Theatre Director Roles, Skills and Methods

This aims to understand the role, skills and methods of a theatre director.
A theatre director is responsible for the entire process both creative and practical interpretation of a script or musical, taking into consideration the physical and budgetary constraints within a production. They have involvement in all stages of the process from the design, pre-production and rehearsals leading right up to the final performance. Directors work closely with their production team, the performers and the producer to create a performance which connects with the audience. Therefore they need to be able to collaborate effectively across a wide range of disciplines and with artistic vision.
Skills a director would need:

• Knowledge
  Explore and understand a wide range of theatre. Know who is available to you; writers, technicians, actors. Keep in contact so everyone is up to date with what they are doing.
• Understand the theatre process
  Create a schedule to know when to bring in technicians for sound and lighting. Form a good relationship so you can take on board constructive and creative suggestions and trust in their abilities.
• Imagination and patience
  The start of a production can be the most stressful, the key is to be patient and be compromising if something doesn’t work.
• Playfulness
  Create an atmosphere that feels comfortable for everyone, the best ideas can come from being in a relaxed and fun environment.

All these skills apply to being a director because you need to know all elements and pieces about the story you are telling: the time the story is set, the relationship between the characters, setting and background in mind, lighting and sound. Once this has been established your creative team can be brought in, in order to understand what you need them to do and what you want to be established by the end of each rehearsal, production meeting or show night. Everyone needs to be on the same page.

The biggest skill of all for being a director is leadership skills. Knowing how to take control of a situation and having the ability of to problem solve, control large/small groups of people, having effective communication with your fellow team members and take ownership of a performance.

The team that you put together need to be informed about every creative decision made so that everyone has an agreeable understanding and knows what is going on at all times, to make the vision of the director possible. There has to be mutual respect on everyone’s part, there is no room for big egos in this line of work only a positive humble work ethic.

2.3 justify methods used in theatre directing

Every director is different; they all have their own individual styles and methods when approaching a piece of theatre. The main approach as a director would be identifying who they want to be influenced by whether that be a practitioner e.g. Stanislavski, Brecht, Grotowski etc social, cultural and political events. The style of theatre; whether that is on the basis of Peter Brooke’s theory of ‘deadly’ or ‘immediate’ theatre or Brecht’s ‘epic’ theatre. The message behind the piece, create controversy to shock the audience or a political stance of a particular subject relating to the events of the time.

Stanislavski created a system known as method acting, he discovered that acting could be taught and learnt to train an actor step by step. He believed an actor should be brought into a natural state of mind therefore a truthful human being is on stage.

Bertholt Brecht developed his theory of “epic theatre” by looking into the idea that man and society could be intellectually explored. Brecht believed his reason should appeal to theatre and not the feelings of the spectator. The piece should be informative and thought provoking to bring about social change as well as providing entertainment. Rather than the spectator identifying their own life, they relate and become emotionally involved with the characters on stage.  

Grotowski argued that theatre should go back to its roots and there was no point trying to compete with film. In his own words "If it [the stage] cannot be richer than the cinema, then let it be poor." The main focus on stage should be the skills of the actor’s voice and body. He removed all things technical; lights, sound, elaborate sets so there would be no distractions between the audience and the actors, so once again the purpose of the production was in place.

These particular practitioners have interesting theories and methodical approaches to theatre; they each have their own styles and own interpretation of what theatre should be but I find it interesting as you can take techniques from each of them and expand to a new way of thinking, applying it to your own piece to essentially create your own method of theatre. Stanislavski is very much about portraying the real emotion of a character using emotional memory as process to inhabit that emotional state so what you’re portraying is in fact true and a real experience. Whereas Brecht would have his actors swap roles and change genders and play around with different accents on stage so therefore the characters they are portraying isn’t the truth and something the audience would believe is a real life experience within the walls of a theatre. The spectators were required to react to suffering and leave the theatre determined to make a difference. He always wanted to remind the audience that they are watching a reality within a reality so it is only truth to an extent. However Grotowski stripped theatre back to its original purpose, making it all about the actor, so the process they learn and use to achieve a character can be appreciated and applied on stage. So the interaction with the audience is earned and respected for what it truly is without the illusion of lights and sound to create an atmosphere that can be merely created from the actors own skills.

Researching social, cultural and political events can be the driving force of a piece of theatre if you want to create controversy or have an impact on the audience. Pina Bausch focused on feminism throughout her career, changing each performance but keeping the overall subject and political message the same, but telling the story in a different way. These types of methods can make your piece not only a lot more professional but a respectable piece of theatre that can be appreciated throughout the whole creative process. The outcome can be shared and enjoyed for what it is.

There are so many things to consider when directing a piece; influences, context and style, informative message, creative differences whilst collaborating and the overall reaction to the performance, it can make you question your way of thinking and push your buttons in ways you never thought when trying to get the simplest things done. A performance can not possibly be put on with the input and skills of those that surround the walls of a theatre or rehearsal space, without a production team or cast of actors a directors vision is nothing but on a page. The production team brings it all together and makes the performance a reality that can then be shared with those around the world. It is a difficult process but with hard work, determination and motivation from everyone working around you the outcome can be a success and a rewarding moment and cherishing memory.

The practitioner I would take influence from the most is Stanislavski, I would benefit from his techniques the most and I have the same belief system as he does. In terms of his work ethic, believing an actor needs technical training to perfect his/her craft as an actor. I think you have the foundations of an actor always inside you, but to put that into practise and perfect your own acting techniques and abilities you need discipline and training.

Bibliography

Websites

http://www.prospects.ac.uk/theatre_director_job_description.htm (Accessed 2.06.13)

http://www.creative-choices.co.uk/industry-insight/article/being-a-theatre-director (Accessed 2.06.13)

http://www.acting-world.com/method.html (Accessed  3.06.13)

http://www.dreamdust.co.uk/work/compare/ (Accessed 3.06.13)

http://www.cs.brandeis.edu/~jamesf/goodwoman/brecht_epic_theater.html (Accessed 3.06.13)

http://www.helium.com/items/1527718-what-is-poor-theatre (Accessed 3.06.13)