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Dear John

How can I be a good director?

First published 13th July 2006

Question:
I'm a writer who has had several plays put on but I'm now about to direct my first show. I know how a good director can make a huge difference and a not so good one just annoys everyone. How can I make sure I'm one of the first kind?

Answer:
Probably the closest thing I've done to 'giving direction' is the various teaching jobs I've been involved in through the years. These days those gigs tend to be in areas like career planning, show development more or less relevant to this publication but my first ever teaching job was a year or two after I left secondary school. The problem wasn't so much that I was only a few years older and only marginally more experienced than the pupils I was teaching - the problem was lack of confidence led me to overcompensate by combining all the most authoritarian traits of the teachers I'd suffered under in my own school career. Of course nobody was fooled and the only lesson learned was by me to the effect that you can either admit you don't know something or you can go on and prove you don't know it.

Over the years I've seen a lot of first-time directors attempt to bolster up lack of experience by adopting the Hitchcock/Von Stroheim method of brooking no opposition. It usually doesn't work for them either. Given that you've taken the wise first step of admitting you're unsure how to proceed, I'm taking my own advice and handing you to two people who do know what they're talking about.

What the experts say:

Patrick Regis

Patrick Regis has worked with a wide range of directors both new and highly experienced. Among others, Patrick's theatre work includes portraying Valmont in Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Carl in Talking Loud and Benvolio in Romeo and Juliet. Television and film roles include Thatch in Blackbeard and Temper in Rollin' with the Nines which won best film at the Raindance festival in 2005. He plays Money Man in Life and Lyrics due for release in September.

From an actor's point of view, the best directors are the ones who have an overall vision and structure for the show but who are also open to incorporating the actor's insights as the show comes together.

A director who has already decided exactly how each part should be played and insists on no deviations is not only underestimating the actor's intelligence but also robbing themselves and the production of the extra nuances that a good performance can bring to the script. These discoveries often only emerge as the actor develops the part.

On the other hand a confident director who trusts both their own direction skills and the actor's ability to find new aspects of the character can really keep a show fresh and exciting for both the cast and the audience - something that is particularly important during a long run.

Nothing drains the energy of live theatre as much as a director who insists that every show is a carbon copy of the first time it was performed. If a director wants actors to respect them the best way to achieve that is not so much related to their past experience or qualifications as simply their willingness to respect the actors in return.

Mary Elliott Nelson

Mary Elliott Nelson, in addition to her work as an agent at Grays Management, is an experienced writer and adaptor, notably of the recent well-received stage version of The Railway Children, and has wide-ranging experience of working with directors both professionally and in a teaching capacity.

It's astonishing how many directors forget that actors are human beings, not toys in a big toy box. The problem is most serious among recent graduates from university or directing courses.

Experienced actors are likely to have partners, families, lives, just like regular adults. Keeping actors hanging around needlessly at the beginning or end of a day's work is horribly counter-productive. Boredom and uncertainty are the direct enemies of energy and commitment.

Learning lines happens outside rehearsal time and new accents, skills, songs are all perfected when the actor gets home. Knowing when you might leave work and that precious time isn't being wasted makes a much better working atmosphere. There is nothing inartistic about being efficient.

Producing a feasible rehearsal schedule is not impossible and offers a reassuring structure as well as letting the actor prepare effectively for each day's work.

As well as this it also creates a good working relationship as it indicates a considerate attitude. No one is surprised when a schedule isn't exact but it does clear away some of the pointless and often harmful mystery that can surround rehearsals from the actors' point of view.

Actors don't need acting lessons in rehearsal, they want clear leadership and sound organisation. This involves proper explanation of ideas and of the rehearsal process. Young directors often forget that actors work in many styles and will possibly have a larger vocabulary of rehearsal techniques than they have themselves, so outlining the particular shape and form of a rehearsal period is basic good practice.

Directors, at their best, offer artistic vision and coherence but, even on a bad day, they must contribute organisation because they, and only they, can co-ordinate the many strands of a production.

John sums up

I certainly concur with both our contributors' take on a good director as someone who doesn't just tell everyone what to do but takes the responsibility for pulling together what everyone does in the most effective way. Let me just add a useful tip for beginning directors, especially those who are coming from another discipline such as writing or acting - to shift into thinking from a director's viewpoint as opposed to whatever you usually do try to attend, or failing that, track down video records of several different productions of the same play script. As you watch, try to focus less on the individual performances and the writing itself and more on what you can 'see' each different director doing with the same basic material. If you haven't done so yet, try applying the different directorial approaches you've observed to your own script - even if it's just in your head - and see how it might affect the final result. As with any other creative approach, 'direction' may actually need to be taken in several different directions before you find the one that works... it might even be a suggestion by one of your actors.

* Patrick Regis is represented by Roxane Vacca Management on 020 7734 8085

* Mary Elliott Nelson is at www.graysman.com

* Feedback/queries are welcome to dearjohn@thestage.co.uk

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