Stage Directing A Director's Itinerary

With Stage Directing: A Director's Itinerary, the student of theatrical directing now has a step-by-step guide to directing a production, from choosing a play to opening night. Unlike other directing textbooks, this practical guidebook provides instruction on how to organize the work of the director through the practical challenges of the directorial process (e.g., organizing a budget spreadsheet, writing casting notices, setting up an audition space, etc.). In Stage Directing, the process of directing a production takes the form of twenty-one chapters, which contain helpful examples and tried-and-true exercises, as well as information on how to organize the director's documents into a director's production notebook.

Michael Wainstein is the Chair of the Department of Performing Arts at Savannah College of Art and Design. He has directed almost two hundred productions at theatres in the United States and Europe. Wainstein was the Artistic Director of companies such as the Firehouse Center for the Arts, The Naples Dinner Theatre, The Lincoln Playhouse, and others. He has worked at The Buxton Festival, The Academy Theatre, The Blowing Rock Playhouse, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Chicago Opera Theatre, Cincinnati Opera, and The Chautauqua Conservatory Theatre.

Acknowledgments and Photo Credits Preface PART I: First Things First Chapter 1: A brief history of directing Chapter 2: Choosing a play and securing a performance license Chapter 3: Budgeting Chapter 4: Reading the play Chapter 5: Interpreting the Script Chapter 6: Research Chapter 7: Concept PART II: Written word to three-dimensional world Chapter 8: The Visual Collaboration Chapter 9: Casting PART III: Rehearsals Chapter 10: Preparing for Rehearsals Chapter 11: The First Rehearsal and Table Work Chapter 12: Staging Rehearsals Chapter 13: Blocking in different stage configurations PART IV: Rehearsing a Musical Chapter 14: Initial Rehearsals of a Musical Chapter 15: Staging Musical Scenes PART V: Rehearsals Continue Chapter 16: Listen to your Inner Voice and Directing the Moments Chapter 17: Working with actors Chapter 18: Solving Problems Chapter 19: Stumble-throughs, Work-throughs, and Run-throughs Chapter 20: Technical Rehearsals and Adding Elements PART VI: Opening the Show Chapter 21: Final Dress to Opening Night Appendix 1: Genre and Playing Style Appendix 2: Script Analysis Case Study—The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams Appendix 3: Sample Rehearsal Schedules Appendix 4: Master Schedule of Production Deadlines Appendix 5: Contracts Glossary