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Tips: Ideas for Directors
Until very recently, directing wisdom was passed on in the form of "tips". Continuing this tradition, you will find them ranging from the way set a scene to directing the actor on the way to laugh. The tips are clear, concise, evocative, and constructed to give you a better day in rehearsal and performance. A buffet of ways to improve immediately that you'll refer to over and over again!
- GenresTheatreDramaNonfiction
263 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
June 21, 2025
A very practical collection of know-how from a man who's produced over 1,300 professional plays, Founder of the Humana Festival of New American Plays (!) at the Actors Theatre of Louisville, so he friggin' knows his stuff. As he says at the beginning, don't read it cover-to-cover but dip in when needed. I'm coming at this from the writer's standpoint, and did read it all. While nothing earth-shattering, he was helpful in reinforcing things already known. Such as...
Quite a bit on Beat Work. For each character in a beat there will be Actions, Tactics, Obstacles. Finding those for each character in each beat is arduous and very time-consuming. Jory recommends just doing it for key scenes and when a moment isn’t working. He refocuses the Character's Want to "Character Wants Someone Else to do....", which connects the action to another character, "thus creating the start of the stimulus/response cycle that makes the best theater". Obstacles can be unclear to characters, and so they use wrong tactics against it. When a character fully knows what he's up against, then he can go to war with increasingly bold tactics.
Helpful advice on working with the Fight Director. “Rule of thumb: a fight taking one minute of stage time, with weapons, will take four hours of rehearsal with the fight director, and daily repetition after he’s gone. Add an additional hour for each fighter. It’s time consuming. Let the fight director suggest the weaponry used and why. Agree on TONE for the fight— is it Funny, Awkward and brutal, Elegant, Dashing and romantic, or Nasty and scary? Sometimes in rehearsal you see that the fight goes on too long to remain vital and interesting on stage. Better a brilliant fight at 40 seconds than a workman like fight at 2 minutes."
And finally a word on a writing device he calls The Build. The Build is a series of lines (4-6) where each character wants the last word, gets louder, and ends because one person gives in. It catches the audience’s attention Often, they are a loud moment in a quiet scene. Usually a pause at the end for the characters to think over where the jousting has left them.
More valuable for a director, but as a writer I'm grateful to Mr. Jory for this book.
Quite a bit on Beat Work. For each character in a beat there will be Actions, Tactics, Obstacles. Finding those for each character in each beat is arduous and very time-consuming. Jory recommends just doing it for key scenes and when a moment isn’t working. He refocuses the Character's Want to "Character Wants Someone Else to do....", which connects the action to another character, "thus creating the start of the stimulus/response cycle that makes the best theater". Obstacles can be unclear to characters, and so they use wrong tactics against it. When a character fully knows what he's up against, then he can go to war with increasingly bold tactics.
Helpful advice on working with the Fight Director. “Rule of thumb: a fight taking one minute of stage time, with weapons, will take four hours of rehearsal with the fight director, and daily repetition after he’s gone. Add an additional hour for each fighter. It’s time consuming. Let the fight director suggest the weaponry used and why. Agree on TONE for the fight— is it Funny, Awkward and brutal, Elegant, Dashing and romantic, or Nasty and scary? Sometimes in rehearsal you see that the fight goes on too long to remain vital and interesting on stage. Better a brilliant fight at 40 seconds than a workman like fight at 2 minutes."
And finally a word on a writing device he calls The Build. The Build is a series of lines (4-6) where each character wants the last word, gets louder, and ends because one person gives in. It catches the audience’s attention Often, they are a loud moment in a quiet scene. Usually a pause at the end for the characters to think over where the jousting has left them.
More valuable for a director, but as a writer I'm grateful to Mr. Jory for this book.
September 17, 2017
Clear, concise. A good set of tips/guidelines for a beginning director, and some helpful reminders and a few new ideas for experienced directors.
Over and over again, the best advice: Warmth and courtesy cost you nothing.
Over and over again, the best advice: Warmth and courtesy cost you nothing.
January 5, 2021
Easy read, great tips and insights.
August 26, 2023
Really great reference guide broken into tiny thoughts or mini-lessons to consider. Might be too much for your first intro to directing, but a great lesson or refresher for anyone else.
January 9, 2025
Clear and concise and a nice sense of humor as well. Always worth a re-read!
February 1, 2016
Another book I discovered while working on a musical I'd written...with a director who seemed to be working from a different script to the one we'd written.
I noted this quotation from Jory's book at the time:
“I once wrote that directors who bar playwrights from rehearsal go to a special hell. I do know that in stressful circumstances it would not be untoward to ask for a day or two apart to prepare something for the playwright to look at. I believe that on a new play we are basically there to make what the writer conceives. Will there be tension and disagreements? Yes. Is it best to work through them together? Yes. Does the writer turn out to be right a majority of the time? Yes. Should the writer ever speak directly to the actors in rehearsal? Yes, they will anyway over a beer. Should the writer ask you first? Yes. Many times I ask the writer to say something to them that she has said to me the night before because I loved the way she said it. Sometimes you must rephrase the playwright's comments so that the actors can absorb the idea on their own terms. It is always best that the writer and director have hammered out an approach before rehearsal, but it isn't always possible, and there are problems generated in the moment. You need to trust the complexity of the writer, director, actor equation. It pays off.”
There were lots of good things in this book, and I think more than a few directors, even experienced ones, would do well to read it.
I noted this quotation from Jory's book at the time:
“I once wrote that directors who bar playwrights from rehearsal go to a special hell. I do know that in stressful circumstances it would not be untoward to ask for a day or two apart to prepare something for the playwright to look at. I believe that on a new play we are basically there to make what the writer conceives. Will there be tension and disagreements? Yes. Is it best to work through them together? Yes. Does the writer turn out to be right a majority of the time? Yes. Should the writer ever speak directly to the actors in rehearsal? Yes, they will anyway over a beer. Should the writer ask you first? Yes. Many times I ask the writer to say something to them that she has said to me the night before because I loved the way she said it. Sometimes you must rephrase the playwright's comments so that the actors can absorb the idea on their own terms. It is always best that the writer and director have hammered out an approach before rehearsal, but it isn't always possible, and there are problems generated in the moment. You need to trust the complexity of the writer, director, actor equation. It pays off.”
There were lots of good things in this book, and I think more than a few directors, even experienced ones, would do well to read it.
October 27, 2013
I want to give Jon Jory a hug. This book is so helpful! He uses his years of experience, sense of humor and knowledge of his craft to share endlessly helpful "tips" on direction. This book is great for directors AND theatre (drama) teachers. Jory's book covers casting, vocabulary, the play, the team, beginning, table work, blocking, working with the Actor, rehearsal, comedy, the final stage and the directors homework. I especially love all the tips on other activities to work on beside run-throughs.
May 27, 2013
an excellent book of short and practical ideas on directing, offered candidly, humorously and generously. appropriate for directors in professional or community theatre, and for those with any level of expertise. the authority of jory's voice and the weight of his experience (including, at times, his own mistakes) make for compelling reading. find fresh approaches to your craft, or get affirmation for what you're doing right. either way, a valuable addition to a director's library.
February 21, 2012
Really great. Simple. I wish someone had handed me this book when I started directing. It would have helped a LOT. Wish there were still mentor directors around who would give newbies tips like in the old days Jory describes.
March 14, 2007
Nucking nabulous!
March 16, 2011
Great for anyone interested in directing! It opened my eyes to a lot of things directors have to deal with and will probably help me as an actor as well.
January 9, 2014
Indispensable reference book for when you're stuck in a rehearsal process, or to make sure you're prepared well enough to avoid getting stuck. Vital addition to a director's toolbox.
September 21, 2014
It gets repetitive, but then again, Jory urges readers not to tackle this book all the way through. Some parts are uniquely helpful, but others just convey common sense.
March 29, 2019
Read for class.
Read
February 2, 2018792.0233 J829 2002
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews