How to Be a Theatre Director

On behalf of tvlesson.com, my name is Joseph Adler and I'm producing artistic director
of Gablestage in Coral Gables, Florida.

Let's talk a little bit about procedures for directing.

Well, obviously there are always many procedures as there are directors probably. No
two people do things exactly alike and there's no one technique for anything in theater
despite the fact that that’s often what you hear from people who are proponents of this or
that technique. You're always hearing people talking about the Meisner technique or the
studio. These are all very valid and they're all great approaches to the craft and they all
work for people and they're all very useful.

However, there are people are used to working in different ways. And one of the things a
director has to learn early on is how to adapt to everybody’s way of working. The job is
really to choreograph everyone’s approach and to take everyone and make them part of
the whole.

I think, actually, one of the most important aspects of directing is creating an
environment during rehearsal where people will feel free to do their best work. That’s a
place where people have to feel secure, where people can take chances. If actors feel that
they can take chances, incredible things will happen. And if you don’t make the process,
the most enjoyable part of the voyage then — you know, there's not much sense to a
rehearsal process to begin with. And we’re privileged in theater because unlike film,
where too often people get introduced and go right into the major scene right after the
introduction takes place. Fortunately in theater, we get time to rehearse.

Now we don’t always get enough time and that’s another factor in terms of a director’s
procedure. It has to be based on the complexity of the play and the amount of time you
have for rehearsal. The average theater I would say these days, original theater has
anywhere from two and a half to three and a half weeks of rehearsal time. And believe
me that extra week can make a huge difference.

So, I think it’s important that when you look at procedures for directing, you take a look
at the way many different people approach the craft.

On behalf of tvlesson.com, I'm Joseph Adler, thank you for watching.