Director’s Concept:

1. • Definition:  A central idea that unifies all elements of the production to make it unique. 
   

2. •  Text:  Thinking Like a Director (Chapter #3:  Interpreting the Action, pgs 31-32 only)
   

3. •  Text:  Thinking Like a Director (Chapter #5:  Developing the Approach, pgs 69-77, 80 only)
   

4. • Description of Director’s Concept
   

5. •  Examples of how different Director’s Concepts can change the look/feel of a play
   

My director’s concepts for three different shows were centered around the following words/phrases (in “quotations”).   Look at the pictures for each production (by clicking the title of the show), and observe the ways in which I sought to visualize my concept/metaphor on stage.  Please write about your observations in a journal entry entitled “Director’s Concept”.

1. 1. The Crucible - the “deconstruction” of a society pitted against eachother
   

    (click here to read about/see how I used this concept in the design/staging of the play)

2. 2.Flowers for Algernon - the “maze” of a changing mind 
   

    (click here to read about/see how I used this concept in the design/staging of the play)

3. 3.Once On This Island - peasants’ collective “tale” of “two different worlds” that collide to show that “love is more powerful than death” 
   

4. *Here is my director’s concept for Once On This Island when I directed it in Byron Center.  In it, I explain how I used my concept to create the world of the play.  (Click here for much of the same information, but with a more concise description in a more visual form.)
   

Lastly, please watch this video by Director/Designer Julie Taymor.  It’s a powerful talk by a much sought after director who describes her directing/design process from concept to completion.  It’s a longer video, so make time for it.  (Note:  I show part of the video in Theatre I classes, but not the whole thing.)