I recently complained to a theater friend about a stage director that I’ve had the opportunity of observing at close range in recent months. I hesitate to call the guy a director, really. He spends entire rehearsals with his eyes stuck to the script and barely looks up to see what’s going on on stage. His direction basically revolves around saying things to the cast like “just get into a clump” and, with reference to a video recording he showed the ensemble of another company’s production of the same work, “do it like on the video.”
In response to my observations, my friend had an even more ludicrous director anecdote of his own to recall concerning an actress friend of his:
The actress, whom I shall call W, was in a production of a John Guare play a while back. In a run-through of the play near the end of the rehearsal process, the director of the production — let’s call her M — spent the entire first act furiously scribbling notes. Then, at some point during the second act, W looked into the stalls and noticed that M was slumped in her chair. The director had apparently fallen fast asleep.
No one, other than W, noticed what had happened, it seems. After the run-through was over, M, who had awoken at some point before the end, started going through her notes. She had plenty of things to say about the first act. When it came to the second act, M reported that she had no notes. W knew why this was of course, but the rest of the cast was elated: Even though they still had some work to do to hone the opening of the play, they were happy to have aced the middle. W, meanwhile, was too polite to point out the truth.
It was a refreshing anecdote. I guess the director I complained about at least deserves some praise for staying awake.
Short list of basic qualities for a director of theater productions:
1. He/She should stay awake throughout rehearsals including tech week and all run-throughs.
2. He/She should keep his eyes on the stage most if not all of the time.
3. He/She should actually direct the actors rather than giving vague advice based on third-party materials.