Directing for Theatre with Dean Bryant & Sarah Goodes

How do directors choose plays? Is their relationship with the audience different from an actor’s? What are they looking for during the previews? How DO directors direct?

MTC Associate Artistic Director Sarah Goodes and former Associate Director Dean Bryant talk to us about the ins and outs of directing, from the very beginnings – choosing the play and casting the actors – to the dramaturgical process, life in the rehearsal room and beyond.

[conflict]

Anne and Dean both provided me some great insight on theatre directors. Throughout the video they both discussed various things that they experience and have to do as a director. They provided why they have they do all the things they do, and revealed the true significance of a director. I already had a pretty good idea that the job was very stressful and required lots of work and attention, but I was not sure of the actual extent of that stress and work. Dean discussed how when approaching your work as a director, you need to research the time period for the set of play and the current time period of the world. He also discussed his love for musicals and how he important he thinks they are to theatre. I thought it was very cool that Dean was a writer as well. I could tell that he had lots of knowledge and experience surrounding directing, writing, and just the theatre scene as a whole. I think the most important thing, and something that was familiar with, is that you need to be sure to make something that is going to be relatable to a specific audience. As a director, one of your most important things is going to be to make sure the audience understands what is going on throughout the play and why. I find this to be very true because the audience is who is going to be watching and rating your play, so your main focus as a director should be the audience. I believe that most of the things Anne and Dean talked about I was somewhat familiar with, but they provided me with some deeper knowledge on the topics.

[LouiePGallo]

Sarah's line about how an actor can take something an "shine it through a prism" was super insightful.

[RafaelMusni]

This was a wonderful introduction to the point of view of a director. Thank you!

[June]

Very enjoyable to revisit things forgotten that I once thought I knew.