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So You Want to Be a Theatre Director?
By Stephen Unwin
Nick Hern Books £12 99
248 pages
Dateline: 11th April, 2008
This book is a companion to those by Timothy West and Prunella Scales
on acting and Tim Fountain on playwriting.
There is little doubt that this is the best of the lot, proving to be
a mine of valuable information both for wannabe directors but also avid
theatregoers who were never really quite sure what directors actually
do.
Stephen Unwin brings to bear a wealth of experience as he explains
painstakingly but never dully exactly what it takes to be a top director.
He illustrates his text with examples primarily from King Lear,
Ibsen and Chekhov, which is helpful since most readers are likely to
recognize the works and situations that Unwin takes them through.
This really is a cradle to grave overview of the elements necessary
to get a play into performance and, it is to be hoped, a long run.
However, some readers may not make it past Chapter 1 entitled "What
it takes" and its short first sentence: "Directing plays is
difficult". As the writer explains, provided that you have the
skill, art and belief as well as an innate feeling for drama, there
is at least a chance that a career as a theatre director beckons.
There is then so much to consider. How you get into the game to start
with, choosing venues and plays, whether to work without pay and then
choosing the team both on and off stage to work on any particular project.
All of that has to be decided before you even begin to think about actually
directing any play.
That in itself is critical and Unwin provides great detail about preparing
the work, casting it and selecting the complete design team that is
nowadays regarded as de rigueur before any play can appear in
even the smallest blackbox space, let alone the West End.
He also walks readers through the rehearsal process from initial meeting
to final dress; helping them to understand the need to interpret the
play; egg on the actors to move and speak perfectly; and also giving
tips to ensure that the whole of the backstage creative team work together
smoothly.
Stephen Unwin is certainly a practical man, including selections in
this book that surely can never have been highlighted in others on the
subject. These include the use of good manners to avoid offending your
actors; dealing with tantrums; the correct disposition of cards and
flowers on the opening night; the appropriate attitude to take to critics
and their reviews, whether favourable or not; and last and almost certainly
least, the need to set aside adequate rehearsal time to practice that
all-important curtain call.
While some of this may sound a little frivolous, the bulk of this book
is very practical and will undoubtedly prove extremely useful to young
directors. It seems that there is not a single element of the job left
unconsidered.
Through experience and careful thought, Stephen Unwin has developed
a handbook that is invaluable and probably better than any other that
this reviewer has read on the subject.
Philip Fisher
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