FEB
11

Macro Directing vs. Micro-Managing

By Christina Hamlett 

Former actress and director Christina Hamlett is an award-winning author whose credits to date include 52 books, 276 stage plays and squillions of articles on the performing arts.  www.authorhamlett.com. 

No matter how much experience you have as a teacher or an actor, transitioning to the demands of being a director calls for skill sets previously untapped.  You need to simultaneously develop your cast members’ individual potential while understanding what the script is striving to say to its audience.  The ability to focus on the finished product makes the difference between a well-respected director and one who micro-manages every single detail at the expense of an enjoyable experience for all.

Before we delve into this further, however, I hope you find the following tips for directors invaluable.

Let’s start with deciding which show to produce.  Much as you might like a particular play, have you considered:  1) Is it a show which will resonate with your audience?  2) Can you get the budget and licensing rights for it?  3) Are the roles commensurate with what your talent pool can deliver?  4) How well do you personally understand each role and how it contributes to the plot as a whole?  5) Are you biting off more than you can chew?  Be careful — the fifth one is perhaps the greatest downfall of directors.  Tackling too much will not earn the respect of your cast and crew and can even lead them to have a fight-or-flight response.

Visualize your expectations and embrace challenge, but also keep sight of your limitations.  If you think you’re going to need help, ask for it early, not a week before opening when your vision has unraveled.  Recruit a fresh pair of eyes to watch rehearsals and catch things you might otherwise miss while trying to keep multiple balls in the air.

Everything you need to know is in the script — specifically, the playwright’s intention in telling a story an audience will want to see.  Remember that.  Imposing interpretation that’s not backed up by the actual words on the page is usually a recipe for disaster, as well as against copyright rules.

To help make sure your visualization is on the right track, try to assemble at least the leaders of your tech crew before you have auditions.  Describe what you want the project to look like — the set, the costumes, the lighting — and invite their input and experience on how to make it a reality.

In regard to casting, if you have come to directing via the avenue of teaching, you already know the importance of instilling confidence and encouraging your students to find their own voice.  In casting, it’s a balance between assigning parts you know they can easily play as well as those which will provide a challenge to expand their mental and physical margins.

Once you’ve cast the show, encourage your actors to “own” their roles.  Prior to the first read-through, require that they study the entire script and develop a character bio.  Who is this person?  What makes them tick?  What do they love/hate/fear/regret?  Incorporate warm-up improv before rehearsals.  Be receptive to your actors’ ideas so as to foster a platform in which they will subsequently be receptive to your direction.  At no time, though, should you let the show get away from your control.  The final say-so on how each role should be played ultimately rests with only one person:  you.

Theatre is a collaborative, ensemble endeavor.  Yet as much care as you put into choosing the right cast, there is no guarantee they will get along with each other.  There is, however, a good certainty they may attempt to trick you into playing favorites.  Treat your actors in minor roles as respectfully as you do your leads.  Admit mistakes if you make them.  A successful production is not about your ego or theirs.

Be prepared to practice “tough love” if you have cast members habitually late or missing rehearsals, but restrict your criticism to one-on-one conversation, not a public dressing down in front of their peers.  Whenever feasible, draw understudies from players who already have smaller roles and have been present at all rehearsals.  In the event of last-minute replacements, it will be easier to recruit new actors who will only have to learn a few lines rather than entire scenes.

So how does a theatre director know when they’ve crossed the line from macro-directing to micro-managing?  To illustrate this, let’s use the example of a hotel manager.  On a macro level, the hotel manager needs to make sure the facility is aesthetically pleasing and clean, there’s sufficient staff for all areas of the hotel, the elevators are properly maintained, and the back-up generators will function in the event of a power failure.  On a micro level, there are constant demands such as Room 301 wants extra towels, Room 748’s thermostat isn’t working, Room 603 wants more liquor in the minibar, and Room 223 is next to a room with noisy kids and wants them to shut up.  The truth is, if the manager put all their focus on the micro issues in order to keep these individual guests happy, the macro priorities which ensure the entire building’s success will suffer for it.

The same can be said for a theatre director, so choose your battles wisely.  The world of drama is not without — well, a lot of drama...  much of which will be initiated by your own actors!  (“Todd keeps upstaging me!”  “Bethany has more lines than I do!”  “My boyfriend and I just broke up!”) Much as you may want to thoughtfully listen to everyone who comes whining in your direction, you have a show to put on, a deadline to meet, and — like a hotel manager — a production which needs to go well despite all the backstage chaos.  Hopefully, you can rely on an assistant director or a competent stage manager to handle the micro tribulations and allow you, the director, to focus on the needs of the big picture.