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Notes on Directing: 130 Lessons in Leadership from the Director's Chair
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Product Description
At last in paperback, the brilliant primer on directing for film and theater that Dame Judi Dench calls “a gem—witty and full of insight.”
Five years ago, Frank Hauser, a retired director, and Russell Reich, his former student, co-wrote Notes on Directing, which Reich self-published. It was immediately acclaimed as a timeless classic—and is now finally available in a paperback edition.
There is true genius on these pages. Just as Strunk and White have done for composition and grammar, Hauser and Reich offer unparalleled insights into the crafts of directing and acting. They include, as well, life lessons—about how to deal with people, anticipate problems, and handle challenging situations—that make Notes on Directing as valuable offstage as on.
The 130 “notes” address a wide range of topics, from understanding the script to casting, rules for rehearsal, how to talk to actors, how to get a laugh, and the key elements of staging. They reveal what got the young Ian McKellen, Judi Dench, and Richard Burton started on their careers, and offer rare quotes from artists as diverse as Anton Chekhov, Elia Kazan, and George Bernard Shaw. Plainly expressed, with explanatory commentary and five valuable appendices, this deceptively slim book has the impact of a privileged apprenticeship with a master director. For the student aspiring to a directing or acting career, the professional looking for new ideas, or the theater lover wanting insight into the creative process, reading Notes on Directing will be an invaluable experience.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #294642 in Books
- Published on: 2008-09-02
- Released on: 2008-09-02
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Binding: Paperback
- 160 pages
Features
- ISBN13: 9780802717085
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
- Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices
Editorial Reviews
Review
"...filled with smart, useful, thoughtful advice... I learned a lot from this remarkably straightforward book... it is invaluable." -- Director Mark Lamos, Former Artistic Director, Hartford Stage
"BEST PERFORMING ARTS BOOK OF THE YEAR" 2004 Ippy Award -- Independent Publisher
"BOOK OF THE YEAR" 2003 Silver Award -- ForeWord Magazine
"Frank Hauser's...wise and pithy observations on acting and rehearsing don’t age, reminding me how much I learned from him." -- Sir Ian McKellen
"OUTSTANDING BOOK ON THEATRE OR LIVE PERFORMANCE" 2003 George Freedley Award Finalist -- Theatre Library Association
"This book is so sensible, complete, and 'right,' that somebody might think it was not serious. They would be wrong." -- Pulitzer Prize Winner Edward Albee
"…if you need a practical manual of the craft, this book should be by your side." -- Sir Richard Eyre, Former Artistic Director, Britain’s Royal National Theatre
A highly useful, insightful, thoroughly enjoyable and thought-provoking look at the directing process. Essential for all performing arts collections. -- Library Journal, April 1, 2003, in a starred review
Clear, straightforward, dryly funny. Deserves to earn at least a million dollars, if not a Nobel Peace Prize. -- The Wall Street Journal, February 13, 2004
Like sitting down for sherry with a wicked and droll Oxford don...full of surprising interests and quirky delights. -- American Theatre magazine, October, 2003
From the Inside Flap
In 1987, British Director Frank Hauser quietly handed twelve pages of typewritten notes to his apprentice, American Russell Reich. The notes—gathered over a long career and polished to a sharp edge—documented the teachings and directions that Hauser shared privately with a host of theatrical and cinematic figures, including Sir Alec Guinness, Richard Burton, Peter O'Toole, Sir Ian McKellen, Dame Judi Dench, Kevin Spacey, and many others who called Hauser their director, mentor, teacher, or boss.
Now, the former student has expanded and enhanced his mentor's private notes into a book-length format suitable for anyone searching for the timeless gems of the director's craft. Drawing on years of training, decades of experience, and the distilled wisdom of leading practitioners, "Notes on Directing" is filled with enduring good advice expressed in assertive, no-nonsense language. More than a "how-to," this is a tool for directors looking to better translate the page to the stage -- or to the screen. With one hundred and thirty directives supported with explanatory commentary, helpful examples, and rare quotes, this deceptively slim volume has the impact of a privileged apprenticeship to a great master.
Whether you are a student or a professional, a playgoer, moviegoer, or enthusiast, Notes on Directing provides a thrilling glimpse into the hidden process of creating a live, shared experience.
About the Author
Frank Hauser, now deceased, formed the Meadow Players at Oxford University in 1956 and served as Director of Productions at the Oxford Playhouse for seventeen years, during which many of his productions were seen in London and New York. In 1968 he received the award of Commander of the British Empire (CBE), one of the most prestigious honors granted by the queen. Russell Reich is a creative director and lives in New York. He served as visiting artist in residence at Harvard University and artistic associate at the Circle Repertory Company in New York, and was a member of the Circle Rep Directors Lab.
Customer Reviews
Useful for theater directors at all levels of experience
Notes On Directing is a collection of wisdom gathered by Frank Hauser (Director of the Oxford Playhouse for sixteen years) and Russell Reich (Artistic Associate at the Circle Repertory Company, New York) over a lengthy directing careers. Hauser and Reich offer invaluable tips on how directors can help their actors better get into character, internalizing a script, performing their roles efficiently (without micromanaging), and a great deal more. Each individual tip is straightforwardly and usefully presented. Useful for theater directors at all levels of experience and expertise, Notes On Directing is especially recommended for the novice director in school and community productions as an easy-to-grasp supplementary instructional and reference resource.
The Leadership Advisor . . .
We are presented with an artful, intelligent, and incisive opening of the doors to the art of Directing a dramatic production from a very real human level. Author Russell Reich received wisdom from teacher/mentor Frank Hauser(CBE)in the casual hand-off of several pages of loose notes accumulated over the years of Hauser's teaching on two continents and directing many of the true greats in British theater. With deep and careful further observation of this directing great, Reich recognized further significant attributes of Hauser's approach.
Adding his own turns, gentle humor, appreciation of people, and insistence upon quality in presentation of dramatic works, Reich has created a manual for presenting drama for public view in what may well be a no-fail approach. All of this is accomplished without infringement upon the ability and need of a director to create the presentation which is clearly his or her own. More is always available to be gained with each successive reading and practice with this guiding gem.
Kudos to Hauser for his clear accomplishments over many years and generations of theater; and to Reich for bringing the methods for those accomplishments to a reachable level for the lover of performance arts through incorporation of his own insights and wisdom.
Destined to become the new standard on this subject!
Anyone who has savored the concise, witty, practical wisdom of the classic -- Acting: The First Six Lessons by Richard Boleslavski -- will love this clever, useful book on directing. Not involved in the theatre? Never mind. This is a highly entertaining and eye-opening guide to the art of managing and leading people in any field. Try it, you'll like it.
