TH206: Directing

Block 5 Featured Course / Department: Theatre and Dance / Professor: Gleason Bauer

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This course provides a practical and theoretical introduction to the basics of directing and theatrical meaning-making. Emphasis will be placed on text interpretation, creative conception, collaboration, casting, rehearsal management, staging, and working with performers.

Through active engagement in this course, students will:

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• Understand the responsibilities of a director, from script interpretation and conceptualization to casting decisions and the overall vision for a production.
• Engage a variety of approaches to textual interpretation.
• Employ dramaturgical research methods.
• Gain an experiential understanding of the meaning-making tools in theatre.
• Create a compelling and coherent artistic vision that guides their directorial process.
• Articulate and reflect on a personal artistic aesthetic.
• Practice constructive criticism and effective communication techniques.
• Understand how to foster a collaborative environment and lead a team toward a unified vision.
• Develop techniques for working with actors, including character development, blocking, and guiding performances. 
• Develop strategies for conducting productive rehearsals, fostering a brave and creative space for exploration and experimentation.
• Develop a directing methodology – a means of preparation and organization that will serve as a blueprint for any project.
• Craft, manage, and assess their learning outcomes, developing the ability to articulate personal processes and progress.

From Prof. Bauer

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As a professional theatre maker, I’ve fulfilled almost every role there is within our craft. However, directing may be my favorite form of artistic expression within the discipline. For me, there is no other part of Theatre that so completely calls upon our full humanity. Directors must use critical thinking to research, social-emotional skills to work with the actors and the creative team, design-thinking, visual and musical acuity, creative problem-solving, on-the-spot decisiveness, adaptability, leadership, and project management. If you can think of a professional skill needed in today’s world, the art of directing probably requires it. To be able to design and offer effective, experiential, high-impact learning, while sharing my passion for directing is a delight. I know that no matter what career path a student chooses – whether in theatre or elsewhere – the skills learned in Directing will enhance their capabilities.