Directing Exercises
.png)
1 - Silent Tension experimenting with visual pauses
1
Silent Tension
(Experimenting with visual pauses)
Using two actors from your team, create a 2 – 3 minute scene with clearly established characters, situation and location (the who, the what, the where) in which the tension between characters is so strong that they are unable to speak. In addition to communicating clearly who, what and where through silence, plan on highlighting at least one important moment through the use of a visual pause.
An example might be: Where: a bedroom, who: two robbers and what: looking for jewelry, but afraid of getting caught.
Create a workable ground plan by using available pieces.
Evaluation:
Was the situation (the who, the what, the where) well communicated?
Did the actor communicate through silence? Was there indicating? If so, was it distracting?
Did the actors seem to use inner dialogue?
Was the silence convincing, or was it, in part or whole, too much of a stretch?
Was there more or less focus on a particular character?
Where were the visual pauses? What effect did they have, and what motivated their use? Was their placement in the scene effective?
What was your favorite moment?
​
Adapted from Improvisations for the Theatre Viola Spolin
Directing for the Stage Terry John Converse
​
​
​
​
.png)
2 - Sounds of Silence
experimenting with body positions and music
2
Sounds of Silence
(Experimenting with body positions and music)
Create a two character silent scene that uses music to dramatize characters in a situation where they are so overwhelmed with emotion as to be bereft of speech. Strive to make the who, what and where as clear as possible and strive for strong storytelling with a definite beginning, middle, and end. In addition to using music as a means of tapping into the emotional core of the scene, the plan also to use the communicative power of body positions fully to reinforce the “sounds of silence.”
Just as music is well suited to expressing the nuances of variably shifting moods, there are strong communicative potential in body position.
The source of the music: It can be realistically, coming from the natural source, such as a jukebox or a radio. It can be used more expressionistically.
The duration of the music: There can be music throughout the entire scene, or it can be used intermittently. “Silence is never more audible than when the last sound of music has died away.” Max Picard.
The selection of music: Any kind of music with or without lyrics is fine. A single selection is fine, or several selections are possible.
In sync with the silent action: The music must be carefully integrated with the action. The music might provide a general frame to enhance action, or it might provide an extremely specific, beat-by-beat syncopation with the staging.
The volume: you will not be able to have a sound check. Is the music a force or is it subliminal?
Evaluation:
Was the situation (the who, the what, the where) well communication? Was there a clear beginning, middle, and end?
Was the music in any way distracting, or did it enhance the scene? Would someone unfamiliar with the exercise be consciously aware of the music?
Was the silence fully justified?
Were there a variety of body positions? Did the choice of body positions help shift the focus between the two characters? Were the choices in body positions justified psychologically?
Where were the visual pauses? What effect did they have, and what motivated their use? Was their placement in the scene effective?
What was your favorite moment?
​
​
Adapted from Improvisations for the Theatre Viola Spolin
Directing for the Stage Terry John Converse
​
​
3 - Silently Familiar, Silently Strange
(Experimenting with right and left)
3
Silently Familiar, Silently Strange
(Experimenting with right and left)
Create a two character silent scene in which something familiar becomes something strange. Justify the situation and the silence by strategically bringing into the play dynamic differences between right and left. Both the ground plan and the staging should be carefully designed with the vectors of right and left in mind. As a means of further highlighting the differences between the right and the left, the scene will be presented in two ways.
- First, as originally staged.
- Second, as a mirror-imaged staging of the scene where everything is identical except for the fact that right and left with both the setting and the staging is reversed.
Some helpful images
Evaluation:
Were the vectors of right and left used well in designing the ground plan and staging the scene?
What happened when right and left were reversed in the mirror image staging of the scene? Which of the two scenes was the most effective (sometimes the workshop audience has been known to like the mirror image version better, or maybe the moments of the mirror scene better)? What was the overall difference in effect between the two scenes?
Was the silence justified, or was it, in part or in whole, a stretch?
Was the familiar made strange, and was it theatrically exciting?
Were there any effective visual pauses?
Were body positions worked with effectively?
​
Adapted from Improvisations for the Theatre Viola Spolin
Directing for the Stage Terry John Converse
​
​
4 - Silent Journey
4
Silent Journey
Create a two-character silent scene centered around a literal or figurative journey. Since a journey is almost always associated with a passage through space (traveling), it is appropriate that this particular motif is paired in this exercise with the judicious use of stage areas. As always, convincingly justify the silence while clearly communicating the who, the what, and the where of the situation. Even if the journey is strictly metaphorical, use the creative interplay of movement in association with the stage areas, to reinforce the theme of traveling visually.
If the choice is literal, the possibilities for a journey could range from the extraordinary to the commonplace. Perhaps it’s about the trip of a lifetime, or maybe trying to get to work.
If the choice is figurative, the dramatized “journey” will very likely be related in some way to discovery or change.
The challenge of this exercise is to discover an effective way to stage a journey. Implicit or explicit in any journey is a passage through space, and similarly the director has to find an imaginative way to dramatize the journey in actual space. Proscenium stage space is divided into fifteen separate areas and for the director to use space effectively in any capacity (from creating a functional ground plan to actual blocking), it is essential to have a firm grasp of the nuances and dynamics inherent in each of the stage areas.
All space is not perceived as equal. Stage space is conventionally divided three ways horizontally (upstage, center, and downstage) and three ways vertically (right, left, and center). Intersecting the horizontal rows with the vertical columns creates nine separate areas. In practice, six additional “in between” areas are used by directors to fully define the space. As important as it is for directors to be able to use these terms fluently when speaking to actors, it is even more crucial for directors to understand the dynamic differences in strength between the major areas.
- Stage right is stronger than stage left
- Downstage is stronger than upstage
- The center of a framed area is stronger than any of the peripheral parts.
Evaluation:
Were the relative strengths of the stage areas strategically used to tell us about the silent journey? Was the handling of these areas as a communicative tool well done, or was it too subtle or heavy-handed? Was the staging effective in putting the journey into space?
Did specific areas tend to become associated with a specific character and/or idea or mood?
Was the situation (the who, what and where) well communicated?
Was the silence convincing or was it in part or in whole, too much of a stretch?
Outside of a workshop exercise, would this scene stand up on its own? Would it keep our interest?
Were there any visual pauses?
Adapted from Improvisations for the Theatre Viola Spolin
Directing for the Stage Terry John Converse
​
​
5 - Breaking Silent Boundaries
5
Breaking Silent Boundaries
Create a two character silent scene in which the boundaries are defined and broken. Where implicit or explicit, a scene about invading territory will inevitably require putting to use psychological areas, the featured directorial technique of this exercise. In creating a situation that fully justifies both the silence and some sort of literal or figurative “space invasion,” plan on using one or more well-defined psychological areas.
A single psychological area becomes, in effect, a spatial motif that the audience learns to associate with specific characters, ideas, or moods. The psychological area may be associated with a single character only, or it might be associated with several, and in any given play there may be several different psychological areas put to use. When more than a single character is associated with an area, oftentimes the variation in feeling or perception about the area becomes the dramatic point. For instance, the various characters in Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard have radically different feelings about the orchard, and a director might choose to highlight these differences by showing us the different ways in which the characters approach a specific window that looks upon their orchard.
Even when the empty space becomes the issue, where the void becomes a visual symbol for the spiritual emptiness of the human condition, there is ample opportunity for the use of psychological areas.
The challenge of this exercise is to use one or more psychological areas within a context of breaking boundaries. Since a psychological area relates to a real space, there have to be literal boundaries, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that a particular character is always conscious of their boundaries. Breaking literal or figurative boundaries relates to territoriality There is such a natural connection between psychological areas and breaking boundaries that it might lead to the thinking that with one there has to be the other, such as when the “Meathead” of All In The Family sits in Archie’s chair. But psychological spaces may or may not become territorial, and may or may not become invaded depending upon the basic situation
Sometimes spatial metaphors suggest a successful merging of territories, as in the phrases, “meeting halfway,” “finding common ground” or even “coming together.” Just how easy it is for the metaphor to slip into reality has been noticed by many a parent who has to deal with “the line” between two or more children in the backseat of the car.
In addition to actual rooms, set pieces, and possessions, boundaries can also include personal space. Normal conversation distance is dependent upon the need to maintain personal space; if this space is in any way encroached upon, there is an immediate sense of discomfort.
Evaluation:
Was there at least one distinct psychological area? Was the psychological area related to a character, idea, or mood, or a combination of these things?
Was a boundary clearly established, and did the breaking of the boundary make sense and create interest? Was the boundary related to, or separate from, a particular psychological area? Was the boundary:
a. Subtle or obvious (overt or covert)?
b. Literal or figurative?
Were the dynamics of the stage areas and body positions strategically used to establish boundary or psychological area?
Were the dynamics of right and left strategically used to establish boundary or psychological area?
Were there any effective visual pauses?
Was the silence justified?
Favorite moment?
Adapted from Improvisations for the Theatre Viola Spolin
Directing for the Stage Terry John Converse
​
​
​
​
6 - Silent Status Swapping
(Experimenting with levels)
6
Silent Status Swapping
(Experimenting with Levels)
Create a silent two-character scene in which the sharply divided status between the two characters is somehow “swapped” or reversed by the end of the scene. Silence is to be used by one or both characters as a deliberate control tactic – i.e., a strategy for power. Highly appropriate for “power plays” of all types is the dynamic use of levels, which is the featured technique of this exercise. Judiciously use levels to dramatize the shifting status between the two characters.
Attaining status can be as simple as being the first to do something – the first kid on your block to own a two-speed bike, the first of your friends to go on a date, or the first in your family to go to college or graduate school. Shifts in status may be suitably advanced subject matter for sociologists, but they can also be as simple as beating your best friend at a video game.
Spatial metaphors remind us that status is often associated with space. An arrogant person ‘tramples over people” or “brushes people aside.” Such metaphors are excellent hints for creating blocking or motivating an actor to create movement.
Status is very much played out in silence, the way we speak hints at our status, but status “talks” without the use of words as well. Status us often lurking in the background when silence is used as a tactic or strategy for power. Silence, for example, may be used between strangers in a public place, such as seatmates on a bus, train or plane to maintain privacy.
The challenge of this exercise is to creatively connect status with the use of levels. All things being equal, the actor on the highest level will command the most attention. Obviously factors such as body position, stage area, movement, costuming and lighting have the potential of intensifying or counterbalancing the use of level, There is also the factor of contrast; any time an actor is in contrast to the rest of the group, the actor in the generally weaker position will in the weaker position that is in contrast will take focus.
Evaluation:
Was the silence justified and was it used effectively as a strategy for power? Was the silence equally associated with both characters, or did one character in particular seem to “own” the silence?
Was there a clear division of status between the two characters?
Was the status between the two characters convincingly reversed by the end of the scene?
Did the use of levels create a convincing shift of status, or was the change accomplished in other ways?
Were there any effective visual pauses?
Was the use of body positions, stage areas, and movements well integrated with the use of level?
​
​
Adapted from Improvisations for the Theatre Viola Spolin
Directing for the Stage Terry John Converse
​
7 - Broken Silence Breakdown
(experimenting with visual progression)
7
Broken Silence Breakdown
(Experimenting with Visual Progression)
Create a two-character silent scene that builds steadily to some sort of breakdown. Interpret the breakdown as the climax of something that has been literally or figuratively “breaking,” such as:
broken dreams broken bones broken promises broken people broken hearts broken nerves…
As yet a further play on the word breaking, let the silence itself at some point, for a single moment only, be broken by one or both of the characters. Think of this scene as an opportunity to synthesize skills that have previously only been focused upon individually. Bring into play:
Body positions stage areas psychological areas
Right & left moves visual pauses levels
Combine all of the above skills by creating a very definite visual progression that fully reinforces the required build of the scene.
Motivate the silence and the speech
This is a highly appropriate exercise to culminate the silent work because the moment of broken silence provides a perfect transition to the “talkies” ahead. At some point in the scene the silence is broken by one or both of the characters. What motivated this silence? Is there so much tension in the silence that a verbal outburst is the only possible outcome? Or is there a lapse of concentration with causes the verbal moment? Maybe, instead, the moment is somehow very controlled and planned. Is the end of the scene the sonly effective place to break the silence, or is a return to silence for the ending an exciting dramatic possibility? Obviously there are many effective strategies for breaking the silence – the only essential requirement is to justify not just the silence convincingly, but the speech as well.
You are asked not just to create a steady build in general, but also specifically to reinforce the build with a visual progression. Just as beginning directors tend to be initially much more aware of verbal, rather than visual pauses, there seems to be a similar tunnel vision with verbal versus visual progression. Asked to “build” a scene, most beginning directors will very readily consider a verbal progression by resorting to one or more of the following techniques:
Increasing the volume
Lessening the amount of pausing
Overlapping the lines
Increasing the rate of speaking
Changing the pitch
Even when the beginning director instinctively resorts to using a visual progression, changes are that the director is unconscious of doing so until it is pointed out. The term visual progression refers to the idea of building a scene visually, which may be accomplished by doing one or more of the following:
Gravitating to stronger stage areas
Using increasingly more open body positions
Making crosses go increasingly against the flow, instead of with the flow
Working increasingly from upstage to downstage
Working from a higher to a lower level or vise versa
Working with increasingly more or increasingly less visual pauses
Evaluation
Were the silence and the break in the silence justified?
What motivated the breakdown? Was the breakdown effective?
Was the moment of speech (the breaking of the silence) effectively placed?
What exactly was the relationship between the silence and speech? Was the silence looked upon as positive or negative? How about the speech – positive or negative? Even if both silence and speech were viewed the same (both positive and both negative), did one seem to have more impact than the other?
Was there a visual progression? What elements (body position, stage areas, level, right and left movements…) were most responsible for bringing about the progression?
​
Were there any distinct psychological areas? Were the areas related to character, idea or mood?
​
Adapted from Improvisations for the Theatre Viola Spolin and Directing for the Stage Terry John Converse
​
​