Play Directing, 7th Edition

Play Directing, 7th Edition

by Francis Hodge, Michael McLain
Released November 2015
Publisher(s): Routledge
ISBN: 9781317351016

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Book description

Play Directing describes the various roles a director plays, from selection and analysis of the play, to working with actors and designers to bring the production to life. The authors emphasize that the role of the director as an artist-leader collaborating with actors and designers who look to the director for partnership in achieving their fullest, most creative expressions. The text emphasizes how the study of directing provides an intensive look at the structure of plays and acting, and of the process of design of scenery, costume, lighting, and sound that together make a produced play.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright Page
  4. Dedication
  5. Table of Contents
  6. Preface
  7. 1 Why the Director?
  8. 2 What Is a Play? Analysis and Improvisation
  9. Part I Taking a Play Apart
    1. Play-Analysis: The Director’s Primary Study
      1. 3 The Foundation and Façade of the Playscript: Given Circumstances and Dialogue
      2. 4 The Core of the Playscript: Dramatic Action and Characters
      3. 5 Idea and Rhythm-Mood Beats
      4. 6 The Director’s Preparation
  10. Part II Communication
    1. The Director-Actor Relationship and Stage Blocking
      1. 7 Directing Is Working with Actors—1
      2. 8 Learning to See: The Games of Visual Perception
      3. 9 Helping Actors Communicate through Groundplans
      4. 10 Composition: Helping Actors Discover and Project Basic Relationships
      5. 11 Helping Each Actor Intensify: Gesture and Improvisation with Properties
      6. 12 Picturization: Helping a Group Intensify
      7. 13 The Dynamic Tool of Movement
      8. 14 Coordinating the Blocking Tools in Director-Actor Communication
      9. 15 Helping Actors “Speak” a Play
      10. 16 Directing Is Working with Actors—2
        1. Major Project 1A: Scene Practice
        2. Major Project 1B: Diagnostic Criticism
      11. Communicating Through Staging Options
        1. 17 The Director’s Responsibility for Working Effectively with Design
      12. 18 The Director and the Stage Machine: Symbolization and Synthesis
      13. 19 Director’s Options: Choice of the Stage
      14. 20 Director’s Options: Scenery, Properties, and Lighting
      15. 21 Director’s Options: Costume, Makeup, and Sound
      16. Helping Audiences Receive A Play
        1. 22 Responsibility to Audiences
          1. Major Project 2: Designing and Directing Your Own One-Act Play Production
  11. Part III Interpretation
    1. Amatter Of Style
      1. 23 Style Is Individual Expression
      2. 24 Style in Playwriting and Playwrights
      3. 25 The Director’s Analysis of Style in a Playscript
      4. 26 Style in Production: Making Decisions
      5. 27 Style in Production: Modern Plays
      6. 28 Style in Production: New Plays
      7. 29 Style in Production: Plays of Past Ages
  12. Part IV Communication 2
    1. The Director-Designer Relationship
      1. 30 Preparing To Be a Collaborator in the Design Process
      2. 31 Directing Is Working with Designers
        1. Major Project 3: Directing a Full-Length, Fully Produced Play with Designers
  13. Appendix 1: Musical Theatre and Opera
  14. Appendix 2: The Director and the Dramaturg
  15. Appendix 3: Your Future as a Director
  16. Bibliography
  17. Index

Product information

  • Title: Play Directing, 7th Edition
  • Author(s): Francis Hodge, Michael McLain
  • Release date: November 2015
  • Publisher(s): Routledge
  • ISBN: 9781317351016