31st August, 2009 - Ideas About Directing #9

Idea 9 – Look At Things From Different Angles


For years I directed while sitting at a table positioned right in the middle of where the front row of the audience would be. This was wrong, because his is where only one member of the audience sits. And you have to remember that (if the show sells well) people will be sitting in much more extreme positions in the auditorium, where masking problems and sight lines are much more awkward.

So, that is why I pace around in rehearsals. I look at how the thing looks from different points of view. It reminds you that variety of positioning on the stage is important, because if one actor is behind another, a small shift in where she stands, will bring her into the view of different people.

This rule is really important in unconventional spaces where the audience are sitting in odd places, like side on to the stage.