Producing The Play: Equipment, Skills Involved

The Director
- He brings the inert printed script to life to turn the playwright’s
vison into reality.
- He should be completely familiar with the text, understand how
actors think and feel and know how to draw out their best
performance and be skillful in getting them to react to each other.
- He should be familiar with the stage and its equipment; have
adequate knowledge of scenery, lights and sounds to be able to give
intelligent, clear and reasonable instructions and to make only
reasonable demands on the crew.
- He should get all persons involved in the production to work in
collaboration with one another under his able leadership.
- He places in control of everything related to the performance,
approve the cast, the scene designs and the costumes, rehearsing the
actors and plan the staging of the play.

PLANNING THE STAGE PRODUCTION

1. BLOCKING
- The director positions the actors on the stage and direct their
moves and actions.
2. STAGE DIRECTION
- Keep them few and simple
3. SLIGHT, NECESSASRY ALTERATIONS ESPECIALLY IN LINES THAT
ARE HARD TO SPEAK

- Usually do this together with the actor concerned and if he is

available with the help of the author or at least with director’s
permission.
4. STAGE BUSINESS
- Suggest bits of action to the cast. See that their gestures are
time-matched to the accompanying dialogue.
The job of directing amateurs is an art that has its particular
requirements. Because the role of director demands maturity,
expertise and considerable authority, the literature or drama teacher
usually assumes this challenging task. Should a capable student be
found, he may be given the assignment under the instructor’s
supervision.

The amateur-director learns by experience, reading, watching

competent directors at work. From all possible sources, he works out
his method in terms of his own personality and purpose.

THE ACTOR
- The actors are the most visible and identifiable participants in a
play.
- He is responsible for bringing to life the character that he
portrays.
- He studies the character as envisioned by the author. Character
is revealed through dialogue- the tone of voice and the choice of
words.

The actor naturally concentrates on his own character lines, he has to

read and study the whole text not only to get his cues but to
understand his character better. He has to give allowance for the
possibility that they may be biased or uninformed. Taken from a
double perspective what a person says about another reveals not only
his opinion of the other, but also his own way of thinking.

THE ACTORS’S VOICE

- The voice develops and shapes it into an effective tool to
communicate your thoughts and feelings.
- Good speech habits especially distinct enunciation, give you the
basic foundation for acting.
- As an actor it is not enough to be true to yourself, you have to
be another person- the character, and to do this you must understand
his thoughts and feelings.
- Absorb the words into your consciousness so that they become
your own.
- Take time to discover the character you are portraying, how he
reacts to situations, how he feels, how he moves.
- Once you know to get the character, you will be better able to
sound like him.
- Voice must grow with the character.

There are times when the dialogue covers up rather than reveals the
character’s feeling. You have to be alert and sensitive to such
situation. You will discover the feeling as well as the action in the

words of the printed text. The rhythm as well as the action in the
words of the printed text. The rhythm as well as the imagery will
reveal the emotional state of the speaker.

In doing comedy, you have to believe what you are saying. You should
not laugh at yourself or at the situation. Be committed to what tour
character is saying. Likewise, in a tragedy, don’t put on a tragic air.
Your character is not aware of the tragic situation; he is too busy and
too involved in the action.
Still another demand is the size of the audience and the auditorium.
Your voice has to carry but at the same time you have to maintain the
sense of intimacy between others on the stage and yourself.
Otherwise, the illusion that you have been trying to create will be
lost.

Be sensitive to the other actors. At every rehearsal or performance,

listen to them as if for the first time. In fact, the way they hand you
their lines will vary, although slightly, with every performance. Only
after you have heard them can you react properly.
REACT; DON’T JUST DELIVER YOUR LINES.