Directing Projects and Assistant Directing |
Stage Directing - One-Act Project
Surprise by Mark Harvey Levine
Stage Directing is a course I took in Spring 2016 at the same time I was Assistant Director for Shakespeare's The Tempest, one of the two school productions that semester. The course itself was geared around teaching the students the process of putting on a production as well as how to direct one. The final for this course was a one-act that I directed that was part of a two night showcase of one-acts directed, organized, and hosted by the class.
With permission from the playwright, my chosen one-act was Surprise by Mark Harvey Levine. With this being a class, the process timeline was dictated by the professor. The first part of the process was the script analysis. This allowed us as directors to go through the script and pull out information that permitted us to guide the production in such a way that showcased the playwright's intent. From script analysis, we delved into planning set and costume at a basic level before we held auditions.
With permission from the playwright, my chosen one-act was Surprise by Mark Harvey Levine. With this being a class, the process timeline was dictated by the professor. The first part of the process was the script analysis. This allowed us as directors to go through the script and pull out information that permitted us to guide the production in such a way that showcased the playwright's intent. From script analysis, we delved into planning set and costume at a basic level before we held auditions.
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Unlike larger productions, each student was their own production team. We were to be set designers, costume designers, lighting designers, and sound designers with no budge. The intent behind this was to have us pick one-acts that were on the simpler side of creating. The class had access to black blocks of varying sizes, two stacks of simple chairs, a mobile door, a mobile window frame, and several benches and tables of varying types to work with when it came to forming the set. Costumes were to be pulled from actors personal wardrobes and props were to be gathered without spending money if at all possible. Lighting was basic and sound was two songs we brought in, one to play at the top and one to play at the end of the show to allow the set to be loaded in, curtain call, and the set to be loaded out. Overall, even with a one man production team, each one-act were well constructed.Surprise is set in an all-night, cheap diner that required a door for one of the actors to exit out of. I used a simple tables and two chair layout for my set with the door situated behind the chair of the actor that would be leaving. With there being a small amount of information on what the characters were wearing, I allowed the casting process to weight in on what I was going to go with as costumes.
With 19 one-acts slated for two nights, we had two nights of auditions and a third night reserved for casting. Because of having attended an audition process at the school before, I had been more prepared for the audition process in class. We had 48 people audition, 3 more than what we needed to cast with. With 19 directors pulling from the same pool of auditions, the casting process had the potential of being a nightmare. It went very smoothly. For Surprise, I had been looking for two women and a man being one of three one-acts that had a cast of three. I was not specific about age or race. What I was concerned about was experience. Surprise is a comedy play set up with lines that overlap, cut off other lines, and are said in tandem. The script required actors that had good chemistry right off the bat and I was lucky enough to end up with actors not only had good chemistry, but could handle the script with relative ease. The actresses that played Whitney and Esther were seasoned actresses at the school, both in the theatre department and had been for a few years. The actor for Peter was a rather green actor but he was an amazing Peter right off the bat and worked hard through to the end. All three had the timing down near perfect since day one. Even with Peter's actor being green, he and Whitney's actress were on par with each other, responding to each other in both energy and line delivery, the pair saying lines in tandem without a hesitation from either of them. There was a mild issue with Peter's actor not saying "inedible" fully so that Whitney's actress had a strong enough cue to cut him off with and it was a point of humor in the few rehearsals that it appeared in. Peter's actor was a good sport and worked hard with only a few reminders. A major challenge through the entire rehearsal process was the schedule. At the same time I was directing Surprise, I was also in the position of Assistant Director for Shakespeare's The Tempest that was about to enter into ensemble week and performance weekends. Not only was I attending every rehearsal for The Tempest, I also had an actor that was in The Tempest as well. This made scheduling very difficult. There came a point where we had no buffers. If we missed any two hour rehearsal for Surprise, I had no way of scheduling a make-up rehearsal. Miraculously - and through hard work from my actors - we ended up dropping our second to last rehearsal and our final rehearsal before tech/dress rehearsal was cut from the four hours it had been scheduled for to the normal two hours. Thankfully scheduling had been the only major stressor I had in directing Surprise. Even gathering all the props and costume pieces had been an easy part of this whole process. |
The small amount of props used in Surprise were either found at a thrift store, handmade, or scavenged from someone's home. One of my favorite props used in the show was the menu. Instead of using a generic menu I found online or a basic template in Microsoft Word, I created an actual menu in Adobe InDesign with a diner logo made in Adobe Illustrator. I did pull food items and their descriptions from menus online as well as the soda logos. Because of my Associates in Graphic Design, I wanted to create something that was realistic, even if the audience would never see it up close.
The great thing about Surprise was that it was lighthearted and sweet. Surprise showed on the first night of the two night showcase and was the closing one-act for that specific evening. Some of the one-acts that night were heavy, made you think, or were downright dark. The others were comedic and light. At the end of the night, when the audience was leaving, I had a number of people walk up to me and inform me that it had been a very pleasant way of ending the evening. I was even given high praises from the director I had just finished being an assistant for barely two weeks prior to the performance. I mostly atone that to my hardworking, wonderful actors and Mark Harvey Levine's fantastic script.
Assistant Director
The Tempest by William Shakespeare
Spring 2016 allowed me the opportunity to be Assistant Director for Shakespeare's The Tempest under Jeffery Parker. It was an opportunity that I enjoyed immensely.
This was my first insight to directing theatre with a large ensemble and production team. At the same time I was Assistant Director, I was also in Stage Directing, a course geared towards teaching the students how to direct and produce a theatre show. The significant point about being Assistant Director at the same time I was taking my directing class is that I was getting insight to what the process was like before it was introduced in the class.
This was my first insight to directing theatre with a large ensemble and production team. At the same time I was Assistant Director, I was also in Stage Directing, a course geared towards teaching the students how to direct and produce a theatre show. The significant point about being Assistant Director at the same time I was taking my directing class is that I was getting insight to what the process was like before it was introduced in the class.
The rehearsal period for The Tempest was unusually long. Normally the school productions go through a 5 to 6 week rehearsal period, production meetings starting roughly half a semester prior. The Tempest had a 10 week rehearsal period and, while part of this was due to the scheduling in the shared theatre on campus, it had been quite some time since the last Shakespeare production was performed as one of the school's main productions and the actors needed the 10 weeks to truly understand the text and support it fully.
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My position as Assistant Director for The Tempest was as an observant. I filled in a few times for actors that were gone and supplied line notes when line notes were introduced to the cast. I helped set up and clean up for each rehearsal and was at every rehearsal I could be at. The only rehearsals I missed were due to conflicts with my directing class. I am grateful that Mr. Parker was more than willing to have me absent for the days my directing class called for my presence.
The most complicated aspect of taking a directing class at the same time as being an assistant director is the scheduling conflicts that come about. Not only was I required to be at The Tempest rehearsals, I had an actor that was as well. It was out of shear luck that we ended up getting in all the rehearsal time that we needed for the one-act when The Tempest was going into ensemble week and performance weekends. I discovered through my directing of Surprise - the one-act for my class - that just observing gave me a lot more information than I had previously understood. While I was not at the production meetings, I believe just participating in the rehearsal process - from auditions through strike after our last show - had been beneficial. As a final project, I created four different thank you cards for cast, crew, and production team members. Our production of The Tempest had a chorus of spirits, a chorus of Ariels. They were an element and my goal was to portray this in the thank you cards. |
Thank You cards for cast, crew, and production team members.
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Assistant Director
Spring Awakening musical by Steven Sater
Thank you card from director to staff in poster form. Originally laid out on a single side of 8 1/2" by 11" to be folded into a card with design on outside and quote on the inside.
Fall 2016 was Spring Awakening musical by Steven Sater, based off of Spring Awakening by Frank Wedekind. It was my final opportunity to be assistant director through school.
Unlike The Tempest, I attended production meetings and rehearsals. The production meetings started in May 2016, rehearsals started August 2016. We had a six week rehearsal period.
My position as assistant director was an observer. I watched and learned what the director, Scott Lubinski did, how he worked with the actors and handled the script. I helped where I was requested, whether it was fetching items or doing line notes so that the stage manager and assistant stage manager had a lighter work load.
There was little in the way of difference with how Spring Awakening rehearsals went compared to The Tempest. Mr. Lubinski and Mr. Parker work rather similarly with their actors and the processes were relatively the same. The only addition to Spring Awakening I was being introduced to was the music aspect. It had been a good 10 years since the last time I had to read music and I felt unprepared when it came to that aspect. Thankfully, I was not required very often to keep pace with the music. Additionally, we had a music director come in to help and that alone eased the concern that I would be required to know music and direct it as a director, especially with how inexperienced with it I am.
Unlike The Tempest, I attended production meetings and rehearsals. The production meetings started in May 2016, rehearsals started August 2016. We had a six week rehearsal period.
My position as assistant director was an observer. I watched and learned what the director, Scott Lubinski did, how he worked with the actors and handled the script. I helped where I was requested, whether it was fetching items or doing line notes so that the stage manager and assistant stage manager had a lighter work load.
There was little in the way of difference with how Spring Awakening rehearsals went compared to The Tempest. Mr. Lubinski and Mr. Parker work rather similarly with their actors and the processes were relatively the same. The only addition to Spring Awakening I was being introduced to was the music aspect. It had been a good 10 years since the last time I had to read music and I felt unprepared when it came to that aspect. Thankfully, I was not required very often to keep pace with the music. Additionally, we had a music director come in to help and that alone eased the concern that I would be required to know music and direct it as a director, especially with how inexperienced with it I am.
Thank You cards for cast, crew, and production team members.
The largest thing I learned with this production was more of an affirmation than a new concept.
No matter one's skills, it is alright to ask for help. I learned this a tad to late, with hindsight being 20/20. There were instances where I felt lost to the point of useless just sitting about and in those instances, I should have voiced my concern yet I didn't. Part of that came from a lack of confidence in my position as well as a lack of trust in my director. Mr. Lubinski is a great director and a great teacher, yet I had moments where I felt I was unable to approach him in the situation. A folly on my part I am rectifying. Never, at any point, was I told I was supposed to know anything. I was there to help, I was there to ease the stress of not only the director, but the stage manager and assistant stage manager because I chose that responsibility. When there was a time that things became unclear, I needed to voice it. It is a folly of mine and I am always working to strengthen my own voice so that a situation like this - whether for me or for another - does not occur again.
No matter one's skills, it is alright to ask for help. I learned this a tad to late, with hindsight being 20/20. There were instances where I felt lost to the point of useless just sitting about and in those instances, I should have voiced my concern yet I didn't. Part of that came from a lack of confidence in my position as well as a lack of trust in my director. Mr. Lubinski is a great director and a great teacher, yet I had moments where I felt I was unable to approach him in the situation. A folly on my part I am rectifying. Never, at any point, was I told I was supposed to know anything. I was there to help, I was there to ease the stress of not only the director, but the stage manager and assistant stage manager because I chose that responsibility. When there was a time that things became unclear, I needed to voice it. It is a folly of mine and I am always working to strengthen my own voice so that a situation like this - whether for me or for another - does not occur again.
As with The Tempest, I had a final project with the production. This was a project I chose to do of my own volition and one that aided the director as well. As with The Tempest, I made thank you cards for the cast, crew, and production staff. I made my traditional four postcard style thank you cards. When I had brought the idea up to Mr. Lubinski, he requested a single design in a foldable card format with a quote of his choosing. I was very happy to have produced a card of his liking. All the designs were either actual set or prop pieces barring the tree sprout. The tree sprout was an idea dealing with the concept of the play and the basis for many of the set designs.