Three Styles of Directing. Which one are you?

In theater, you often have a wide gamut of personalities within directors, actors, musicians, etc. That’s what makes theater what it is. A bunch of personalities coming in to make a bunch of other personalities. A very interesting environment.

Something that was always interesting to me was the difference in styles of direction.

I’ll give three examples of different directors that I have had but I will switch their names up from real life.

The first we’ll call Marty. Marty had done theater forever and was very skilled at it. He could look at a scene on stage and dissect every detail of it so that he could make it look and produce exactly what he wanted. This meant that the musicals he produced were pretty much unrivaled by any of the other directors, but often the actors would be miserable while producing the show because they felt they had no freedom and had to completely bend to Marty’s will.

The second we’ll call Sandy. Sandy was one of those people that you were never sure if she was on the verge of tears or just passionately talking about nothing. She always developed a deep bond with her cast, and always took time to talk to them about what was on her heart. She believed deeply that each person needed to make their character themselves so that they could fully develop them. This would often produce a mixed show. She gave so much freedom that often the freedom was used to produce ill looking/sounding productions.

The third we’ll call Frank. Frank was someone who always spoke his mind. He was the most outwardly negative of the three. He would say stuff like “if you perform that scene like that again, my soul will die.” Interestingly, however, this didn’t mean that he had ultimate power. Like Sandy, he was very much in support of actors and actresses making their own characters. He simply would just let them know when what they did sucked. His philosophy was if he didn’t tell you to change something, keep doing it like that.

There were pros and cons to all three of these styles. You might be tempted to say “Oh, well you just needed a balance of the two, so Frank was clearly the best.” But in truth, Frank’s plays were never as good as Marty’s plays. They were fine, but they just couldn’t compete with the quality.

Another thing to think about was the experience of actors in these shows. For beginner actors, in some ways, Marty’s method was superior because he helped them to understand what good theater looked like and how to craft themselves to make a part look right. Sandy’s method was better at getting actors to enjoy theater and the community within it. Frank’s was good at weeding out people who were just in it to goof off and have fun.

For myself, One of my first ever performances was under the direction of Marty. My friends who had been in theater much longer were constantly complaining about how Marty didn’t give them any freedom to do things with their character that they thought would be beneficial. I, on the other hand, was completely grateful for the direction. I didn’t really know what to do, so having very specific, good direction was crucial in helping me create the best performance possible.

I’ve never decided which style I like most. They all just have too many pro’s and cons to pick one for sure. Regardless, it’s been a blessing to be able to have all of these teachers over me to help craft me into the best possible performer.

If you had to pick one to learn from, which director would you choose?

Now, take it a step further. Which one reflects your teaching style most closely? Does it match what you desire?

If not, maybe it’s time to do some introspection and adjustments.