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Two Kinds of Directors - Stage Map
Two Kinds of Directors - Stage Map
Lastly, you have to stay ahead of audience. The audience as the most
important of the production is the sector that we need to please because without
them there will be no production. Most members of the audience are really critical
in terms of performance. Sometimes they will give a prediction on how the play
will end even if it is still the start of the play.
To do this, you have to develop the characters very well so that the
audience will sympathize with them. Another way is use the technique of
foreshadowing but not to overdo it. Overdoing it is giving away the ending. We
foreshadow something but change the idea in the end. It will be a great surprise
for the audience and they will think a lot on the why's.
The stage is divided into 9 parts as shown. The director will have an easy
way of directing using these stage sectioning. We have to note that some parts of
the stage are the strongest and some are the weakest.
Then the actor transfer in the direction of the center stage, he is going
into a stronger part of the stage. Consequently, as he travels towards the
downstage center, he goes into the strongest part of the stage. It is always a
fact that the right side of the stage is stronger than the left side of the stage. If you
sill put the actor on the upstage left, he is staying on the weakest part of the
stage where most of the depressing acts are done.
Another things a director should know are the techniques so that the actor
rules the stage. He should know that:
A. Actors facing the front in full position, suggests strongest spot.
B. The height of the actor counts.
C. If you want a character shine let the others actors look at that particular actor
because the audience will always look at the one whom the actors are looking at
on stage.
D. A door-frame can emphasize a character.
E. Bright or colorful costumes can bring the character "out".
F. If a pool of light bathes the actor, there is a great possibility that everyone will
look at him because he is the one being illuminated.
G. If a character is transferring from one place to another and the rest is on halt,
the actor rules the stage at that time.
3. Lights are an integral part of the production. Directors must know that
the integration of lights should be done during technical rehearsals.
There are two kinds of technical rehearsal; (1) a dry technical rehearsal
and the (2) wet technical rehearsal. If you say dry tech, it is when there are no
actors on stage. Everything is done from the lights director's plan on how the
light should go in every scene. Sometimes this will be changed.
A wet tech involves the actors on it. This rehearsal is for the light
designer or director to fine-tune everything based on what transpired during the
dry tech and this is done longer that the dry tech because there are already
people or actors on the stage. The first wet tech rehearsal is done four or five days
prior to the opening night.
5. Directors should inform the actors of the difference between a set prop, a
hand prop and a set dressing.
These are technical terms in theater that the actors have to know and it is
the director's responsibility to tell them.
(1) A set prop consists of big objects that can be moved in the set.
For example, a chair, a table, a sofa set or a lamp shade.
The actors maybe during the act will move the chair in front of a table or turn on
the lamp shade and transfer it on the table.
(2) A hand prop, as it suggests, are things that the actors are holding.
This might be a cup, a hand fan, a handkerchief, a stick, etc.
These objects are needed to enhance a character or to add glamour to the actor.
(3) A set dressing are things that are permanently placed on the set that the
actors do not have to use or interact with. They are not movable.
Examples are the cabinets, the picture frames on the wall, the curtains or
the books on display.
The set dressing is the enhancer of the set. It will give reality to the set.
As you see, directing a play or being a director is not an easy job. There
are a lot of things to do. One might think that directing the actors is the only thing
to do but it is only part of it. You need to go further to be able to make the
production successful. You need to be collaborating with a lot a people and ask
different opinions about anything. As a director, you have to be open to all the
opinions, suggestions and critics for the improvement and success of the play
that you are directing.