Directing

Bring your vision to life.

Explore practical directing tips, rehearsal strategies, and creative approaches for both student and teacher directors. From first read to final performance, find what you need to shape strong, confident productions.

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Acting

Getting Excited: How to Get “Buy-in” at Your First Rehearsal

When selecting a show for your school to produce, you want to choose a show that is fun, appeals to your students, challenges them, and helps them grow as performers and technicians. But choosing a...

Directing

How to Put on a Play That Your Administration Doesn’t Like

Sometimes you want to do a show on a tough subject matter. Sometimes your administration doesn’t want you to. On our Drama Teacher Podcast, teacher Chris Evans shared his experience and insights...

Acting

The First Rehearsal Read-Through: Yay or Nay?

When working on a production with students, one of the first rehearsals (if not the very first rehearsal) is often dedicated to a full read-through of the script. This generally consists of the...

Classroom Exercise

Three “Get to Know You” Games

One of the most common activities that occurs during a first drama class or rehearsal is some form of a “Get to Know You” game. Starting with games is not just a nice break for students who may...

Directing

Theatre Etiquette 101

When teaching students who are brand-new to theatre, it’s important to discuss and apply the expectations of the drama classroom, and the theatrical world. We chatted with Kerry Hishon on the Drama...

Directing

Pros and Cons of Double-Casting

In theatrical terms, double-casting is when two actors are both cast in the same role, and take turns playing the role during alternating performances. It is different than casting an understudy....

Directing

Casting Challenge: Not Enough Actors!

Our next casting challenge is the exact opposite of our last post. What happens when you have fewer actors than named parts in the script? This can be a great acting challenge for students, as it...

Directing

Pros & Cons of Callbacks

Imagine this: You’ve just completed your audition for the school production. You’re feeling really confident and happy with your performance. You can’t wait to find out who is going to be playing...

Directing

Creating a Rehearsal Schedule

Creating a rehearsal schedule can be a daunting task, but it is absolutely necessary for your production. Staff and students (both actors and crew members) must know the schedule expectations, so...

Directing

Choosing Your Artistic Team

As a busy teacher and director, having a great artistic team is essential to a successful school production. Having a great team in place means that you have a supportive, enthusiastic group all...

Directing

What Makes the Best Assistants?

Theatre is such a collaborative art form. As the saying goes, “many hands make light work.” Theatrical production assistants come in many forms. Pretty much any crew member or artistic staff member...

Directing

Coming to the End: Reflecting on Your Process

Coming to the end of a show’s run is an incredibly emotional experience. You’ve put hours and hours of work into a project that, in the end, has ceased to exist. Yes, you have the memories you’ve...

Directing

How to Effectively Use a Student Assistant Director

Directing a show for your students can be a daunting task. Teachers are busy people! On top of in-class time, lesson planning, marking, administrative tasks, and all the other jobs that arise,...

Directing

The Ensemble in Middle and High School Plays

Ensemble Definition A unit or group of complementary parts that contributes to a single effect; all the parts of something considered together and in relation to the whole; the general or total...

Directing

A Comparison of Rehearsal Blocking Techniques

Teachers, when working in rehearsals with your students, are you more of a planner type or a go-with-the-flow type? Do you map out all the blocking and movements in advance, or do you allow...

Directing

Directing the School Musical: 5 Tips for Success

Directing a musical is a daunting feat. We spoke with three teachers about their experience directing musicals at the school level. From their experiences, we’ve got 5 tips to share that will help...

Directing

How to “Pre-Block” a Scene

When directing a show, it can be very useful to “pre-block” a scene ahead of time. “Pre-blocking” means to plan all basic character movements in advance of the rehearsal. This can save a lot of...

Directing

3 Tips: How to Stage a Show on a Small Budget

For many drama teachers, a dwindling production budget is an ongoing struggle. How do you put up a full production with limited funds? Beth Goodwin portrays the double whammy she works in a small...