Entry 3
Now as we move on as a group to the more technical aspects of directing. Some worries plague me as I work both as an actor and a director in the group with Ziting and Sophia. We are done with blocking Ziting and Sophia’s parts for their scripts. I’m about ¾ done. I learned a few things, directing is less an art or technique – rather it is the art of communicating what you want an actor to portray. I agree, there’s only so much to directing, the next step is to convey that desire or director’s vision to the actor.
I’ve managed to read some of the readings. Finding the central image, emphasize the conflict, create tension and hence drama. I have identified the theme of misunderstanding. I tend to direct with cause and effect, using it to flesh out motivation of what a character wants and why he/she wants it. However, even I sometimes have trouble finding the motivation for the separate characters. That’s what stumped me, I couldn’t finish the blocking, partly because I don’t really understand the character’s motivations. I get the theme and idea and all but I can’t seem to put it onto the stage.
Entry 4
Theory is one part, but creativity and vision forms the rest. The majority.
I need to find out what Hakim and Russell really want from this exchange between them. I feel that somehow Hakim still has quite an amount of respect for Russell his former superior. I think that’s why they needed this confrontation, to thrash things out and not leave matters as they are – a misunderstanding of race as it looks like from an outsider’s perspective. I feel as if they needed to provide some kind of catharsis for the audience in this scene, and evoke an even greater sense of pity because the matter is only resolved between them. But as least it is a resolution. This respect is evident when Hakim still addresses him as ‘sir’, not because he was being sarcastic, but because he pities the rash decisions made by Russell that led to the misunderstanding. When the Hakim and Russell express regret over each other’s actions – it points to a kind of redemption for both characters as they move on to a better place.
Now it becomes clear to me. They just needed to air their views as to clear the misunderstanding. With this clear view and recognizing that directing through inner motivation is going to be difficult because they are girls and haven’t been through NS to know what it is like. I decided to direct through physical action alone. Physical behavior triggers an emotional response. With that I’m pleasantly surprised when the actors began to give me feedback on how they felt when they did a certain action. Directing is all about people management and communication and my artistic vision is what keeps everything in line.
Entry 5
We watched many productions of classical Shakespearean works being adapted by other theatre companies each with their unique flavor or presentation – without sacrificing the story. It is interesting to note how native culture would influence Shakespeare so vividly. In essence, the themes that Shakespeare employs are universal human emotions. The tragedies of Macbeth, Hamlet and Othello are not bound within cultural frameworks and are thus open to interpretations or rather cultural adaptations by Chinese, Korean, Japanese as well as Noh Theatre.
Perhaps when we should ever meet with obstacles in directing, we could refer to other adaptations. But what if it is an original work and there are no references. I guess we can only draw from our own experiences or ask our actors for their input and craft it together as a whole.
8 years ago
