My Directing Approach in the Early Stages

Leadership is not contrary to collaboration. It is in fact crucial to it. Leadership is what organizes the collaboration. It gives it focus, discipline, boundaries, and orientation. It combines ideas with goals, visions with imaginations. Leadership helps collaborators find common ground between varying ingredients of imagery, dramaturgy, intellectuality, philosophy, and social view-points. It also involves practical matters: setting targets, timetables, and budgets; cultivating good relationships and healthy attitudes; inspiring imaginations, creativity, commitments and ‘going the extra mile’.

(Cohan, 2011, 13-14)

In the early stages of the formation of Bleeding Edge Theatre Company, we decided that the cast would work as a collaborative in terms of devising the performance. This meant that the conventional role of a director would have to be revised. In most cases, as I’m aware, the director typically already has the script in mind and can begin to create a performance concept before the rehearsals have begun. Therefore, I had to step away from the conventional role of a ‘director’ in the early stages to allow us to devise in a collaborative manner.

I have very little experience in being a director, especially within a collaborative company, therefore it was vital that I did some research beforehand on how directors within the industry direct in a collaborative manner. I decided to look at how directors, still creating work in the theatre industry, approach collaboration. Ric Knowles, who has an impressive career and has an extensive portfolio as a director, dramaturgy and scholar, offers an insight into how a director can work within a collaborative company. He claims that it is the directors’ duty to “serve as a focal point for the project and provide a clearly defined context within which all of the collaborators work as contributing artists” (Knowles, 2015, 2). Therefore, during the early stages of devising, I’m constantly considering how we frame the performance within the context of ‘advanced technology’. I’m promoting the use of experimentation with plot ideas and performance techniques to allow the entire cast to have an environment where they can become artists or showcase their creativity.

However, ‘one size does not fit all’ and that is particularly relevant in the approaches to directing. I think it is important for me to develop my own directing craft. As it stands, it excites me when the actors begin to experiment. I am encouraging the cast to experiment with their bodies, voices, expressions and to develop forward-thinking concepts. I struggle to allow the first attempt to be the last attempt, so I like to direct multiple options for the same scene to ensure that I am aware of all the exciting possibilities to portray our engagement and stance with advanced technology. This is already beginning; the cast’s choreographers are excellent at experimenting with movement which allows me to see what connotes the company’s manifesto and mission on stage. I am excited and intrigued with contemporary theatre and contemporary techniques. While I have a huge appreciation for traditional theatre, I’m interested in how we can push the limits of performance and present the audience with a piece of theatre that is self-aware and current. This is what I’m hoping to achieve as a director.

As of the 5th of March, Bleeding Edge Theatre Company has begun to work with script and text-based devising. So, look out for my next blog post detailing this!!

-Marcus
Director & Writer

Works cited:

Knowles, R. (2015) Fundamentals of Directing. Canada: Nick Hern Books.
Cohen, R. (2011) Working Together in Theatre: Collaboration & Leadership. England: Palgrave Macmillan