Directing for the Stage: A Workshop Guide of Creative Exercises and Projects [Paperback]

Terry John Converse (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1995

The 42 exercises detailed in this comprehensive guide provide both the instructor and the student a 'user-friendly' workshop structure. The basic concepts of directing are learned progressively. This approach is totally new -- the student discovers the demands and problems of directing by actually doing it step-by-step. The student's own directing style emerges with each exercise.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The forty-two exercises detailed in this comprehensive guide provide both the instructor and the student a "user-friendly" workshop structure. It may be used for both beginning and advanced courses of Directing for Theatre. The basic concepts of directing are learned progressively. The approach is totally experiential.

Review

42 training exercises and projects for stage directing are included in this guide, which provides seven chapters filled with exercises for student stage directors. The basic directing concepts are included in a text which encourages hands-on experience. -- Midwest Book Review

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Product Details

• Paperback: 328 pages
• Publisher: Meriwether Publishing; 1st edition (September 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566080142
• ISBN-13: 978-1566080149
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #54,683 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Too technical, no feeling..., October 15, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Directing for the Stage: A Workshop Guide of Creative Exercises and Projects (Paperback)

I worry this book may cause new directors to develop bad habits. It is absolutely director cenetered and ignores actors and how to work with them. For seasoned directors it contains nothing new if you already know how to mount an intellectually consistent, well-staged production. The approach to directing in this book takes away all actor creativity, advocating the director as monarch rather than teacher. Several year ago I saw a production of Mr. Converse's THE TEMPEST. It was 4 hours long, featured added material which was introduced to enforce a strained concept. The actors did not seem to understand what they were doing or why. They were like square pegs forced into round holes. And the actor playing Prospero was simply painful to watch. The visual imagery was very nice but the show was terribly over-produced and over-directed...EXACTLY what I would expect to see from the person who wrote this text. He obviously practices what he preaches. If this is the style of directing you advocate, and some do, this is the book for you. But to compare it to Viola Spolin is simply outrageous. Better to just buy her "A REHEARSAL GUIDE FOR DIRECTORS" if you like her "IMPROVISATION FOR THE THEATRE." This book can not touch her sensitivity to directing the performer as opposed to directing the play.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars works best as a textbook, February 4, 2003

By 

J. Remington "John Remington" (Adams, Oregon USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Directing for the Stage: A Workshop Guide of Creative Exercises and Projects (Paperback)

Mr. Converse has written with this helpful introductory course, a fine textbook for introducing one to the craft of directing. When viewed in that context, this book serves its purpose well. Having used this text in conjunction with William Ball's superb book "A Sense Of Direction", in the directing class I teach, I have found Converse's excercises to be helpful and precise (if rather dry) in building craft. Especially helpful is Converse's chapters on blocking and creating pictures. His suggestions and activities designed to teach one how to communicate and direct traffic are most helpful. If one is looking for a great read, this is not the book to use. For that I again suggest Ball or Clurman's fine "On Directing". But for some "hands on" activities in the dramatic classroom or for the director just starting out on their own, this will work just fine- as long as you have someone else to bounce your ideas off of.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exposes you to a series of exercises that help, February 21, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Directing for the Stage: A Workshop Guide of Creative Exercises and Projects (Paperback)

This book is simple, concrete, and to the point. It will help you develop various directing techniques, and it will leave the rest up to you. Its purpose is not to try and train you into some special type of director, but to give you the basic technical skills that will allow you to find your own artistic style. It is most certainly a great book to start with, and its exercises would likely help more advanced directing students hone their skills.