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Stage Directing
Jim Patterson, University of South Carolina

ISBN-10: 0205389635
ISBN-13: 9780205389636

Publisher: Allyn & Bacon
Copyright: 2004
Format: Paper; 208 pp
Status: Out of Print

Suggested retail price: $60.40
This item is out of print and is no longer available for purchase.



Stage Directing: The First Experiences is a “how-to” manual aimed at introducing beginning stage directors to the art and craft of directing.

Written for the introductory directing course, Stage Directing is organized around the six basic steps that all successful directors use: selecting the playscript, analyzing and researching the play, conceiving the production, casting, rehearsing, and finally giving and receiving criticism.

One reviewer praised “the natural order of the material, the light and engaging style of the writing, the online reference material, and the generally accepted approach to directing re-examined in a fresh voice” (Don Sandley, Samford University).

  • Offers practical directing tips in sidebars throughout the text to help the new director understand the nuts and bolts of directing.
  • Explains and illustrates actor-audience relationships so students can apply proscenium directing techniques to arena, alley, and thrust stagings.
  • Includes two in-book original short plays, allowing the instructor and students to apply concepts to an actual short playscript.
  • Provides an original dramatic vignette as a short and manageable exercise in breaking down a play into units and beats.
  • Features practical directing exercises throughout the text, helping students apply theory to practice.



Preface.

THE DIRECTOR AT WORK.

Step One: Selecting the Playscript.

Step Two: Analyzing and Researching the Playscript.

A. Structure.

B. Acts, Units, and Beats.

C. Character.

D. Meaning.

Step Three: Conceiving the Production.

A. The World of the Play.

B. What the Audience Hears.

C. Helping the Audience to See: The Ground Plan.

Step Four: Casting the Production: The Ideal and the Real.

Step Five: Rehearsing the Production: Staging, Shaping Polishing.

A. Stage Basics.

B. What the Audience Sees: Composing the Action.

C. What the Audience Sees: Picturing the Action.

D. Actors Must Learn Lines So Directors Can Shape the Action.

E. Intensifying the Action: The Actor.

F. Polishing.

Step Six: Giving and Receiving Criticism.

THINKING BACK AND LOOKING FORWARD.

Appendix One: “Mae and Her Stories” by David DeWitt.

Appendix Two: “Cha-Cha-Cha” by Garth Wingfield.

Written for the introductory directing course, Stage Directing is organized around the six basic steps in the process that all successful directors use: selecting the playscript, analyzing and researching the play, conceiving the production, casting, rehearsing, and finally giving and receiving criticism.

One reviewer praised “the natural order of the material, the light and engaging style of the writing, the online reference material, and the generally accepted approach to directing re-examined in a fresh voice.” (Don Sandley, Samford University)

Features:

  • Offers practical directing tips in sidebars throughout the text to help the new director understand the nuts and bolts of directing.
  • Explains and illustrates actor-audience relationships so students can apply proscenium directing techniques to arena, alley, and thrust stagings.
  • Includes two in-book original short plays allowing the instructor and students to apply concepts to an actual short playscript.
  • Provides an original dramatic vignette as a short and manageable exercise in breaking down a play into units and beats.
  • Features practical directing exercises throughout the text helping students apply theory to practice.

View a Sample Chapter PDF:

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Pearson Higher Education offers special pricing when you choose to package your text with other student resources. If you're interested in creating a cost-saving package for your students contact your Pearson Higher Education representative.


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