The Director's Eye: A Comprehensive Textbook for Directors and Actors [Paperback]

John Ahart (Author)

Book Description

Can a theatre class textbook be both inspirational and informative? Yes! This holistic book on directing and acting does it all. Students will keep it as a lifelong career reference on how to make things work. Written subjectively, it's based on nearly a half-century of teaching and directing. A text that compels involvement in all layers of creating memorable theatre. Thirty-five chapters in seven sections with assignments and convenient section summaries make a complete semester course. This text is far more than "how-to"; it's a narrative about artistic discovery. Experientially it reveals how to jolt lagging imaginations into an ensemble of lively and involved performers. Adaptable for use by student directors and actors from secondary to graduate level. Recommended by leading theatre educators as the text they've been waiting for.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

John Ahart

Product Details

• Paperback: 347 pages
• Publisher: Meriwether Pub; 1st edition (May 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566080711
• ISBN-13: 978-1566080712
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #89,409 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The finest text for directing and acting available., June 25, 2001

By 

Paul Swanson (Chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Director's Eye: A Comprehensive Textbook for Directors and Actors (Paperback)

I've read Clurman and Brook but no text has the depth and breadth of John Ahart's "The Director's Eye". Look at how he advises directors and actors on the ways in which rehearsals become far more productive; the ways scenes become much more dynamic. I am especially impressed with Ahart's methods of rehearsing actors, how to balance structure with freedom, how to create an environment where the play "inevitably happens". This text offers ideas I've never seen anywhere else and not only does "The Director's Eye" present theory; it equally demonstrates how to impliment techniques of rehearsing actors, staging scenes, creating a working ensemble. People may think that they know these concepts; however, I strongly advocate reading this text. It will shake up many conventions that work against the immediate theatrical experience. Just one example is the way Ahart advises having actors memorize their lines - a seemingly banal task few have investigated. Ahart argues that it is often here that acting dies, in the methods actors use to retain their lines. The text is also a practical guidebook offering examples of directing such as working with comedy, scoring the play, creating rehearsal units, and progressing through rehearsals.

I plan to recommend "The Director's Eye" to every other teacher of directing and acting that I know!

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding in every way!, August 21, 2005

By 

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

This review is from: The Director's Eye: A Comprehensive Textbook for Directors and Actors (Paperback)

Along with William Ball's superb A SENSE OF DIRECTION, Director and instructor John Ahart's THE DIRECTOR'S EYE stand as the finest book ever written about the art of directing.

Breaking down the mystery of directing into simple yet illuminating steps, Ahart takes great pains to celebrate the individual voice and the joy inherent in the art of the collaborative theatre.

Ahart stresses the importance of finding the artist's point of view and marrying it to the author's text in creating a staged performance. Carefull to discriminate between merely "staging" a play from "directing", Ahart lays out several activities and philosophies designed to create a safe and collaborative environment where the actors and the director (as well as designers and the rest of the production staff) work to create a unified production that can move an audience.

Ahart should actually have called the book, THE DIRECTOR'S HEART as he repeatedly stresses the importance of using the natural and personal experienceds that one brings to the creative table. He constantly (and rightfully) stresses that the creative process is NOT an intellectual excersise but rather one of passion. It is the intellect though that focuses and DIRECTS the passion towards a single, focuses point.

Written in an inspirational, approachable and helpful tone, THE DIRECTOR'S EYE is a must have for any director and actor.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A 'must' for aspiring directors, July 3, 2001

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Director's Eye: A Comprehensive Textbook for Directors and Actors (Paperback)

John Ahart's The Director's Eye is a comprehensive text for directors and actors is intended for student audiences, but contains practical information which represents a half-century of experience in teaching and directing, containing over thirty chapters on everything from imparting the style and content of a play to the special challenges of comedy and other formats. A 'must' for aspiring directors.