Frank Hauser - Notes on Directing

Frank Hauser

Russell Reich

e-book 2010 by Russell Reich. All rights reserved.

Published by Russell Reich

Smashwords Edition

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Although the authors and publisher have made every effort to ensure the accuracy and completeness of information contained in this book, we assume no responsibility for errors, inaccuracies, omissions, or any inconsistencies herein. Any slights to people, places, or organizations are unintentional.

First printing 2003

The proscenium illustration is adapted from a 1933 Playbill for Roberta. The artist is not credited.

Publishers Cataloging-in-Publication ( Provided by Quality Books, Inc. )

Hauser, Frank, 1922-Notes on directing / by Frank Hauser and Russell Reich. -- 1st ed.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-9724255-2-0

1. Theater--Production and direction. 2. Acting
I. Reich, Russell. II. Title.

PN2053.H38 2003 792'.0233

QBI33-815

1009080706050403 54321

IN MEMORY OF
B ILL S TILES

Preface

Notes on Notes on Directing

More Notes on Notes on Directing

I. Understanding the Script

1. Read the play

2. Take a break and read it again

3. If you have any choice, try to fit the designers to the work

4. Dont finalize the designs too early

5. Read each characters part through as if you were playing it

6. Dont overstudy

7. Learn to love a play you dont particularly like

8. Identify the storys compelling question

9. Realize that the human experience is one of suffering and the resolution of suffering

10. Appreciate that character is the result of conduct

11. Understand that plays depict people in extraordinary circumstances

12. Recognize that the struggle is more important than the outcome

13. Realize that the end is in the beginning

14. Express the core of the play in as few words as possible

II. The Directors Role

15. You are the obstetrician

16. Just tell the story

17. Dont always connect all the dots

18. Keep the audience guessing

19. Dont try to please everybody

20. You cant have everything

21. Dont expect to have all the answers

22. No actor likes a lazy director, or an ignorant one

23. Assume that everyone is in a permanent state of catatonic terror

24. Lighten up

25. Dont change the authors words

26. You perform most of the day

27. It is not about you

28. The best compliment for a director: You seemed from the beginning to know exactly what you wanted.

III. Casting

29. Directing is mostly casting

30. Dont expect the character to walk in the door

31. Put actors at ease, but dont befriend them

32. Dont act with auditioners

IV. First Read-Through

33. Dont start with a great long brilliant speech

34. Dont let the actors mumble through the reading

35. Talk it out after the reading

36. Ask basic questions

37. Mark the waves in a scene

V. Rehearsal Rules

38. Work from your strength

39. Rehearsals need discipline

40. Plan the schedule a week at a time

41. Dont keep actors hanging about needlessly

42. Dont apologize when you dont have to

43. Make sure stage management get proper breaks

44. Say thank you

45. Include the crew

46. Always read the scene by yourself just before rehearsing it with the cast

47. Dont bury your head in the script

48. Treat difficult moments as discoveries

49. Dont work on new material when people are tired

50. End rehearsals on an upbeat note

51. Dont be grim

52. If you choose to allow outsiders to see a late rehearsal

VI. Building Blocks

53. Every scene is a chase scene

54. The strength of the characters wants equals the strength of the play

55. Ask: Is it nice or nasty? Big or little?

56. Every actor has a tell

VII. Talking to Actors

57. Discussion about character is best done piecemeal, as the work demands

58. Start nice

59. Make a strong entrance

60. The actors first job is to be heard

61. Sincerely praise actors early and often

62. Talk to the character, not the actor

63. Always sit and read a scene before blocking it

64. Do not expect too much too soon

65. Never, NEVER bully

66. Keep actors on their task

67. Never express actions in terms of feelings

68. Tell actors: Watch their eyes

69. Actors are notoriously inaccurate about the quality of their own performances

70. Please, PLEASE be decisive

71. Being direct is appropriate for a director, but not always

72. Give actors corrective notes in private

73. Know your actors

74. Dont give notes just prior to a performance or run-through

75. Dont assume people can take the harsh truth, even if they ask for it

76. Introduce bad news with and not but.

77. Include every single member of the cast in your note sessions

78. Always walk through changes

79. Reverse the material

80. Dont play the end of scene at the beginning

81. Play against the given condition

82. Be gentle with actors just coming off book

83. Frequently ask: Who are you talking to?

84. Anger is always preceded by pain

85. Tell actors: Localize abstract things

86. In later rehearsals, ask yourself: Do I believe it?

87. Consider late table work

VIII. Getting a Laugh

88. Humor falls mostly into one of two categories

89. Actors must never aim for the laugh

90. Play peek-a-boo

91. The best judge of humor is the audience

92. Proper audience focus is key to an effective joke

93. If a jokes not working, try reversing positions

94. Good humor requires a bad disposition

IX. Elements of Staging

95. If it moves, the eye will follow

96. Every object tells

97. Love triangles

98. When few characters are on stage in a large space, keep them apart

99. Imbalance adds interest

100. Choose a facing angle

101. Stand up

102. Dont stand still

104. An audiences interest in the action is only as high as the actors interest in it

105. Listening is active

106. Character reactions should be active and outward, not passive and inward

107. Turn your back

108. Give your actors face time

109. Style has its reasons

110. Consider if youre missing a costume moment

111. Respect the power of music

112. Use sound to prompt the audience to imagine the unseen, off-stage world

113. Acting solutions are always better than technical solutions

114. Beware the naked truth

X. Last Tips

115. When a scene isnt clicking, the entrance was probably wrong

116. Blocking problem?

117. When a scene is well acted, clearly understood, and boring

118. When a scene is well timed, well acted, clearly understood, and STILL boring

119. Listen for overzealous vocal entrances

120. Listen for actors who drop the ends of lines

121. An actor is lost in his role

122. An actor dries completely on his lines in performance

123. If an actor abuses you publicly, stay calm