17
Travelling the House
By Brian D. Taylor, Project Editor, Pioneer Drama Service
Brian D. Taylor is the project editor for Pioneer Drama Service, a published playwright and a former drama teacher. Working with K-12, college and community theatre groups, he has a wide theatrical background with experience in directing, acting and technical theatre.
Most of us are creatures of habit. We find a place we like, and we want to stay there. But that’s a bad idea when you’re directing a show.
Sure, it’s nice to sit front and center so you can see and hear the cast better. And front and center is a good spot from which you can give them direction since they can see and hear you well. But by sitting in the front row all the time you may be missing the little details that need to be fixed with both sight lines and sound.
Say you’ve got a big surprise set piece that’s going to impress everyone, but it doesn’t come on until Act Two. What kind of a surprise is it if the audience in house right can see it hiding offstage left for the entire show? Maybe you’ve got a group of actors who like to chat backstage left and can be heard from the front rows of house right. Maybe you can hear Snow White perfectly fine from the front row, but her voice doesn’t carry all the way to the back rows.
The only way you’ll catch those issues is by making it a habit to move around the auditorium during the rehearsal process.
