As I said yesterday, at the fourth rehearsal of my church’s production of my new Christmas Play, I decided to be more directive in my directing. In this or any church play there are people who do not aspire to be actors. They just got drafted. Their whole aim might be to stand in the right place and […]
Director’s Journal: Run-Through?
This week we had our 4th rehearsal of my new Christmas Play. Next Saturday is the dress rehearsal. Sunday morning the show must go on. The agenda at this point should be a “run-through”. That is, the cast should perform the play, start to finish, without interruption. Then I would make some comments on places to improve. But putting on […]
Director’s Journal: Including the Children
My pastor scheduled a short third rehearsal: just 45 minutes before an all-church event. That’s three quarters of an hour for two complicated jobs. 1. Re-block what Didn’t Work The first job was to re-block things that were troublesome last week. Sticking with my original plan might preserve my pride, but only temporarily. Better to just admit where it hadn’t […]
Director’s Journal: Blocking
There was one aspect of directing my play that filled me with dread: blocking. It’s also the aspect that filled me most with excitement. Blocking “Blocking” is what you do in the second rehearsal–the first few rehearsals in a longer play. You work through the script, line by line, and teach the actors where they […]
Director’s Journal: First Rehearsal
I used to do a ton of theatre as a kid. I had good directors. I had not-so-good directors. But when I looked in the mirror, what I always saw was one of the actors. Well, my pastor drafted me to direct my new Christmas Play. Yikes! What am I going to do at my first […]