Ginny,
These are all great tips and insights!
Lesley,
Although it is an older text Lawrence Carra's (and Alexander Dean's)
The Fundamentals of Stage Direction is a great text for directors. Although very technical, it has a lot of great exercises and other take aways! The Chapter (in my version 14) on Rehearsals is extremely helpful here, as it breaks down all the stages of rehearsal right until opening night.
There is also a book,
Notes on Directing which I found very helpful. It is a list of helpful notes discovered over a career as a director.
I wish happiness and joy on the journey of play directing!
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Randall Adkison,
Interim Executive Director, Florida Association for Theatre Education
Assistant State Director for Festival Operations, Florida Thespians
Teaching Artist, Teaching Artist Alliance
www.teachingartistalliance.comwww.randalldelone.com------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: 01-27-2022 10:01
From: Ginny Butsch
Subject: How to rehearse
Hi Lesley! A couple of general notes about rehearsals that I would be sure to emphasize to your students to help them understand that a performance is more than just reading lines:
- A good rule of thumb for directors is to plan on one hour of rehearsal for every page of script (so 60 pages=60 hours).
- Choose your production date and work backwards to make sure you have enough time allotted in your schedule.
- The first rehearsal is usually a read through, but each rehearsal should be designed to move the production forward. Throughout the rehearsal process, blocking is added, lines are memorized, characters are developed and relationships are established, props are brought in, sets are built, costumes are worn, lighting/sound effects/stage crew are added. If you are working on a musical, dance and music also need to be factored in. There's a lot to accomplish and get comfortable with before a production is ready to be performed for an audience!
Here are a couple additional resources for you about rehearsals, specifically take a look at these two:
Directing the Novice Actor
The Stages of Rehearsal
Anyone have other ideas for Lesley on teaching students about the rehearsal process?
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Ginny Butsch
Community Engagement Manager
Educational Theatre Association
OH
Original Message:
Sent: 01-19-2022 16:18
From: Lesley Ruzon
Subject: How to rehearse
Hello Fellow Teachers! Does anyone have a lesson on how to rehearse? My middle schoolers seem to think reading through a scene once counts as rehearsing, I think they need concrete steps. Thanks!
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Lesley Ruzon
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