The 30-minute Rehearsal Plan: Making the most of limited time

Every rehearsal is important, but not every rehearsal is created equally. Sometimes actors or spaces are only available for a limited time, or maybe you’re rehearsing in a class period.

When rehearsal time is short, directors need to pack as much productivity in as possible. You also need to be super organized! Here are some thoughts for putting a play together with limited time.

Choosing a Play

If you’ve only got 30-minute rehearsals, a full-length or a musical probably isn’t going to work, unless that is your one and only project for the year, and if so, go for it! (Don’t let a blog on the Internet tell you what you can or cannot do).

Consider a one-act as your play of choice with limited time. This will help with the overwhelming feeling that you’ll never be able to run the whole thing during a rehearsal. There are a lot of great 30-minute scripts out there (Check out these Theatrefolk plays!) that will give students a rewarding experience and fit into your rehearsal schedule.

If you’re working with a class on a production, Vignette plays are another option. Vignette plays offer short scenes on a theme. This way, you could have several scenes being rehearsed at once, while you move from group to group keeping everyone on track. This is also a great job for a student stage manager or assistant director. If everyone is working, it’s amazing how much gets done!

Director Type

There are numerous directing styles, from collaborative to “my way or the highway.” With a limited amount of rehearsal time, a go-with-the-flow approach probably isn’t going to be your best option. If you want your rehearsals to be productive, you should know what you want, be clear with your rehearsal objectives, and execute accordingly.

Having said that, you could also add a week or two at the beginning of your rehearsal schedule for exploration. If you crave collaboration from your student actors, build it in. Set time to play, discuss, experiment, fail, and try again. Then, when it’s time to get down to the nitty-gritty of putting a play together, you have all that collaborative knowledge at the ready to combine with your own rehearsal objectives.

Set Expectations

When you have limited time, everyone has to be on the same page. EVERYONE. It won’t work otherwise. When your students come into class or into your rehearsal space, they have to know exactly what to do. (For example, check in with the stage manager, put your phone away, get your script/pencil, go onstage and start stretching.) Just like classroom procedures, use a rehearsal or two to practice your rehearsal procedures. If things get lax and you realize you hardly rehearsed for five minutes, practice the procedures again. There just isn’t time for chatting and goofing off when you only have 30 minutes.

30-Minute Rehearsal Plan Steps

What goes into planning for 30-minute rehearsals?

Step 1: Make a rehearsal calendar.
Start with your performance days and work backwards. How much time do you have? Don’t forget to include tech week, run-throughs, and blocking rehearsals. The typical rule of rehearsal is that for each minute of performance on stage, you will need one hour of rehearsal time. That means for a 30-minute rehearsal, each minute takes two rehearsals. Think about how you want to introduce the play at the beginning. Do you want a week of collaborative exploration? Or a week of ensemble building exercises? How much time do you need to set up procedures? Once you’ve put your calendar together, take a good, hard look at it and make sure you have the time to give this show all the attention it will need.

Step 2: Lay out each rehearsal.
Know exactly what you want to accomplish in a rehearsal and communicate it clearly to your actors and team (stage management, assistant directors). Then with that rehearsal goal, set up a framework that more or less runs the same way each rehearsal. For example:

• 5 Minutes: Warm-up and Check-In Circle
  A vocal exercise, a physical exercise, and a check-in circle. Let everyone say something in one or two sentences. For example: “Say something good,” “Say how you’re feeling,” “Say something you want to do in rehearsal.” This will give you insight into the temperature of the group and whether you need to adjust your tone in executing your rehearsal goal.

• 20 Minutes: Work Session
  In a 30-minute rehearsal, realistically you only have 20 minutes to meet your goal. That means you’re rehearing in small chunks: one page, or less than one page, at a time. Or you’re doing one character improv exercise (Click the download below for three rehearsal exercises!). Or you have the opportunity to fix one moment of messy blocking. Keep that in mind: What’s the one thing I want to achieve?

  It’s also suggested that you block your scenes ahead of time. It’s all about being efficient with your time. If you walk into rehearsal and say “I don’t know where you should go….” then your rehearsal will be over.

  Many directors make their rehearsal calendars and then tell actors whether or not they will be needed at any given rehearsal. For a 30-minute rehearsal, which is really just a 20-minute rehearsal, it’s suggested that you call your actors for every rehearsal. Because of the lack of time, there’s always something for your actors to do: rehearse the moment you went over with them in the last rehearsal, complete a character profile, run their lines, prepare to meet with you in the next rehearsal. This will all be noisy, but it will help you stay productive.

• 5 Minutes: Show Session and Check-Out Circle
  Have one group of actors show something they’ve done (it should only be a minute or two) and then end with a check-out circle. Keep your check-out circle rehearsal-specific. What’s one positive thing they did or saw? What’s one thing they need to work on? What’s one thing they want to improve?

Step 3: Remember, it’s a play!
If all of this feels a little militant, you’re not wrong. It’s written with the objective of helping you be productive and keep your show moving forward. It’s so easy to get caught in a chat session and run out of time.

But of course you can throw your plan away one day and do a character dance party. Or sit down and talk about the themes of the play for the entire time. Or play games because everyone is frazzled. Don’t forget that it’s a play and having fun is part of the experience. You know your students best. Do what works for you and your situation to get the play from auditions to opening night.