Aug 20, 20203 min
Updated: Aug 21, 2020
You love going to the theatre – the lights, the set, the music, your favorite performers! How exactly does a director tackle putting it all together? How does a director get the courage to step up to the plate? We got you covered.
“Notes to a Young Director” Parts 1, 2, and 3 give you access to professional tips to boost your creativity, ability to collaborate, and just what to do to start.
A group of 2,300+ theatre directors were asked what the best books on directing are. These are the results. We have highlighted the books we think are essential for all theatre folk!
#1 - The Empty Space by Peter Brook
#2 - A Director Prepares by Anne Bogart
#3 - Backwards & Forwards: A Technical Manual for Reading Plays by David Ball and Michael Langham
#4 - A Sense of Direction: Some Observations on the Art of Directing by William Ball
#5 - The Viewpoints Book: A Practical Guide to Viewpoints and Composition by Anne Bogart & Tina Landau
#6 - Towards a Poor Theatre by Jerzy Grotowski
#7 - Notes on Directing: 130 Lessons in Leadership from the Director's Chair by Frank Hauser & Russell Reich
#8 - Tips: Ideas for Directors by Jon Jory
#9 - Theatre of the Oppressed by Augusto Boal
#10 - The Director's Craft: A Handbook for the Theatre by Katie Mitchell
#11 - The Theatre and Its Double by Antonin Artaud
#12 - Brecht on Theatre by Bertolt Brecht
#13 - Play Directing: Analysis, Communication, and Style by Francis Hodge
#14 - How To Read A Play: Script Analysis for Directors by Damon Kiely
#15 - Directors on Directing edited by Toby Cole and Helen Krich-Chinoy
#16 - On Directing by Harold Clurman
#17 - Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp
#18 - Craig on Theatre by Edward Gordon Craig
#19 - Fundamentals of Play Directing by Alexander Dean and Lawrence Carra
#20 - Experimental Theatre: From Stanislavski to Peter Brook by James Roose-Evans
Other recommended books: To The Director by Michael Chekhov; An Event in Space: JoAnne Akalaitis in Rehearsal; Thinking Like a Director by Michael Bloom; Meyerhold on Theatre by Vsevolod Meyerhold; The Vakhtangov Sourcebook by Yevgeny Vakhtangov; Unbalancing Acts: Foundations for a Theatre by Richard Foreman; Directors in Rehearsal by Susan Letzler Cole; Directing Actors: Creating Memorable Performances for Film & Television by Judith Weston; The Directorial Image: The Play And The Director by Frank Alonzo McMullan; The Simple Stage: Its Origins in the Modern American Theater (Contributions in Drama and Theatre Studies) by Arthur Feinsod; Staging Modern Playwrights: From Director's Concept to Performance by Sidney Homan; The Director's Eye: A Comprehensive Textbook for Directors and Actors by John Ahart; Directing for the Stage: A Workshop Guide of Creative Exercises and Projects by Terry John Converse; On Film-making: An Introduction to the Craft of the Director by Alexander Mackendrick and Paul Cronin; Sitting In a Dark Theatre - How to Direct a Play and Not Lose Your Mind by Nicole Dominguez Appleby; Rules for Radicals by Saul Alinsky; 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John C. Maxwell; Creating Life Onstage by Marshall Mason; Words Into Action: Finding the Life of the Play by William Gaskill; Directing Plays, Directing People: A Collaborative Art by Mary B. Robinson; and The Theatrical Image by James H Clay.