone once did always come back to haunt the characters in the now of the play. These acts from the past permeate the story; they threaten the ordinary circumstances and values of the characters' lives, and they force choices to be made.
As Edward Albee said, "That's what happens in plays, yes? The shit hits the fan."
12. Recognize that the struggle is more important than the outcome.
Whether the characters accomplish what they set out to accomplish is not critical. What is important is that their intentions are clear — that they go about their struggles, encounter obstacles, and make moment-to-moment choices about what they need to do to achieve their goals. Their choices in the face of clear and compelling circumstances are what make them interesting if not heroic; characters either change their circumstances or are changed by them.
The audience witnesses each character's journey and vicariously goes along with them: "I agree with that." "What did he do that for?" "Now that was an interesting thing to do; I never would have thought of such a clever tactic."
Towards the end of the play, as the audience anticipates an impending collision or miracle coming, they won't care about what happens nearly as much as they'll care about how the characters react to what happens. Again, the emotional journey is more important than the destination.
13. Realize that the end is in the beginning.
In all the best material, the outcome is inevitable and inherent in the opening moment and in every moment in between. From the audience's perspective, this can only be understood and appreciated backwards, after the play has run its course. The audience, if they choose, will see every element was essential; every moment from the first to the last contributed to the final resolution or explosion.
This is really about you, as the director, aiming for elegance — the absence of anything superfluous. (See 96. Every object tells.)
This fully cohesive quality is easy to describe but hard to create. Nevertheless, it is critical for the director to identify the unifying structure of the play to which every subordinate element contributes.
14. Express the core of the play in as few words as possible.
Not more than a dozen words should do it. This is what the whole shooting match is aiming at, so:
A. What is the first impression the actors and the design should make on the audience?
B. What should their final impression be as the play ends?
C. How do you propose getting from A to B?
CHAPTER 2
The Director's Role
15. You are the obstetrician.
You are not the parent of this child we call the play. You are present at its birth for clinical reasons, like a doctor or a midwife. Your job most of the time is simply to do no harm.
When something does go wrong, however, your awareness that something is awry — and your clinical intervention to correct it — can determine whether the child will thrive or suffer, live or die.
16. Just tell the story ...
... as believably, as excitingly as possible. Whatever does not tell the story should be subject to a very fishy examination.
It does sometimes happen that decoration will salvage a weak play, but we are concerned with strong plays, and the audience has come to the theatre to believe, to respond to the magical words, "Once upon a time ...," not to admire a laser show.
17. Don't always connect all the dots.
Give the audience a role in filling in what's happening. That is, give them all the dots they need but don't connect all the dots for them.
For example, Julie Taymor's designs for the musical The Lion King offered the audience the choice to look at each actor's face or at the face of the puppet character each actor was operating. This allowed the audience to imaginatively invent the illusion moment by moment along with the performers and was far more artful than putting humans in animal suits. That would have been a clear example of connecting too many dots.
18. Keep the audience guessing.
But make sure the spectators are aware of those little hints that will become important later: Romeo's potential for violence, Saint Joan's tidal wave way with opposition.
Play against the obvious, but don't cheat. That is, don't rig the evidence so that when the climax comes, the audience feels, "Well, I didn't expect that, and, what's more, the way they told the story, I don't believe it."
19. Don't try to please everybody.
Bill Cosby said, "I don't know the formula for success, but I do know the formula for failure: trying to please everybody."
With both the authority and the responsibility to stage the play well, you will inevitably have to make some unpopular decisions. Accept the grumbling. Be strong and calm in the face of opposition — and realize that normal conversation includes a good portion of complaint.
20. You can't have everything.
Harold Clurman said that if you get 60 percent of what you saw in your head onto the stage, you're doing very well.
There may be no way to close this deficit, but do expect it. Not everything is within your control.
21. Don't expect to have all the answers.
You're the leader, but you're not alone. The other artists are there to contribute as well. Use them. Elia Kazan's concise directing advice was: "Before you do anything, see what talent does."
22. No actor likes a lazy director, or an ignorant one.
You should certainly know the meaning (and the pronunciation) of every word, every reference, every foreign phrase.
23. Assume that everyone is in a permanent state of catatonic terror.
This will help you approach the impossible state of infinite patience and benevolence that actors and others expect from you.
24. Lighten up.
Nobody dies if things go wrong; millions of dollars are not lost (you should be so lucky to have the chance). Children do not starve as a result of a bad rehearsal, performance, or review. Be passionate, sure, but know when not to take yourself too seriously.
When you need a favor or have a request that is perhaps beyond someone's ordinary responsibilities or inclinations, you can cool your ardor and enormously increase your effectiveness by adding, "I'll understand completely if it's not something you're able to do right now."
25. Don't change the author's words.
Director Lloyd Richards said that if you continually find yourself itching to make changes to a script, consider whether you should give up directing and take up playwriting.
26. You perform most of the day.
A general, very important note.
As a director, you are there to explain things to people and to tell them what to do (even if that means telling them to do whatever they want). Speak clearly. Speak briefly. Guard against the director's first great vice — rabbiting on, making the same point again and again, getting laughs from your inimitable (and interminable) anecdotes, wasting time.
And guard against the second great vice, the idiot fill-in phrases: "You know," "I mean," "Sort of ...," "Kind of ...," "Er, er, um...." These are bad enough in ordinary conversation; coming from someone who may be giving instructions for up to three hours a day, they can be a justification for homicide.
27. It is not about you.
Yes, there is a component of ego reward involved in directing, but it is a built-in perk; no need to seek it out. Instead, serve the play by serving others, particularly the playwright, the actors, and the audience. Ask yourself: What do I have to give to this play? What right do I have to take this audience's time and money? What am I giving to this audience that makes their investment in this work worthwhile to them?
28. The best compliment for a director: "You seemed from the beginning to know exactly what you wanted."
Actors and others will follow you even if they disagree with your direction. But they will not follow if you are afraid to lead. A clear, confident presence and strong direction are highly reassuring to everyone.
CHAPTER 3
Casting
29. Directing is mostly casting.
Some say directing is 60 percent casting, others say 90 percent. Regardless, it's a lot. There is not a more important single decision you will make during the production than who you put into a role. (Though your choice of designers — set, costume, lights, and sound — is right up there and is, of course, also a kind of casting.)
Director Ron Eyre once said that when you place someone in a role, you are plugging in to his or her entire "life stream." As in a marriage, you are taking responsibility for living with that person's unique constellation of virtues and vices. Certain doors will be open, others will be tightly closed, and still other doors may open with a slight nudge.
Learn as much as you can about what you're getting yourself into. In addition to an audition, inquire of others about the person. Is she polite, professional, and responsive? Speak with her. Study the résumé carefully: Has this person done roles like this before? This size? This style? This level? Take the time to find the answers. Yes, you might still get fooled from time to time, but that's hardly a reason to neglect your due diligence.
30. Don't expect the character to walk in the door.
If he does, hesitate before casting him. It is all-too-common to see the perfect audition lead to a performance that's lacking.
Why is this? A walking, talking character is quite different from a trained, professional actor. A true professional will grow into a role, analyze the script and develop insights, anticipate and deal with problems, create the required illusion, and develop a relationship with the other characters and the audience that no amount of "typing" can easily achieve. In short, a pro will know what to do. And it frees you from the onerous task of nursing one actor's performance at the cost of neglect to the others. That would be sure to sow resentment.
An important distinction, then, to make at this early stage in the process is not, "Is he convincing as the character?" but "Can he play it?"
This is not to say you should ignore externals. Everything tells to an audience and nothing about the actor should undermine what the script calls for — a tall character should be played by a tall actor, a young ingénue by a young actress. But when forced to choose between two competing candidates, value skill and experience over the look or essence of an actor. Respect the mastery of craft that a skilled professional can provide.
31. Put actors at ease, but don't befriend them.
When auditioning, actors know they are being looked at, listened to, evaluated, and judged. Their livelihood and self-image may hang in the balance. Everything you do or say as the auditor can have enormous emotional impact, so put actors at ease by letting them know you know what you're doing.
Be informal and polite. Be conversational. Be efficient. (See 26. You perform most of the day, and 70. Please, PLEASE be decisive.)
You cannot expect the actor's best work in an audition situation; it's too early in the process and too stressful. To maximize the actor's comfort and ensure the best possible work, be encouraging but keep complimentary remarks general — "That was fine." "Nice reading." — lest the actor misinterpret your praise as an indication of promised employment. Never be rude. Never make any promises. Don't make final decisions while the actor is in the room; no matter how stellar his audition, the next actor is sure to reveal possibilities you never imagined.
Do thank the actors. And let them know how and when they'll be contacted if there is interest.
32. Don't act with auditioners.
Your job in auditions is to observe and evaluate. Have the actor read with or to someone or something other than you: the wall, the chair, the production assistant, or the reader you brought in precisely for this purpose.
CHAPTER 4
First Read–Through
33. Don't start with a great long brilliant speech.
The actors will enjoy it — they'll laugh or frown with concentration, but they'll be far too nervous to take it in. Start with practicalities: rehearsal schedule, performance times. You need to say something about how you see the play, but showing the cast the designs will explain your general idea much more effectively.
34. Don't let the actors mumble through the reading.
Everyone hates first readings, but they often throw up insights that no one had imagined from solitary study.
Go for intensity. Persuade the opening actors to commit themselves, to give it a full go, even if it means stopping and starting again. Reassure them that the others aren't snickering if they overshoot. They're thinking: How brave, Damn good for her for giving it a try!
35. Talk it out after the reading.
You can launch your ideas at them while the play is still fresh in their minds and they are no longer scared of the ordeal. Get as many actors as possible to talk about it, but beware the know-all who has evolved obscure and elaborate theories about the Inner Meaning, spreading confusion and dismay.
36. Ask basic questions.
Good questions to ask early on: Where are they? Who is related to whom? How do people feel about each other? What time of year is it? Of day? How old are they? What dialect or accent might they have? Why does he enter the room? Why does she depart? Who's chasing whom?
Begin making distinctions: Is that action big or little? Is that intention nice or nasty? Big nice or little nice? Big nasty or little nasty? (See 55. Ask: Is it nice or nasty? Big or little?)
Also, analyze the playwright's intention notes (e.g. "he relaxes," or, an old favourite, "joking but not joking").
37. Mark the waves in a scene.
Where is formality broken by casualness? Romance by disappointment? When does the hunter take a new tack? When does the hunted apply new resistance? (See 53. Every scene is a chase scene.)
Discuss and delineate these internal scenes within scenes — not "French Scenes," which are defined by any entrance or exit of a character — but the individual, dramatic units where a few lines of dialogue or action have their own beginning, middle, and end.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Notes on Directing by Frank Hauser, Russell Reich. Copyright © 2003 Russell Reich. Excerpted by permission of RCR Creative Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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