I thought I’d use this entry to explain the process (or at least, my process for this current project) of directing for Theatre. If this isn’t for you, I sympathise. Writing this has taken me away from watching the new season of Fallout. They haven’t sponsored me, I just really like it.
Sometimes, jobs in the arts can be unnecessarily gate kept or shrouded in mystery. The truth is, it’s not mysterious at all. Find the method that works for you, know that you’ll probably get it wrong, and try again on the next project. Sometimes you’ll get paid, other times you won’t. Whether you have been commissioned by a Theatre, or get your mates to put a show on for you above a pub- you are directing. The process is a lot of hard work, preparation and often being blindsided by questions that you didn’t see coming despite all of the hard work and preparation. If the joy of creating something from script to stage sounds like your bag, maybe give directing a try?
In this blog entry, I’ll talk about our current theatre show and the process behind making it so far. Note that you don’t have to do everything in the way I’m discussing. I’m also not claiming what I’m writing about is anything new. But I am writing about it, and I would encourage more creatives to do the same.
What’s the Show?
The show I’m directing at the moment has a delightfully stupid name. It’s called “Big Package: In the City of Chaos” It’s about a delivery driver who lives in a dangerous city, he gets shot and is turned into a crime fighting robot. The show is supposed to be something you switch your brain off for, have a few laughs and maybe even a few drinks. That’s an important question to ask before starting a project- what feeling do you want to give the audience? If they come away laughing and feeling like they’ve had a good time- we’ve done our job. Some directors write their scripts, some don’t. I have co-written this one, the advantage for a director is that you can make sure the tone and vision you have in mind for the project is already on the page. It’s (for want of a better word), part of the package. It also means you’re freer to change bits of dialogue in rehearsals if they aren’t working. For the egotists out there, it also means you have more control over the piece. It’s your own voice in every sense. However, if you are a director who can’t write, that’s also fine. Even if you can, I’d always encourage directing someone else’s script. Collaboration is key, and sometimes you can produce your best work if you aren’t starting from a blank page, and you’re stepping into somebody else’s world. My advice would be to see what comes your way, and go from there.
The show I’m directing at the moment has a delightfully stupid name. It’s called “Big Package: In the City of Chaos” It’s about a delivery driver who lives in a dangerous city, he gets shot and is turned into a crime fighting robot. The show is supposed to be something you switch your brain off for, have a few laughs and maybe even a few drinks. That’s an important question to ask before starting a project- what feeling do you want to give the audience? If they come away laughing and feeling like they’ve had a good time- we’ve done our job. Some directors write their scripts, some don’t. I have co-written this one, the advantage for a director is that you can make sure the tone and vision you have in mind for the project is already on the page. It’s (for want of a better word), part of the package. It also means you’re freer to change bits of dialogue in rehearsals if they aren’t working. For the egotists out there, it also means you have more control over the piece. It’s your own voice in every sense. However, if you are a director who can’t write, that’s also fine. Even if you can, I’d always encourage directing someone else’s script. Collaboration is key, and sometimes you can produce your best work if you aren’t starting from a blank page, and you’re stepping into somebody else’s world. My advice would be to see what comes your way, and go from there.
First Step: Vision
Once the script had been written. Myself and Ryan (co-writer and producer) sat down together and discussed how the show would feel. We discussed what it would look like. We realised it had a kind of 1980s action film feel. We wondered how we could achieve this aesthetic for the stage. The answer is, your sort of can and you sort of can’t. The show is a comedy, and we have grown up watching old 1970s/1980s sci fi. We fondly remember the ones with dodgy special effects. For this comedy, we wanted to make a loving homage to the show. We wanted the Bubble Wrap and Cardboard aesthetic, a film for the stage made on the cheap. We also knew that we wanted an intimate venue. We wanted something where the audience felt connected to the actors because they were right in front of them. Something you also have to think about, sadly, is budget. We’ve all seen films where a massive helicopter chase was written in, or some lavish underwater sequence, but the writer clearly hadn’t been told that the budget wouldn’t make it possible. It’s something that’s always bugged me. Know what you can achieve. For example, the script for Big Package has something like fifteen characters. That’s a heck of a lot of people to pay. So what do we do? The advantage of Theatre (or one of many) is that it’s a live event. People want to see performers challenging themselves. They want to see something that they couldn’t just get at home on the sofa. We decided we would have five actors, multi-roling all of the characters. There were also discussions about tone, words like - silly, good natured, energetic… these are all things that you need to discuss as a director before going to your actors. As a director you will have to speak to everyone from your actors to your costume team to venue promotion. Know what your piece is, and exactly what it is you’re going for. Believe me, you will be asked a hundred times.
Once the script had been written. Myself and Ryan (co-writer and producer) sat down together and discussed how the show would feel. We discussed what it would look like. We realised it had a kind of 1980s action film feel. We wondered how we could achieve this aesthetic for the stage. The answer is, your sort of can and you sort of can’t. The show is a comedy, and we have grown up watching old 1970s/1980s sci fi. We fondly remember the ones with dodgy special effects. For this comedy, we wanted to make a loving homage to the show. We wanted the Bubble Wrap and Cardboard aesthetic, a film for the stage made on the cheap. We also knew that we wanted an intimate venue. We wanted something where the audience felt connected to the actors because they were right in front of them. Something you also have to think about, sadly, is budget. We’ve all seen films where a massive helicopter chase was written in, or some lavish underwater sequence, but the writer clearly hadn’t been told that the budget wouldn’t make it possible. It’s something that’s always bugged me. Know what you can achieve. For example, the script for Big Package has something like fifteen characters. That’s a heck of a lot of people to pay. So what do we do? The advantage of Theatre (or one of many) is that it’s a live event. People want to see performers challenging themselves. They want to see something that they couldn’t just get at home on the sofa. We decided we would have five actors, multi-roling all of the characters. There were also discussions about tone, words like - silly, good natured, energetic… these are all things that you need to discuss as a director before going to your actors. As a director you will have to speak to everyone from your actors to your costume team to venue promotion. Know what your piece is, and exactly what it is you’re going for. Believe me, you will be asked a hundred times.
Step Two: Casting
The first thing to do was cast the show. When writing, there were people we had in mind. Casting is unbelievably stressful. Often you will hold auditions. You’ll give an actor who wants to part an extract from the script. They’ll come in and read for you. You might give them some direction and ask them to do it again. You ask them to leave the room, and you make a decision whether they are the best person for the role. Some actors audition really well, some don’t. Some actors audition really well and prove they were actually wrong for the part when the show begins. This isn’t their fault, it’s yours. Your job is to try and make a judgement call, to see the person in front of you and imagine how they’ll turn out in the end. Sometimes you will get this wrong. If you’re lucky, you’ll often get it right. It’s a wonderful feeling seeing a character come to life in the right hands.
Sometimes, you can actually make a judgement call without auditions. Sometimes, you won’t even have enough options to justify auditions. There’s nothing wrong with writing a part with an actor in mind. It actually means you can make a character that an actor could be guaranteed to fit like a glove. If you’ve seen an actor in other work, and know a little bit about their tool kit, you may have enough evidence to make that all important judgement call. When you’ve made a decision and you’re offering the role, have a conversion with the actor. Don’t just send an email. Have a phone call or (ideally) meet in person, discuss the character and the vision for the project. Let them ask any questions they may have, and let them know what to expect from the process. This will help nerves before going in. Your job is to have everybody in the project aligned with a vision. The more prep you can do before rehearsals to make this happen, the better.
The first thing to do was cast the show. When writing, there were people we had in mind. Casting is unbelievably stressful. Often you will hold auditions. You’ll give an actor who wants to part an extract from the script. They’ll come in and read for you. You might give them some direction and ask them to do it again. You ask them to leave the room, and you make a decision whether they are the best person for the role. Some actors audition really well, some don’t. Some actors audition really well and prove they were actually wrong for the part when the show begins. This isn’t their fault, it’s yours. Your job is to try and make a judgement call, to see the person in front of you and imagine how they’ll turn out in the end. Sometimes you will get this wrong. If you’re lucky, you’ll often get it right. It’s a wonderful feeling seeing a character come to life in the right hands.
Sometimes, you can actually make a judgement call without auditions. Sometimes, you won’t even have enough options to justify auditions. There’s nothing wrong with writing a part with an actor in mind. It actually means you can make a character that an actor could be guaranteed to fit like a glove. If you’ve seen an actor in other work, and know a little bit about their tool kit, you may have enough evidence to make that all important judgement call. When you’ve made a decision and you’re offering the role, have a conversion with the actor. Don’t just send an email. Have a phone call or (ideally) meet in person, discuss the character and the vision for the project. Let them ask any questions they may have, and let them know what to expect from the process. This will help nerves before going in. Your job is to have everybody in the project aligned with a vision. The more prep you can do before rehearsals to make this happen, the better.
Step Three: Read-Through
This is a nerve wracking step. A read-through is where you invite the actors you’ve cast, and anyone on the production team into a room and read through the script from start to finish. Everybody introduces themselves and their role, and somebody will read stage directions. This will be the first time you’ve heard the characters speaking out loud all together. It’s an exciting opportunity, because it helps cement what the piece might look and sound like in your head when you’re planning rehearsals. It’s also an opportunity to learn which lines won’t work. Sometimes it’s a bad line you overlooked when writing, sometimes it’s simply that the phrasing needs to change for the actor you’ve selected. Either way it’s useful. I would encourage you to send a positive tone for the readthrough. You have actors who are reading in front of people they’ve potentially never met. They will be self conscious. Never give direction during the readthrough. It will cast doubt in an actor’s mind before they’ve even set foot in the rehearsal room. What you should do at the beginning of the readthrough is discuss what the show is again, and what the vision is. Even if you’ve told the actors individually, it doesn’t hurt to communicate it to the whole group. I would also encourage actors to just ‘go for it’ A completely monotone readthrough doesn’t give you much to take away. Reassure the actors that you won’t be giving feedback, but the energy given to the lines will help you make any last minute tweaks to the script before getting into the rehearsal room.
Once the read-through has been completed, you are ready to begin rehearsals.
This is a nerve wracking step. A read-through is where you invite the actors you’ve cast, and anyone on the production team into a room and read through the script from start to finish. Everybody introduces themselves and their role, and somebody will read stage directions. This will be the first time you’ve heard the characters speaking out loud all together. It’s an exciting opportunity, because it helps cement what the piece might look and sound like in your head when you’re planning rehearsals. It’s also an opportunity to learn which lines won’t work. Sometimes it’s a bad line you overlooked when writing, sometimes it’s simply that the phrasing needs to change for the actor you’ve selected. Either way it’s useful. I would encourage you to send a positive tone for the readthrough. You have actors who are reading in front of people they’ve potentially never met. They will be self conscious. Never give direction during the readthrough. It will cast doubt in an actor’s mind before they’ve even set foot in the rehearsal room. What you should do at the beginning of the readthrough is discuss what the show is again, and what the vision is. Even if you’ve told the actors individually, it doesn’t hurt to communicate it to the whole group. I would also encourage actors to just ‘go for it’ A completely monotone readthrough doesn’t give you much to take away. Reassure the actors that you won’t be giving feedback, but the energy given to the lines will help you make any last minute tweaks to the script before getting into the rehearsal room.
Once the read-through has been completed, you are ready to begin rehearsals.
To Be Continued:
The plan is to release an entry like this every two weeks. Up until the show is on. Check out our socials for more information about Big Package. We are currently in the middle of rehearsals and I’m delighted to say it’s a wonderful cast and crew, and I can’t wait for it to reach the stage.
The plan is to release an entry like this every two weeks. Up until the show is on. Check out our socials for more information about Big Package. We are currently in the middle of rehearsals and I’m delighted to say it’s a wonderful cast and crew, and I can’t wait for it to reach the stage.
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