Preparing the play for rehearsals is about searching for information about the many different factors which influence people’s physical and verbal behavior:

place
time
character’s biographies
immediate circumstances
events
intentions
relationships between characters

Back history

Building the back history of the play is done by collecting information about what exists before the action the action of the play begins, using two lists:

a list of facts: the non-negotiable elements of the text;
a list of questions: about all the elements that are less clear or not explained in the text.

Start to answer the questions in the second list:

By doing research:
- Especially for questions that relate to a specific historical or geographical context.
- Use books and the Internet, make field trips, collect information (draw a historical chronology, if useful), photographs, paintings, films.
By relying on our impressions of the text:
- especially for questions that relate to the characters’ past.
- Infer factual information from parts of the play that contain no obvious facts. Look for the simplest and most logical reading of the text.

Place

Build a full picture of the places where the action occurs.

Why ?

It will allow the actors to imagine what is surrounding them on all sides, so they can believe in the world and behave as if the things were actually there. This will allow in turn the audience to see them in their imagination.

How to proceed ?

Put all the facts and questions about place from your back history list of facts and questions onto separate lists .
List any new facts and question that come to your mind about place.
Answer the questions through research and impressions, as described above.
Identify the different circles of places, from the smallest (for example, a house) to the biggest (for example, the country).
Draw a rough map of each circle.
Find pictures of each place (or pictures that could represent them, if the place is imaginary) to:
- provide a basis for the design process
- provide the actors with a mental picture of the places their character talks about or listens to (as it happens in real life).

Character biographies

The goal of working through every character’s biography is to:

see the play through the eyes of each character
to help them get a clear and shared picture about their past to make their present actions more accurate and believable.

How to proceed ?

Study all the characters, in the order in which they appear in the dramatic personae.
For each of them, put all the facts and questions about the character from your back history lists of facts and questions onto separate lists.
List any new facts and question that come to your mind about the character.
Answer the questions through research and impressions, as described above. Make simple decisions. Measure your suppositions about the past against what the character does and say in the present action of the play. Make decisions that work for all the characters by cross-referencing facts between the various characters’ biographies.
Put the facts into rough chronological order and draw a biography of the character.
Go through the same process for the indirect characters: the one who do not appear in the action of the play but are strongly present in the minds of the on-stage characters.

Information about each scene

Immediate circumstances

Immediate circumstances are the events that happen in the 24 hours or so leading up to the action of a scene.

Immediate circumstances will help you:

to understand the action of the play as a series of links in a longer chain of events.

to indirectly affect the action of the scene: giving notes to actors about the way in which they are playing the immediate circumstances if the most efficient and long-lasting way of altering what they do in the action of the scene.

Immediate circumstances for the first scene or act

Put all the facts and questions about the immediate circumstances for the first scene from your back history list of facts and questions onto separate lists.
List any new facts and question that come to your mind about these immediate circumstances.
Answer the questions through research and impressions, as described above.
Draw up a draft chronology of these immediate circumstances.

Immediate circumstances for each following scene or act

Read each scene.
Draw a list of facts and a list of questions.
Answer the questions.
Draw up the chronology.

What happens between scenes and acts

When more than 24 hours pass between the scenes or acts of the play, you also need to work on what happens in-between.

For each of these time periods, draw a list of facts and questions.
Answer the questions.
Draw up a chronology of the events.

Time

Time relates to the moment of the day or year, the weather and the time pressure. Time affects how the characters feel emotionally, mentally and physically.

Deciding on time:

Binds all the actors together in the same world and makes clearer for audience what is going on.
Provides the actors with something concrete to do during the scene.
Affects the overall tempo of the production.
Will help you to indirectly affect the action of the scene by noting the actors about time.

How to proceed ?

Put together a time plan for each scene/act of the play:

List facts from the text
Add information your infer or invent from the text. When making decisions, think about the impact they will have on the speed of scenes.

The big ideas of the play

The writer and the play

Find out the basic facts about the author and ask yourself how do they shed light on the play.
Look for any details from the writer’s life that talk specifically to the play: real people that characters are based on, events that happened to the writer, …
Look at what was happening in the writer’s life at the time when they wrote the play.
Take note of everything the writer says about the play.
If no information exists at all, imagine the person who could have written the play and where their passions lay.
Use biographies, but don’t read critical literature about the play or the writer.

The ideas

An idea is what the writer focused on whilst writing the play. It determines what is said and done during the play.

Read the play asking yourself « What is the play about ?«
Answer the question with simple sentences and write them down. Aime for 5-10 answers.
Isolate the 3-4 major ideas. Major ideas must have a relationship with nearly every character in the play and large parts of the action must be concerned with investigating the idea.
Ask yourself which of the ideas you have the greatest affinity with to make sure you remember to work on the others as well.
Select the most important idea by studying the action. It may be useful as well to check all the references to the title of the play in the play and see if they point in a direction.

The genre or style of the play

Style and genre define the world that the audience see and the way in which they characters interact in that world, because each genre has its own logic.

Decide the genre for the production.
Translate this decision into concrete action for the audience to watch.
Draw up a list of concrete guidelines about the genre.

The action of the play

Naming each act and scene

Invent a title for each act or scene:

that describes what actually happens during the action
that relates to what everyone does in the act or scene and that describes what happens throughout the act or scene (not just one moment of it).

Start the sentence with a noun and not a character’s name.

Events

An event is the moment in the action when something happens that affects everyone present by changing what they want to achieve. An event can be sudden or gradual, and the people’s response to it can be slow or sudden, strong or weak.

Use events to structure the play and divide it into smaller sections to work on.

Go through the whole play and isolate all the events by ringfencing them.
- Look for the clues that point towards the events.
- Be reassured that all entrances and exits are events.
- Don’t mistake a subject change for an event.
Give each event a simple and clean name, using objective words.
Identify the main event: the most important event in each act or in a string of scenes. This will avoid the risk of giving all the moments in the action equal value. Rephrase the name of the event so that it stars with a noun rather than a character’s name.
Identify the trigger event: the event that takes place before the action begins and which sets off a chain reaction that leads to the events of he play. Then, document all the events that happened as a result.

Intentions

Intentions describe what a character wants and whom they want if from. The characters’ intentions only change at events.

For every section of the play (delimited by two events), identify and write down the intention for every on-stage character:
- Try to see through the surface detail of the words (or silence) or actions into the thoughts or desires that are motivating those words or actions.
- Don’t mistake a subject change for a new intention. It can be just a tactic to achieve the same intention.
- Intentions have to emerge from the logic of the situation. Remind yourself of the title of the act and scene.
- Make sure that the intentions contradict or interact dynamically with each other.
- Ask yourself what picture the character has in their head of the desired outcome of the intention. The outcome should involve a change in what the other character(s) do(es) or say(s).
- Remember that the character may not always be conscious of what they are playing.
If an event is not sudden but gradual and spreads over several lines, also identify the intentions inside the event.
Look at how each character tries to get what they want (the character’s tactics). Jot down any particular ones that stand out.

Deepening work on characters

Characters’ thoughts about themselves

With the character’s biography, you looked at the characters from the outside. Now you will step inside them to look out at the world through their eyes.

Each person has a thought structure, made of a constantly reshaping collection of mental sentences and pictures. These thoughts determine how we respond to events. Look for the thoughts a character has about themselves before the action of the play begins.

Make a list of everything that each character says about themselves (from the text and the stage directions).
For each quote, ask « What are the simples thoughts that someone who says this (or does that) has about themselves ? »
As an answer, find for each character 4-5 accurate nouns or adjectives that can be used to fill the sentence « I am… ».
- Avoid value judgments that other characters might make about the character. Think from the character’s own point of view.
- Look at the biography and search for thought that past events may have generated.
- Do not iron out the contradictions.

Relationships

You should be looking for the thoughts a character has about the others before the action of the play begins.

For each character, write down all they say about each of the other characters, including minor ones. If one character says nothing or very little about one other character, try to deduce information from the actions or your impression of the text.
Transform this material into adjectives and nouns to fill in the sentence: « [This character] is … ».

Preparing improvisations

The goal of improvisations is to build pictures of the past that will support the action of the play.

What to improvise ?

Select what you want to improvise from your preparation on:

characters biographies
trigger event (and the following chain of events)
immediate circumstances
events in between scenes

If you are short in time, focus on the trigger event.

How to prepare improvisations ?

Plan improvisations as scenes from a play, giving instructions about:

Place
Time
Immediate circumstances
Events
Intentions

Building your creative team

After you have prepared the play, spend some time with your creative team

to establish a common language by sharing material (images, films, music, …).
to share the results of your preparation work, especially the events.
to start working on design, lighting, music, etc.

Design

The functions of design:

Communicate time and place
Focus the eye of the audience
Transmit the ideas and genre of the play

What to do before the start of the rehearsals ?

Explore the play with the designer:
- Go through the back history list of facts and questions. Have the designer research questions about architecture, furniture, …
- Share information about place, time, immediate circumstances, titles of the acts, events.
- Show your maps and sketches of the places where the action occurs. Work further on them
Consider the angle at which the audience might look at each place.
Think about how the characters will use the places and how everything (furniture, …) will be arranged, event by event, so as tu ensure that key bits of action will be focused and visible.
Discuss the genre and ideas of the play. Look at other visual references.
Go and sit in the empty theatre auditorium. See how you can create interesting pictures for everyone int he audience. Consider also the acoustic of the theatre and how it may impact design choices.
Together with the lighting designer, consider the links between lighting and set design (where and at which angle and height will the natural light come from ? Where will you put practical lights ?)
Start working on costumes (ideally after the start of the rehearsal with actors)

Look at the ideas of the set designer in the form of drawings or models. Have the sightlines marked up.

Lighting

The functions of lighting:

Communicate time and place.
Making the action visible to the audience.
Shape what they look at on stage.
Alter the atmosphere or mood of the action.

What to do before the start of the rehearsals ?

Discuss with the lighting designer the functions of the lights in the production.
Involve them in your decisions about time, place, and immediate circumstances.
Take them through the events and discuss how lighting can change during or after each event.
Share the ideas and genre of the play.
Involve the lighting designer in discussions with the set designer.

Sound

The functions of sound:

Describe time and place.
Set up the atmosphere or mood of each scene (when played before the scene)
Underscore change of atmosphere during the action (with abstract sounds)
Disguise technical problems (long scene changes)

Some notes about abstract sounds:

They can intensify an event (by underscoring the action before, during or after it) or sharpen the atmosphere of a place.
They can also erase interfering noises of the theatre building.
Use them subtlely: the audience should not be consciously aware of most of them and they should help the actors, not undermine their actions.
Watch films and observe how sound is used (David Lynch, Tarkovsky, …)

Music

The functions of music:

Describe time and place.
Set the atmosphere or mood of a scene.
Underscore changes during the action.
Support some scenes (dances, …)
Cover scene changes
Give a coherence to the production by using similar musical material all through.

Music sources:

Specifically composed music: make sure it does not take too much place. Keep it simple.
Already existing music: make sure not to use well-known music pieces that carry with them information about other contexts (unless you want to play with that) and not to use too eclectic music pieces.

Video

The functions of video:

Communicate the world and ideas of the play.
Act as a live participant in the performance (as an actor)

Voice

The function of voice:

To ensure audibility of the actors
To remove any sign of physical strain in projecting the voice

How ?

Work with a movement specialist (make sure that their work doesn’t contradict with your work and that this person is integrated in the process from the beginning)
Give the actors time and space to warm up individually at the start of the day

Movement

The functions of movement:

Warm up the actors for rehearsal.
Prepare the actors for specific demands of the play.
Build up physical or dance skills used in the action.

Be careful about games:

They are not a physical warm-up
They can encourage a competitive spirit
They can leave the actors unfocused and overtired for the rest of the rehearsal.
Status games can encourage a too simplified approach of relationships.

How ?

Work with a movement specialist.
Give the actors time and space to warm up individually at the start of the day (and if needed to warm down at the end)

Casting actors

The goal is to choose the right actors:

for the play
for your working process

How to plan auditions ?

Plan at least 30 minutes with each person.
Have water ready to offer them.

How to structure the auditions ?

Talk about the actor’s CV (select 1 or 2 jobs out of it)
Talk about the play and the character
- Ask them what they think:
  - Look out for affinities with the character that could get in their way
- Explain your approach to the play and the role
Talk about your working process
- Describe it and the job you are seeing them for.
- Ask them if they would be comfortable with it.
Work on a scene.
- Select a simple scene between two characters. Use the same scene for each actor auditioning for the same part. Communicate the actors about the scene before the audition. Have someone else to read with the actor.
- Give clear tasks and reassuring feedback:
  - 1. Reading through for sense only.
  - 2. Ask them to read it again with instructions about time, place and intention.
  - 3. Ask them to read it two times more, each time with a different intention.
Thank them and ask if they have any question.
After each audition, take some time to write down your thoughts.

Workshop

Workshops are about exploring your ideas or testing directing tools without the pressure to deliver a result.

Organize a workshop before every rehearsal period.

Do it with 4 to 6 actors:

from your cast
or whom you are considering casting (but don’t use the workshop as the audition)
or whom you have worked with before.

Start by identifying a few simple questions you want to explore and guide the actors towards answering them by giving concrete things to do.

The rehearsal room

The rehearsal room:

should be large enough to mark up the ground plan of the set + 1-2 meters all round
should have a place for tea breaks
should have place where actors can leave their belongings
should have an appropriate acoustic, temperature and lighting
should be able to accommodate a sound system

Getting it ready for rehearsal:

Ask the stage management to provide tea, coffee and biscuits.
Ask the stage management to organize the furniture and props you need.
Set aside a table for the research material.
Set aside a table large enough for the whole ensemble to sit around.

Rehearsals

Build things step by step over time to make work that lasts well into the run of the performances: encourage the gradual construction of strong and durable characters and situations rather than one-off exciting moments (that cannot be repeated) or last-minute discoveries (that won’t have time to develop).

The ingredients of rehearsal

General rules for working with actors

Cultivate patience and long-term thinking: work slowly, one small step at a time, giving the actors the time they need.
Be consistent over time and between all actors in your language, behavior, goals, relationships.
Do not worry about being liked, but about making clear work. Do not avoid saying difficult or challenging things.
Make the text (or the staging ideas) as the mediator of any conflict.
Do not automatically blame the actor if something goes wrong. Instead, assume it’s your fault. Try to diagnose the cause of the problem in your instructions, your mood, …. before giving new instructions and trying again.
If you make an error, apologize immediately simply and briefly. Then move on.
Do not use anyone as a kicking stool. Do not let any negative emotion get an hold on you.
Do not put time pressure on actors. But talk to actors who wastes time and do not waste time yourself (by explaining your ideas or justifying your process).
Keep an eye on the actors’ « audience thinking« , which could make them self-conscious on stage. Spot it, but do not point it out directly to the actor. Instead, continue to give your instructions. If it doesn’t disappear, draw the actor’s attention to it.
Keep clear the boundaries between actors’ private lives and the work.
Avoid last-minute instructions (just before starting a scene). They could make the actors forget about all the previous ones and would be played thinly because actors didn’t have enough time to digest it.
Hold your nerve in moments of vulnerability.
Be aware of the impact on the actors of the way you sit and behave. In particular, avoid:
- sitting slouched back with your arms crossed
- leaning forward with legs crossed
- looking repeatedly at your watch

The language of rehearsal

Think about the particular words you use in the process.

Introduce them to the actors. Don’t suggest your language is the only way of talking about acting but assure them that using them will help everyone working together. Some words can be introduced from the first day of the rehearsal by using them repeatedly and by giving examples, while others (events, intentions, time, place, …) are best introduced while giving feedback on exercises.

Stick to the same language until the end of the process.

Giving feedback and notes

How to prepare the feedback ?

Look very precisely at what the actors are doing – what the actors are saying, how they are saying, their face, their whole body.
Write down notes as you are watching, using a shorthand. If necessary, hold notes for a while in your head until the good moment.

When to give feedback ?

Always give feedback (even brief) to actors after they have done any practical work for you. The duration of the feedback varies at the different stages of the process.

Give feedback both when the work is clear and when it is unclear.

Where to give feedback ?

Always give feedback openly in a group, and not privately to individuals.

Whom to give feedback to?

Note all the actors involved. In the long run, try to keep a balance in how many notes you give to each of them.

What to give feedback on ?

Be consistent in your targets all through the process, from acting exercises to performances.

Give notes to the actors on the following areas:

Time
Place
Immediate circumstances
Events
Intentions
Character (including pictures of past events, tempo, thoughts about themselves and future pictures)
Relationships.

How to formulate your feedback ?

Be consistent in your targets all through the process:

Avoid value judgements like « good, bad, right, wrong ». Replace them with words like « clear/unclear », « specific/unspecific », « focused/blurred ».
Keep the language in proportion to the circumstances. Hyperbolic words of praise can be counterproductive by losing value with repetition. If needed, reduce the scale of any problem by adding words like « tiny, little, slightly » to your notes.
Use simple, short sentences, about specific and concrete elements. If you are not able to do it, do not give a note.
Mix criticism and praise together.

How to deal with actors’ reactions to the feedback ?

Allow the actors to discuss the feedback. They may need to do it to digest the notes.

If an actor disagrees with your feedback, take it back and ask them to play the scene again again.
If an actor says they were already playing the note, either retract the note and look again at the moment, or ask them to play it a second time (maybe more sharply) and tell them you will watch it once more. Look at it and then:
- If you made a mistake, acknowledge it.
- If not, give the note again, maybe in a different way.
If a note does not work, apologize and suggest to return to the original choice.

Watch how actors describe their own work. When they use self-deprecating words, gently inform them that they don’t describe what they did as you saw it and then give your feedback in more accurate words.

How to practice giving feedback ?

Practice the skill by noting the work of actors in other productions you watch.

The text

Make a document that is easy for the actors to read and use, with spaces to write notes, events and intentions.

Decide what you keep in and what you cut out in terms of stage directions about moves, actions and ways of saying lines

Give the text to the actors before the first rehearsal day. Explain the reasons behind any cuts (to the text or stage directors) you have made and suggest firmly that the actors accept them.

What about making further text cuts during the rehearsal ?

Keep them to a minimum – only those that are absolutely crucial.
Time them well – wait until the acting work is secure and deliver all of them in one go.

The model showing

Why ?

Show the model to the actors so they can have in their imagination a clear picture of the places where the action will occur.

When ?

Do it on the second or third day of rehearsal, separately from the model showing to the production team.

Allow time for them to absorb it and ask questions.

How ?

Do a the presentation together with the designer.

If you don’t have a model, find another way of showing the picture you have in hear head by using photos, reproductions of paintings, …

The technical ingredients

Keep in touch regularly with your creative team and always share your concerns or ideas as they emerge:

Have the creative team attending rehearsal
- Ask them to come for the character biography group session.
- Ask the lighting designer to come to a scene rehearsal for the light of which you may be worried.
- Ask them to come to the final run-through.
Talk with the creative team at production meetings
Set up individual discussions:
- when any concern arises.
- after the first run-through, to discuss how their design can develop the work with the actors.

Be aware of the deadlines for changes:

to the set design : set construction deadline
to sound and lighting design : delivery of lighting and sound plans

Introduce as many technical ingredients as possible into the rehearsal room in order to make the (usually short) technical rehearsal easier:

Sounds: have a sound desk and sound operator for the last week of rehearsal to play all the sound cues.
Costumes and footwear: gradually introduced them throughout the rehearsal period.
Props and furniture: rehearse with the actual ones if possible.
Lights: keep them for technical rehearsal, except for practical lights.

Prepare the actors for everything new that you are planning to do in the theatre by informing them beforehand to avoid gaps developing between their imagination and the reality.

Save time of technical rehearsal by putting as many cues as you can into the book. Talk through the opening sequence (house lights going down, start of action, of sound).

Communication structures

Daily rehearsal notes, sent by the stage management to everyone involved in the production outside the rehearsal room. They sum up all the new things that came up during the rehearsal day. Make sure that each new request is explained.
Weekly production meetings, attended by everyone involved in the production. They are the place to discuss new technical demands. When financials concerns arise, do not give immediate decisions, but take time to think of a creative solution.
Regular creative team meetings, to brainstorm together creative problems.
Artistic notes, from you to the creative team, to let them know how the work progresses.

The firs day of rehearsals

The goal of first day is to manage everyone’s fear so they can work usefully. Be careful to also manage your own fear, which can leads you to talking too fast, too much, or jumping from one thought to the other.

Plan a series of simple and relaxing steps, where no one is put on the spot and which balance tasks where you lead the group and tasks where the actors work on their own :

Tell the actors what you are going to do.
Do a gentle movement session/physical exercises/warm-up.
Do something physical that relates to the production and in which the actors work together in two or in group(s).
Read the play together (including stage directions), with each person of the whole team saying a line at a time. Ask them to read for the sense only, without any performance.
Divide the ensemble into smaller groups and assign each a task – for example, collecting information about a circle of place.
Do a brief session about the writer, talking about 3-4 essential facts about their life and discussing how the relate to the play.
Set the actors a simple research task to do overnight.

Try to avoid doing a meet-and-greet between the ensemble and the theatre staff on the first day of rehearsal, or at least not as a starting point of the day.

Building the world of the play

Building the word of the play is the first period of rehearsal. It should take 40% of the rehearsal period. It should involve the full company.

How to structure the rehearsal day ?

Include three ingredients in each day:

work on the play around the table
movement work
acting exercises

At the end of each day, set the actors tasks to do until the next rehearsal.

Facts and questions

Tell the actors you’ll read the play to draw four lists:
- 1. Back history facts
- 2. Back history questions
- 3. Facts about the immediate circumstances of scene 1
- 4. Questions about the immediate circumstances of scene 1
Ask for people to keep a list each.
Read the play, with each person reading a line at a time.
Draw their attention to facts or questions they are neglecting.

How to adapt this step for a short rehearsal period ?

Focus only on back history.
Focus only on facts.

Research

Goal:

to ensure that the actors build a shared, concrete and detailed picture of time and place.
to make them active so they can absorb the information more easily

How to include research in the rehearsal process ?

Set a task:
- A first research task could be to ask each actor to find out three facts (about political, social or artistic events) about the year in which the action of the play occurs. Give examples of the desired outcome.
- For further tasks, identify the questions that need research in the lists of back history and immediate circumstances.
Regularly allocate these research tasks to the actor as homework.
Schedule session where they actors feed back their research to the group.
Ask to actors to relate the facts they bring from their research to the action of the play and their character.
Write all the result from the research on a large piece of paper on the wall.
Show videos you have collected in your research.
Arrange field trips (in the first week of rehearsals).

How to adapt this step for a short rehearsal period ?

Focus only on essential research tasks for each character.
Leave out feedback sessions.
Give the actors written information about essential aspects.

Place

Building a clear picture of places is a key ingredient for belief to happen, even though actors may not see it immediately and need to be encouraged in this direction.

Introduction exercise:

Divide the ensemble into smaller groups.
Allocate a circle of place to each group.
Ask each group to make a list of facts and questions from the text about their circle of place.
Ask them to draw up a rough map of their circle of place (or find a map of the actual place and mark all the places mentioned).
Ask each group to share the result with the full ensemble.
Put the plans on the wall.

How to encourage a sense of place in any acting work ?

Before the work, make sure the actors have a strong sense of place:
- ask them to mark out the limits of the places with objects
- give them some minutes to remind themselves of what they can see around them.
During the work, watch from different places and angles (and encourage everyone watching to do the same)
In your feedback, give high priority to place.

The writer and the genre

The writer

Share nformation from your research about the writer and point out any connections with the play (but only if they are helpful to get under the skin of their characters).

Suggest to some actors research tasks into aspects of the writer’s life that may be useful for their character biography.

How to adapt this step for a short rehearsal period ?

Introduce ibits of relevant information during the work on character biographies.

The genre

Introduce the genre and give some examples of how it manifests itself in the action. If needed, do some exercises to give the actors a practical understanding.

Practical words on ideas

Working practically on ideas will help the actors see the connection between the ideas of the play and the real life and bring them to life.

Ask the actors to suggest the key ideas of the play.
Guide them towards the 3-4 ideas you isolated in your preparation.
Ask them for the main idea.
Select an idea and ask the actors to think of a moment in their lives that relates to this idea.
Ask them to prepare to present a 2-to-10-minute extract of this moment, as it happened, without edits or corrections.
In the next rehearsal, divide the ensemble into groups. Each group will enact the story of one actor in the group.
Give time to each actor whose story will be enacted to share information about it to the rest of the group.
Ask each group to enact the story.
Open a discussion:
- Ask the actors to make connections between what happened in the exercises and the play (an event, a physical detail, …)
- Ask the actors watching about the time and place of the story.
- Point out/ask about events or intentions.
Ask the actors to write down any physical detail that may be useful for the play.

How to adapt this step for a short rehearsal period ?

Work only on the main idea and attend the other ideas in character biographies or scene rehearsals.

Practical work on emotions

The goal is to study how emotions affect the body.

Identify some important emotions in the play.
Ask the actors to think of a moment in their lives when they experiences one of these emotions.
The next day, ask them to re-enact this situation.
Ask the actors watching to notice the physical behavior of the actors involved in the re-enactment.
Discuss about it afterwards. Relate the exercise to a moment in the play.

How to adapt this step for a short rehearsal period ?

Cut it out.

Character biographies

As homework, ask each actor to collect facts and questions about their character from the back history lists. Ask them to put the facts in a chronological order with dates, and to leave the questions unanswered. Allocate indirect characters to acts playing smaller roles or to actors whose character has a strong relationship to the indirect character.
Ask each actor to share to the whole group their character’s biography. Answer some questions. If necessary, suggest changes that will work better with the text.
Ask the others to look for links between the character you are working on and their character.
Point out past events that may have formed their character’s present thinking about themselves or another character.

How to adapt this step for a short rehearsal period ?

Do the sketch biographies yourself and give them to the actors as a starting point for discussion.

Practical work on character and character tempo

Work on character

Ask each actor to think of a specific time and place where their character was doing a simple activity on their own. It shouldn’t be a major event and should happen before the trigger event.
Ask them to do the activity.
Afterwards, ask them what they learned about the character.

Work on character tempo

The character’s tempo is the speed at which the character thinks or does things physically. It is probably different from the actor’s tempo.

Conclusions about each character’s tempo can be made from the work on character’s biographies, relationships, events and intentes.

Use the same exercise as above to introduce the idea of character tempo.

How to adapt this step for a short rehearsal period ?

Cut it out.

Relationships

Relationships are like invisible spider webs linking all the people together. The risk is that the actors only play their character (and possibly the most important relationships), but ignore (most of) the relationships. The work on the relationships encourages them to think about the interactions their character has with everyone else.

Ask each actor to write 3-4 « I am… » statements with adjectives or nouns that describe how the characters thinks (secretly) about themselves.
Ask each actor to read their sentences aloud.
Then ask each actor to write a series of similar (secret) statement about each of the other characters, from the point of view of their own character.
Ask each actor to read their sentences allude.

How to adapt this step for a short rehearsal period ?

Skip the group exercise about relationships and use your preparation work for the character biographies or the work on scenes.

Improvisations

When to do them ?

Only start with them after work on character biographies and relationships.
Do the improvisations in chronological order.
Keep improvisations about the trigger event for later.
Keep the improvisations about immediate circumstances of the first scene and about what happens between scenes for when you are rehearsing the relevant scene.

How to set up an improvisation ?

Give the instructions you prepared.
Give them time to build and mark out the place.
The people watching should stand and move all around the marked out space.
Ask them to continue until you stop them. Stop them when they are losing belief or becoming vague.
At the end, give feedback that relate to the instructions you gave.

How to adapt this step for a short rehearsal period ?

Replace improvisations by discussions (and visualisation) about a past event at the relevant moment in scene rehearsals.

Visualisation exercices

Their goal is to create pictures of past events. They can replace improvisations and are particularly useful for past events that happen to one character only (no shared picture is required then).

Ask the actors to sit still with their eyes open.
Ask them to imagine that their eyes are like a camera moving through space, interacting with other people or objects.
Give them an event to visualise.

How to adapt this step for a short rehearsal period ?

Cut it out.

Working on the scenes of the play

Working on the scenes of the play is the second period of rehearsal. It should take 60% of the rehearsal period.

Put the mark-up down in the rehearsal space as soon as you start work in the places of the play:

If there are several locations: use different colors or moveable bamboo sticks.
If space allows, add as many other places (other rooms, exteriors, …) around the place where the action occurs, so the actors can build a picture of where they have come from or where they are going to (if space doesn’t allow, use visualisation instead).
Do this before the actors arrive, so that you can ask them to get familiar with it as soon as they arrive. Walk once round the mark-up with the whole ensemble.
Use mock-ups of any key scenic elements.

Analysing the action of the play with the actors

Tell the actors you’ll read the play again to:
- 1. Identify events and name them
- 2. List facts and questions about what happens between acts or scenes
- 3. List facts and questions about the immediate circumstances of each act or scene
- 4. Name each act or scene.
Read the play, with each person reading a line at a time.
Ask them to stop whenever they spot information for one of the four tasks. Draw their attention onto things they miss.
Ask the actors to write down the name of the acts or scenes and of the events (as well as to mark where each begins and ends).
At the end, ask them to identify:
- the trigger event
- the main events of each act
- the main event in the play
Ask them:
- to learn the events as they would learn their lines.
- to prepare for their scene rehearsal by working out their character’s intentions between events.
Do improvisations:
- around the trigger event (these are the most improvisations to do)
- on the immediate circumstances of the first scene.

How to adapt this step for a short rehearsal period ?

Focus only on the events and names of acts or scenes. Give the information about what happens between acts or scenes and immediate circumstances just before the work on the scene in question.
Leave out the improvisation on the immediate circumstances.

How to structure the rehearsal day ?

Work the play in chronological order.
Break the play into sections at the events.
Call only the actors who are in the section you are working on. If someone has an entrance, ask them to join the last part of the rehearsal of the section preceding their entrance. Call the full ensemble occasionally (for example once a week for one hour) for movement or voice work, or to share any new research material.
Over the rehearsal period, rehearse each scene approximately three times.

How to adapt this step for a short rehearsal period ?

Only rehearse each scene twice.

The first rehearsal of a scene

The goal of the first rehearsal is:

to establish all the working targets
to practice everything that underpins and generates the words: intentions, immediate circumstances, time, place, relationships, past pictures, …

Look at the events that delimit the section. Remind the actor of where they start and end.
Ask each actor what is their intention before and after the event (and during slow events). Remind the actors that intentions are not always conscious; they can also be unconscious desires. After you’ve find an agreement about the intentions, ask them to write it down.
Read the scene through with the intentions in mind.
Remind them of the immediate circumstances, time and name of the scene.
Ask them to renew the picture of the place:
- Refer to the maps of places made earlier.
- The first time, go through the place with the actors:
  - remind them what the mark-up lines represent
  - ask them:
    - what can be seen or heard (through the window, in the distance) ?
    - where do the different exits or entrances lead to ?
- The following times give them 5-10 minutes to talk through the place together (standing in the mark-up and describing to each other what they can see all around them)
Ask them to play the scene using a mix of the words they remember from the script and their own words. The scripts should remain outside the place of the action. If an actor has already learnt there lines, they should use them.
Give them feedback on time, place, events, intentions, immediate circumstances.
Ask them to practice the scene a second time. How to adapt this step for a short rehearsal period ?
Watch how they execute your notes. If you have time for a third run, add notes about relationships and character (past pictures, tempo, thoughts about themselves).
Ask them to practice the scene a third time (if time allows)
At the end, give them tasks for the next rehearsal:
- Do the research tasks that have emerged or develop some preparation work (pictures of past events, pictures of places, …)
- Ask them to learn their intentions
If needed to clarify what the characters are doing, add intentions inside some events (like a slow entrance or exit).
At the end of the scene or act, improvise:
- the off-stage events before the next scene
- the immediate circumstances of the next scene (of give the actors written information about these as instructions for the next scene)

How to adapt this step for a short rehearsal period ?

Suggest the actors their intentions.
Replace the improvisations of the action between the scenes or acts with a discussion.

The second rehearsal of a scene

Allow the actor to read or say the lines through once sitting down.
Give the same instructions as at the first rehearsal.
Run the scene, with the actors still mixing words from the text with their own. Run the scene 3 to 5 times.
Watch from different angles (audience, stage left, stage right, upstage, …):
- to understand the scene better
- to encourage the actors to think about situation rather than about the audience
- while keeping the audience’s perspective in mind
After each run, give feedback on the instructions.
When you get to the end of a scene or act, remind the actors of the improvisation they did of what happened before the next scene or of the immediate circumstances of the next scene.

Some frequent problems and how to solve them:

If an actor is over-emoting and trying go put all the character’s past into one scene as if all had just happened, ask them to concentrate on the one past memory hat may fuel the present action most precisely.
If an actor doesn’t know how to use the work done on their character’s past, make connections between it and the present action.
If the scene looks unfocused or confused to you, remind the actors of the scene title and ask them to do the scene with a focus one 1-2 aspects from the feedback checklist.
If the actors feel confused about a scene, ask them what area of the work is unclear. Once the problem has been identified, do the scene again.
If the actors become less precise physically (especially in their lower bodies), remind them of time and place and of the observations made in the re-enactment of real-life situations.

The third rehearsal of a scene

It’s mostly identical to the second rehearsal, except for the following:

Consider the relationship of the audience to each scene by attending more carefully to visibility, focus and narrative clarity. Move back mentally and try to watch the scene as if you had never seen it before.
Give the actors the impression they still have a lot of time to sharpen their work to calm their growing anxiety as the audience-thinking increases.

Blocking

What is blocking ?

Blocking is about balancing two things:

arranging stage pictures in which the actions are visible and well-focused for the audience
allowing unselfconscious movement by the characters immersed in the situation.

How to do blocking ?

Directly or indirectly ?
- Avoid telling directly an actor where to stand: it will increase their audience-thinking, leading to self-conscious behavior, which in turn will lead to an uneven experience for the audience, where realistic moves will alternate unlifelike ones.
- Instead try to block indirectly :
  - In the design process: design the stage space in such a way that it will lead to well-focused action if it’s used logically.
  - In the rehearsal: see if a visibiliy problem can be solved by moving the furniture instead of telling the actor about it.
- If you need to talk directly to the actor, wait until the actors are well-immersed in the character and the situation.
Remember that there are other tools than spatial organization for making the action well-focused:
- lighting
- costumes
- sound
Keep in mind that on-stage action is not only well-focused when the audience is looking at faces or the front of people’s bodies. Profiles and backs can also be used to focus the action or direct the gaze of the audience
Train your eye in composition by studying painters and paintings.

Run-throughs

Run acts (or sections of the play) before doing a run-through of the whole play.

Do a run-through ideally at the end of the penultimate week of rehearsal, to have time afterwards to make changes.

Make the first run-through feel like another rehearsal: call it a stumble-through and and tell them its goal is only to help everyone learn what has been made so far and determine what to work on next.

The presence of peripherally involved people can make the actors anxious. Keep them out of the first run-through.

After the run-through take time to work on your notes – ideally overnight:

Edit your notes, choosing what you’ll tell the actors and what you will reflect on.
Convert impressions about big problems into tiny, specific and concrete corrections.

The next day set aside 1 1/2 to 2 hours for the note session:

Keep in mind that after a run-through the actors are both more receptive and more vulnerable.
Ask each actor to briefly give their feedback about how the run-through went and what scenes they most want to work on. It can:
- save you some notes
- help you to plan the next week accordingly
- encourage the actors towards self-directing.
Give the actors the impression that you are happy with the direction of the work and thank them for the work.
Give the actors your notes.
If you want to make big cuts, this is the good moment.

How to adapt this step for a short rehearsal period ?

Make sure you have at least a day after the first run-through before you run it again.

The final days in the rehearsal room

Take care of yourself: take tiny steps, keep long-terms goals in view and hold your nerve.

Balance the work you need to do with the work the actors are concerned about.

Rehearse any changes after the first run-through.

Run the play again on the penultimate day of rehearsals.

On the final day, give notes and work on them.

Rehearsals in the theatre

Be consistent: Do not change the way you work because you or someone feels anxious. Focus and make them focus on the simple practical things that can be done to solve the problem.
Note taking: organize your pad into two columns, one for acting notes, one for technical notes. Plan how and when you will address each note.
Let go of things you cannot change (e. g. a casting error) and focus on those you can.

How to make the transition easier for the actors ?

Be careful about the language you use in the rehearsal room to refer to the theatre or the performances (e. g. « share the work with other people »).
Do not change your language so as not to break the imaginary world that you have built.
Give the impression that you are calm and in control, no matter what is happening. Only tell them about problems that are going to affect their work directly and immediately. Tell them what is being done about them and that they will get fixed.
Make the theatre environment feel closer to the rehearsal room – calm and focused. Create fenced-off areas backstage of calm and concentration where the actors can prepare themselves before or during performances (e. g. to play offstage scenes).

How to work with the creative team ?

Inform the creative team how you want to run the technical rehearsal.
Have the discussions with them about technical problems out of the actors’ earshot.
At the end of each day meet up with the team to discuss problems.
Be sensitive to the time pressure that the team is under. Ask them what they think needs altering before giving them your feedback.

Technical rehearsals

Lighting plotting session

Their goal is:

to look at the lighting designers proposals for lighting states
to get them into the board and the corresponding cues into the book.

Start by asking the lighting designer to take you through their main ideas or key lights.
Next work through each state for each scene (going as far as you can into the play):

ask the designer to put together their proposal.
look at it together
make adjustments, remembering that further adjustments will need to be made when actors will be on stage

Be aware of the possible tension between lighting to the situation (for realism) and the lighting of the faces (for visibility). Make sure that the structure of each state is build around the real light source of the place (e. g. the sun, a lamp, …). If this structure cannot be immediately identified in the proposal, squint your eyes to remove surface details. If you still can’t see the structure, go back to blackout and build again the state from there.

Sound and music sessions

The goal of these sessions is to plot the levels of the sound or live music and confirme the loudspeakers it is coming out of.

Technical rehearsals

Arrange a schedule with the stage manager, then let the stage manager run the rehearsal, so you are free to watch and discusss things with the creative team.

Welcome the actors as soon as they arrive on stage:
- describe what will happen
- ask them to stop as soon as they encounter a technical problem
- ask the stage manager to show them around
Start working through the show.
Stop whenever something is not as you want it. Let the manager know what it is and talk through how to solve it with the creative.
Ask the stage manager to set back and start running again from just before it went wrong.

Do not spend too much time on the first few cues and only slow down after the first 15 minutes or so.

The dress rehearsal

Allow half an hour at the end of the call so you can make corrections, since dress rehearsal will always reveal new problems.
Run the show at performance speed and without stops.
Take notes and prioritize them.
Gather the actors:
- reassure them that their work was clear
- inform them that you will give (acting) notes after the evening performance.
- ask them if they have major technical problems.
- address them and your urgent technical notes that involve the actors.
- remind them to work as a group.
- give them a two-hour break before gathering again for a warm-up.
Give the urgent notes to the creative team. Keep the less urgent notes for a following day.

The public performances

The previews

Before the performance

Remind the actors:

that the work is not finished
that there is a difference between feedback that relates to a difference in taste and feedback that accepts the work as it is. Only the second type can actually be useful to them. Invite them to talk to you about any negative feedback that affects them.

Choose the people whose feedback will be important to you and ask them to come on a particular day. You can even give them specific things to watch.

During the performance

Note the audience’s reactions:

the moments they are focused
the moments they are restless or bored. Could your work in those moments be clearer?

Do not adjust your relationship to the actors or the aims of your work to the way the actors respond to the pressure of performances.

After the performance

Do not give notes to the actor immediately after a performance, since you’re unlikely to have a balanced view. Thank them for their work and arrange a note session for the following day. Then go through your notes, deciding which ones and how you will give.

Meet with the creative team, stage manager and production manager, go through the technical notes and make a work plan for the following day.

Notes and rehearsals

Start with the acting note session in the auditorium or foyer. Do not give notes immediately before the performance.

Ask the actors to give feedback on the previous performance and to tell what they would like to look at.
Give few simple and specific notes, since the actors won’t be able to rehearse them.
Give space for the actors to discuss their notes.

Then work, following a realistic list of practical goals, including key problems brought up by the actors. Do not make radical adjustments to something that is not yet finished.

Press night

Getting through press night is above all about fear management:

Make the day feel like any previous one, keeping the same hours and working in the same way.
Remind the actors that the press night is not the end of the process.
Ask the actors to work together.
Discourage the giving of cards and presents – keep it for the final performance.

See how the actors react to reviews:

if they are good and the actors sit back, note them hard.
If they are bad and the actors lose heart, give them a lot of reassurance and inspire them to continue to develop.

Read the reviews yourself kindly and see if there are consistent misunderstandings of your intentions. Then see if you can remove some of them by directing the work more clearly.

The run of performances

Visit the show regularly (once a week or fortnightly) during its run. Inform the actors how often you will come and discuss with them.

Look for the things that you can do to improve or develop the performance.

Establish a way of giving notes:

in a two-hour session on the following day: first ask the actors about their feedback
by typing them up: put all the actors’ notes on the same document

Watch the show that follows your note session to study the relationship between how you gave a note and how it is played. Use this process to learn about directing.

Analysing your work after the run

Take some time to reflect on what you have done and write down your observations for future reference.

Identify:

the problems you encountered
the possible causes by looking back at each stage of the process
any skill deficits and ways of filling them in.

Seek out productions or artists by whom you want to measure yourself.