Play Directing in the School: A Drama Director's Survival Guide (Paperback)

by David Grote (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Directing plays in schools requires knowledge and talents far different than directing for community or professional theatre. In ten comprehensive chapters the author explains the "real world" of producing effective theatricals in the school environment. He details the pitfalls and the problems while providing ideas for consistently successful shows. He covers budgeting, scheduling, faculty politics, motivating and disciplining students and many other school-life realities beyond a director or teacher's job description. Anyone faced with producing a play needs this book as a "Bible" for guidance and fulfillment of objectives. A drama director's survival guide.

About the Author
David Grote taught theatre arts and directed plays in Bakersfield, CA high schools for many years before moving to Scripps College in Claremont, CA. He is currently the artistic director of the Classic Theatre Project in San Francisco.

Product Details

• Paperback: 235 pages
• Publisher: Meriwether Publishing; 1st edition (July 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566080363
• ISBN-13: 978-1566080361
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #339,990 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Number One Title for High School Theatre Directors, June 5, 2001

By	Rick Morse "Professional Puppeteer" (Flushing, Michigan USA) - See all my reviews

Despite performing in professional productions from the age of 11, despite a great high school theatre experience (thanks, JMO!), and despite a university degree in theatre, I suddenly realized how much I needed to know (but didn't!) when faced with my first high school directing job! I learned the director's craft and art from hard experience, from consultations with my own high school director (JMO again), and from reading everything I could get my hands on. This book would have saved me YEARS of trouble had it been available 'way back in the late 1970s!

David Grote knows his stuff. He has worked with actors of all ages and appreciates the special problems confronting the high school theatre director. His advice is solid, practical, and workable. He is, in short, eminently qualified to write on this subject.

If you can buy only one book on directing, buy this one. It's great--and a heck of a lot better than the textbook we used in my university-level directing course!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent reference, August 22, 2000

By	Katherine Pincus (Modesto, CA United States) - See all my reviews

I recently student produced the play Little Women at my high school for my senior project, and I wish that I had read this book before I put on the play. In it there are great suggestions for choosing a play, analyzing the script, prepairing for production, blocking, casting, rehearsal, acting and student actors, recurrent problems, directing the musical, and building a theater program. Everything Grote said I could identify with, and I nearly always agreed. In one section he gives great specific ideas for helping students understand how to portray their part, and I found this section particularly helpful. The only negative thing that I could say about the book is that in the chapter on "recurrent problems" he didn't metion the number one recurrent problem: personality conflicts between cast members! Which anyone ever involved in a drama program would know is nearly always a problem. Overall, however, this book was insiteful, and quite useful. I recommend it for anyone who will be directing a play in a school situation.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Drama Director's Best Friend!, September 28, 1998

By	ElizaBeth "trifioso" (Near Boston,MA USA) - See all my reviews

I read this book to get some new and different ideas for upgrading the Drama Dept in the HS where I teach, and it did not disappoint. While obviously not every suggestion will work in every school situation, the author's years of experience naturally lend themselves to some excellent advice. Of particular help to me where the chapters on how to run auditions, and how to select a play to perform. I highly recommend this book to all teachers and staff in the school setting who are responsible for theatrical productions.