Assistant Directing

The first time I realized an Assistant Director could do more than simply be an extra body in a rehearsal room (or sit out the back running through dialogue) was in a cracking production of Ibsen's An Enemy of the People (photo: Ian McKellen in a different production of the play).

The public meeting scene (which featured a large cast) had been directed by three different people. The director had wanted to split the cast into three different groups to help generate different dynamics in the crowd.

Spring Awakening has a large cast but it does not have any ensemble scenes like this. I am really keen to point an Assistant Director for different reasons, however.

First, to get around the perennial problem in Oxford of short rehearsal periods. Because at any one time the majority of the cast will not be in rehearsal, it makes sense to have an AD running separate rehearsals to prep/recap material elsewhere. It would also provide the actors with a great opportunity to play around with ideas and explore bits of the text/their characters in more detail. It means we can block and keep grounded in the main rehearsals and then maybe be more experimental in the AD's rehearsals.

I also think an AD can have a significant creative input in terms of helping to build the relationships between the characters. I would be anxious to find an AD who will be able to share wholeheartedly in my vision of the show rather than seek to imprint themselves -- someone who can take a pair of actors away and work on a scene for an hour and really deliver a result would be wonderful.

And I reckon an extra perceptive pair of eyes in any endeavour is invaluable.