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FIVE GOLDEN RULES
It is important for any director to create a set of rules that they hold themselves to. These are mine.
1) Stay behind the table.
An acting space is a habitat. The place where actors thrive. It changes from show to show and rehearsal hall to rehearsal hall, but one thing remains the same: it is sacred.
When a director steps onto the playing space to demonstrate a move or a piece of business, they are violating their actor’s sovereignty. Blocking direction should be given verbally, or not at all.
The only exception to this is when you are also acting as choreographer - either for dance, combat, or commedia dell’arte.
2) Don’t give line readings.
When you give a line reading, you steal the line from the actor. Even if you succeed in having them parrot the exact pitch, tempo, and volume of your reading, it will be at the cost of a hole in their performance; a moment where the character drops away and the actor does their best to be a tape recorder.
As a frequent writer-director, this is especially important. Actors must know that they have sovereignty over their character. It must be something they create from the inside, not something they try to perfect from the outside.
3) Praise often and genuinely.
The very act of standing up before others is admirable. To then turn one’s face into a mask and play pretend in front of strangers is heroic.
You shouldn’t praise actors because they need it (though to be clear - they do). You should praise them because what they are doing is praiseworthy.
It is particularly important to praise an actor who is struggling, to assure them that their toil is not in vain. But it is just as important to praise an actor who has gotten to a point where they are receiving very few notes, so that they know their fine work is not being overlooked.
It has been said that actors are like children, and this is true. But children are wonderful, surprising, special. Their needs are great, but so too is the work they produce. So love them. Praise them. They earn it every rehearsal, every performance.
4) Give simple directions.
A very wise director once told me that actors can hold two directions in their head at a time. I would add to that that these directions should be simple and direct. If the direction can’t be said simply, it probably shouldn’t be said.
5) Forgive your mistakes.
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