More on Directing the Actor

Directing the Actor is a two-part class. The first five weeks are built around more of a stage-based approach, and the second five weeks focus on collaborating with the actors in and around your shoot. Anita Addison, a professional film/tv producer and director will be teaching the first section and Myrl Schreibman will be teaching the second.

In Anita's section, each student is to direct two actors in a five minute scene from a contemporary stage-play or screenplay. I have chosen the concluding scene from The Zoo Story, by Edward Albee. I'm directing a couple of undergraduate acting students, David Noily and Jesse Carrion, in the roles of Peter and Jerry, respectively. In my preparation to direct them, I am relying heavily on Harold Clurman's suggestions in his book, On Directing. Mr. Clurman was a successful and prolific stage director and critic in the late 30s, 40s, and 50s. He helped build The Actor's Studio around Stanislavsky's Method approach to acting and directing, an approach still employed by many actors. Anyway, I'm rambling, but he provides some excellent guidance into how to approach a text, and then how to transform that preparation into directing your actors. It is by no means a how-to or a step-by-step book. Instead, Mr. Clurman discusses his own approach, what worked and what didn't and describes how he formulated it. His writing style is a bit dusty and stodgy but there's a ton of wisdom in the book's pages.

I'm meeting with my actors for a second rehearsal tomorrow afternoon and I'm hoping to begin working through some of the character motivations and blocking. I'm a little apprehensive. The actors have a lot more acting experience than I formally have directing, but it should be fun to start playing around with their performance and blocking, to see how different choices effect the scene. More fundamentally, I want to learn more about working with actors. They are the mouthpiece, the representation, the vessel that ultimately delivers the story.