Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #217129 in Books
• Published on: 1997-04-03
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

Amazon.com
In his writings as a teacher, director, and theater critic, Harold Clurman often comes across as the most approachable of the formidable talents associated with the Group Theater and the many versions of "the Method," the American version of Stanislavsky's teaching. Written towards the end of his long career as one of the American theater's most successful directors, On Directing is a highly readable yet deeply insightful look at the job of a theatrical director.

Clurman's writing is supremely informative and rarely didactic. He is refreshingly honest about his own stylistic shortcomings, questioning, for example, whether his analytic methods are of any use whatsoever directing the plays of Shakespeare or other non-naturalistic playwrights. His most useful contribution to a director's toolbox is his designation of a "spine" to a play and all its characters, a short phrase always stated as an action. The third part of the book is devoted to Clurman's own notes, from first impression to detailed character analysis, of 10 scripts that he brought to the stage, including plays by Clifford Odets, Lillian Hellman, Arthur Miller, Eugene O'Neill, and Carson McCullers's own adaptation of The Member of the Wedding. On Directing reveals not only the author's breadth of knowledge and literary intelligence but also his common sense and warm sense of humor. --John Longenbaugh

Customer Reviews

Excellent Introduction and Handbook
ON DIRECTING
By Harold Clurman

Clurman's On Directing has the simplicity of an introductory text, and the virtue of a career's worth of wisdom. Highly readable, conversational, and amiable, the handbook explores the issues faced daily by a theatre director. What is the spine, or main through-line, or the play? How do the characters' objectives relate? How does one deal with a truculent actor? What is the role of the audience, and how much should the director consider them anyway? Should one direct with the eye or the ear? And what exactly is Method?

Clurman's book, though old, still rings true. He considers art and real estate, popular theatre and theories of the origin of drama in society. He has worked with some of the greatest artists of our time, and they turn up throughout the work: Marlon Brando, Elia Kazan, Lillian Hellman, Clifford Odets . . . the list goes on and on.

Although I majored in theatre and took a year long course in directing, I found Clurman's book refreshing and useful. At the same time, I am considering mailing a copy of it to my mother, a total theatre neophyte, so that she can understand the world I have chosen for my career. On Directing is a great book all around.

Helpful guidance from a master
Along with Elia Kazan, who called Clurman a masterful director possessing the greatest mind he ever saw, Harold Clurman built a peerless career in American Theatre. Present here is his advice to all directors, that new (really only invented in the latter part of the 19th century)creature of the world's oldest art form. Clurman displays his analytical abilities certainly in discribing script breakdowns and picturalization, but he also reveals a real understanding of human nature. His advice on how to deal with problems and crises that always appear during a production prove most sagelike. Purchase this along with William Ball's superlative "A Sense Of Direction" along with William Converse's textbook "Directing For The Stage" to create a most helpful library for any director.

Directing Theatre as a way of life
I read Harold Clurman's book 25 years ago when I first started directing theatre, and I return to it now. I still find it fun to read, highly informational, insightful, true. I recommend it to anyone starting out as a director, and I recommend returning to it again and again. Without Harold Clurman's insightful book on directing, I daresay I may never have felt at home in the theatre. He takes you there, shows you how to thrive there, and you want to stay.