Directing Professionally

A Practical Guide to Developing a Successful Career in Today's Theatre

Kent Thompson, Jim Volz

• Publisher: Methuen Drama
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781474288781
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Theatre Direction & Production

How do you develop both the craft of directing as well as a professional career in freelance directing in today's theatre industry? Drawing on his own extensive experience and that of other theatre professionals from the US and UK, Kent Thompson illuminates a pathway from training, apprenticeship and assistant directing to an established career as a director. Directing Professionally first lays out paths for aspirant directors to train, grow and succeed as directors, then advises freelance directors on how to establish and accelerate their professional careers. It also reveals the most significant ways those directors become artistic directors today. With a frank, thoughtful and often humorous examination of the job of professional direction and artistic direction, Thompson writes about the passion, commitment, artistic vision, directorial experience, leadership skills, and powerful persuasive gifts needed to succeed in this extraordinary field. Featuring case studies and brief interviews with professional theatre directors, artistic directors, producers, critics, managing/executive directors, and theatre leaders currently working in the field in the UK and the US, this volume will equip you to develop your career as a professional director in today's theatre.

Part I

Entering the Theatre Field

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3    The Big Leap

19    Understanding the Business of Theatre

1

The Big Leap

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Chapter Outline

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Location, location, location

Money, money, money

Developing your aesthetic

Finding a pathway forward

Leverage your faculty and fellow alumni

Understanding professional expectations

Directing for the subsidized or not-for-profit theatres

Directing in the commercial theatre

Directing for conservatory or university programs

Finding a mentor

Finding collaborators and colleagues

Graduating with a degree in directing is both exhilarating and terrifying. You’re ready to direct, but anxieties immediately crowd in: Where is my first job? How do I break into the world of professional directing with my training? How can I possibly earn a living in theatre? Before letting these legitimate concerns overwhelm you, take time to figure out what you want to do and where you want to live.

The late Michael Langham (Artistic Director of The Birmingham Rep, The Stratford Festival in Canada, and The Guthrie Theatre) taught me the valuable lifelong practice of “answering the why.” Why do you want to direct in the theatre? This question immediately led to two others: What do you want to direct? And why? To start, answer these questions:

1What do you want to direct? Be specific. Which plays? What genres or styles? For instance, are you drawn to the satiric comedies of Molière or to hard-hitting, dark, and edgy new plays? Are you interested in directing traditional musicals or in creating immersive and interactive experiences? What plays do you believe are most relevant and powerful in today’s world? Are you drawn to theatrical works or events that seek to address injustices, such as inequality for women, or systemic racism? Prioritize your list to those ideas that stimulate you most as a director. Narrow the list again.

2Next, research and compile a list of directors who focus on those titles or that kind of work. If you love musicals in a commercial setting, find out the directors of your favorite titles. If a new play captures your interest, find out the playwright and the director. If you love European or American classics, look for directors who regularly succeed with these plays. For each genre, there are many successful and talented directors. Narrow the list to a manageable size by considering your own directorial style and approach. For instance, are you driven to create innovative or provocative productions of Shakespeare with diverse or gender fluid casting? Or is your directing of Shakespeare more focused on the acting and the text? Do you want to explore “Original Practice”? Research the directors who match your aesthetic and find out where they live and work. And then note the theatres and producing organizations that hire them regularly.

3Finally, look at the companies that focus on the titles, kind of work, and artistic approach you prefer. Which producer brought your favorite musicals to Broadway or the West End? Which theatres commissioned, developed, and/or premiered your favorite new plays? Examine each organization’s commitment to this specific genre, its long-term achievement, its impact on the field, and its size and resources.

Review your three lists. Look for patterns and overlaps. Reflecting upon these lists will help you not only develop your personal aesthetic, but also define your early career goals. This exercise will also aid you with the next big decision—where to live and pursue work.

Location, location, location

Where you choose to live should mirror the type and kind of work you most want to pursue. That location should have multiple opportunities to pursue work inside and outside the theatre, to learn about the field, and to grow as an artist and a professional. Consider your personal needs alongside your professional aspirations. Work out the cost of living and quality of lifestyle that you can afford and accept. Many recent graduates immediately move to London or New York, the two indisputable “centers of professional theatre.” These cities are exciting, invigorating, and stimulating, because each has an unmatched number of theatres, performances, and fellow artists. However, they are also very expensive and intensely competitive. If you’ve been fortunate to attend one of the top-tier training programs in or around these cities, you may have easier access to theatre jobs. However, most theatre artists discover that it typically takes three to five years to build the necessary connections, experience and reputation to garner regular employment in the professional theatre in these cities.

Other early career directors choose cities other than New York or London that have thriving theatre scenes. In the United States, Chicago leads the pack with more than 240 theatre companies, but there are many other cities, including Minneapolis, Seattle, Los Angeles (and Southern California), Houston, Atlanta, San Francisco, Washington DC, and Boston. In the UK, thriving theatre cities include Manchester, Glasgow, Cardiff, Sheffield, Edinburgh, and Birmingham.

Some directors will choose a specific place to live and work based upon personal or family preference. Others make a choice based upon the mission of a particular company. For instance, the Pentabus Theatre Company in Bromfield, Shropshire, a rural theatre company whose mission “is [to] tour new plays to village halls, fields, and theatres across the country, telling stories with local relevance and national impact.”¹ The mission of Junebug Productions in New Orleans is “to create and support artistic works that question and confront inequitable conditions that have historically impacted the African-American community. Through interrogation, we challenge ourselves and those aligned with the organization to make greater and deeper contributions towards a just society.”²

Keep in mind that choosing where to live and work is an important decision, but probably not a permanent one. Most theatre people will live and work in many different places throughout their careers.

Money, money, money

The next big issue is income—after all, you need to make enough to live. We all hope to immediately find work in theatre, but often the reality is that we need a survival job. Look for the following:

1Entry-level jobs in mid-size or large theatre companies, with an emphasis on the artistic, literary, stage management, production, and arts education departments. One of my colleagues worked for a few years in the literary department at a New York theatre acclaimed for producing new plays. He read hundreds of new plays. As he was given more responsibilities, he met and worked with dozens of playwrights. When he returned to his directing career, he immediately began directing world premieres of new plays because of his extensive network as a literary associate.

2Unrelated or part-time jobs in professional theatres that gain you access to shows, staff, and experience. If you have skills in carpentry, graphics, house management, and more, use those to get a job—especially in a theatre that produces work you admire.

3Teaching and/or coaching. Many theatre artists begin their careers by teaching acting or directing at secondary schools for the performing arts, or at universities, conservatories, and studios. Teaching is challenging work, and it often brings more rigor to our directing, because it demands that we must practice what we teach. Some directors become accomplished as acting coaches and work with many levels of actors. Others create studios that specialize in specific parts of the profession, such as preparation and techniques for auditioning.

4Entry-level jobs in a related part of the industry, such as an assistant to a casting director, agent or personal manager, a general manager in the commercial theatre, or a staff member at a theatrical media and marketing firm, etc.

5Non-theatre jobs that both pay well and provide flexibility to pursue your directing career. These include the stereotypical jobs of bartending or waiting tables. However, a director’s managerial skills can also give you opportunities to manage restaurants or offices, serve as a sales person, work as personal assistant to a celebrity, plan and execute corporate events or not-for-profit galas, coordinate production calendars at media companies, or pursue other creative tasks such as website design, graphic design, videography and photography, and many more. After moving to New York City to pursue directing, I worked as a temp, typing into computers large volumes of pro-forma press releases, correspondence, manuals, and media announcements. When I became frustrated with the bland and awkward writing, I started editing and revising the content. Rather than being fired, I was then promoted several times, eventually working as a writer of speeches, confidential correspondence, and strategic plans for the CEO of a multi-national corporation. That experience also taught me much about good and bad leadership.

Developing your aesthetic

The process of finding and developing your personal aesthetic and your artistic voice and vision will take many years. At the beginning of your career, you will have been heavily influenced by your faculty mentors and your university or conservatory program. You will also have your own dreams, aspirations, and ambitions for your career as a director.

My best advice to any young director is two-fold: See as much theatre as you can! Read as much about theatre as you can! When I trained at London’s Guildhall School of Music & Drama, my scholarship was so generous that I was able to see more than 200 shows in three years. Although I was blessed with brilliant, field-leading teachers and artists from the Royal Shakespeare Company (e.g., Cicely Berry), attending so many productions tu...