DTS3000

Ideas of theatre: directing

P Snow

8 points - 3 hours per week - First semester - Clayton

Objectives Upon successful completion of this subject, students should have an understanding of the relationships between directors, other theatre practitioners, and spectators. They should have a critical knowledge of the rehearsal strategies and proiductions of selected directors, in their social and performance contexts.They should have experienced aspects of directoring practice such as preparing a text and working with actors, and have understood some important theoretical issues concerning directing, such as rehearsal methodology, mise en scene and performance aesthetic.

Synopsis Theatre directing will take as its premise the profound and reciprocal influence directors have had on the theory and practice of theatre, on dramaturgy, performance making, playwriting, the theory and practice of acting, even the design and construction of the performance space. Over the course of the semester we will follow three principal lines of inquiry. Through reading, films and presentations we will look at the rise of directors in the twentieth century and take Peter Brook for particular investigation. In workshops we will explore aspects of directing practice such as casting, scheduling, working with actors and writing a mise en scene. And through readings and discussions we will cover key, contemporary issues concerning directing such as theorising the actor, interculturalism and performance aesthetic.

Assessment Seminar/workshop participation and presentation (1500 words): 30% - Short essay or short directing project (1500 words): 30% - Long essay or directed performance with notes (3000 words): 40% - Note: if students choose to complete a short directing project they must complete the long essay, and if they complete the long directing project they must complete the short essay.

Prescribed texts

Cole S Directors in rehearsal Routledge, 1992
Delago M and Heritage P (ed.) In contact with the gods? Directors talk theatre Manchester U P, 1996
Hunt A and Reeves G Peter Brook CUP, 1995

Recommended texts

Bradby D and Williams D Directors theatre Macmillan, 1988
Braun E The director and the stage Methuen, 1982
Brook P The empty space Penguin, 1968
Brook P The shifting point Methuen, 1988
Brook P There are no secrets Methuen, 1993
Clurman H On directing Macmillan, 1972
Cole T and Chinoy HK Directors on directing Peter Owen, 1963
Grotowski J Towards a poor theatre Methuen, 1969
Mitter S Systems of rehearsal Routledge, 1992
Suzuki T The way of acting Theatre Communications Group, 1986
Williams D (ed.) Peter Brook and the Mahabharata Routledge, 1991
Williams D (ed.) Peter Brook: A theatrical casebook Routledge, 1995

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