Richard Schechner: Observation Plus Subtraction
October 25th, 2009While clearing through a pile of paper from my drama undergraduate, I came across a photocopy of an email from New York theatre director Richard Schechner. One of my classmates had written him, explained they were doing a presentation on his work and asked if he had any personal message for the class. While his advice has the director in mind, I think it’s useful for anyone involved in collaborative creation. [Emphasis mine.]
Ok, I don’t usually do this, but….
Some advice for directors:
- Directing is mostly observation plus subtraction
- Stay out of the actors’ way mostly. But if you do intervene, do so with clarity and conviction
- Don’t let the designs, lighting, and other tech stuff submerge your production. Less is best, unless you are Robert Wilson
- You need to make a group, no matter how brief the rehearsal period. So you need to have a coherent warmup and exercise program. Sports are a good model: its mostly continuous training.
- No one is too old or too good not to need continuous training.
- Share yourself, not just ideas.
- Draw clear boundaries, when the work is “on” when the work is “off”. The principal of the sideline, the bench, the offtime. The intensity of the ontime.
- Make the whole thing good enough so that you show the audience only 25% of what you could show them.
Good luck!
rs
Tags: creating, Quotations, theatre
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