Director as Collaborator

Robert Knopf is Professor of Theater at the University of Buffalo. A theater director and scholar, he is the author of The Theater and Cinema of Buster Keaton (Princeton University Press, 1999). For Yale University Press, he co-edited Theater of the Avant-Garde, 1950-2000 (2011), and edited Theater and Film (2004), and Theater of the Avant-Garde, 1890-1950 (2015). For the stage, he has directed at Circle-in-the-Square Downtown, Cherry Lane Studio, Paradise Factory, Circle Rep Lab, and historic Town Hall, all in New York City. He served as dramaturg for the National Public Radio series The Archaeology of Lost Voices, for which he adapted and directed the docudrama Hidden Dragon. Prior to his current teaching position, he taught at Purdue University and the University of Michigan, where he was Director of Graduate Studies in Theater.

• CONTENTSAcknowledgments Introduction What Is Collaboration? The Core Action The Responsibilities of Collaboration Fundamental Techniques Supplemental Reading 1 Collaboration and Leadership Balancing Leadership and Collaboration Supplemental Reading 2 Core Action Story and Plot Exercise Critique Action Analysis Script Analysis Key Terms Supplemental Reading 3 Collaboration in Rehearsal The First Scene Collaboration Preparation Sample Rehearsal Schedule Rehearsal Observations Videotaping Rehearsals Supplemental Reading 4 Directing Elements Textual Elements Structure Actions and Objectives Shifts and Key Moments Groundplan Character Relationship and Status Language Visceral Elements Tempo and Rhythm Sound and Mood Visual Composition MovementStage Configurations Gesture Environment Style Integrating Directing Elements Script Analysis Dramaturgy Checklist 5 Design Collaboration Core Action Statements Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen The Baltimore Waltz by Paula Vogel The Birthday Party by Harold Pinter Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare Design Timetable Key TermsSupplemental Reading 6 Other Collaborators Playwrights Readings and Staged Readings Dramaturgy Music Directors and Choreographers Key Terms7 Collaboration and TechnologyTechnology as a Tool for Collaboration Technologists and Technical Directors 8 Devised and Immersive TheatersDevised TheatreImmersive Theatre 9 Auditions and Casting Casting the One-Act Plays Audition Goals Supplemental Reading APPENDIX A Forms Project Proposal Form Sample Audition Notice Audition Form Sample Callback Form Sample Cast List Rehearsal Observation Form Producing Checklist Program Information Poster Information Course Outline APPENDIX B Glossary of Key Terms APPENDIX C Bibliography of One-Act Plays APPENDIX D Selected Bibliography Directing Acting Design Playwriting Dramaturgy Ensembles Theater History and Theory Management Publicity Index