Advice for First Time Directors

Since returning from studying acting in Australia in 2005, I have made a transition from just being an actor to also being a director. Working as a director has been an interesting and valuable experience that has helped inform and improve my work as an actor, as well as giving me an outlet in which I get to define the creative vision of a piece. That said, directing is a strange and difficult beast, and there were a lot of things I wish someone had told me before I got started.

Here are some tips for first-time or beginning directors.

Choose the right material.
A director should choose material set in a world they understand, either directly or through research. If you have time, choosing material to direct that’s set in a world you desperately want to research also helps. Unfortunately directors often have a shortage of time.

A beginning director should choose material with more than two characters; it’s a weird thing, but it’s easier to demonstrate directorial authority and get directorial respect with larger casts rather than smaller ones. Working when it’s just you and two actors can be very claustrophobic and may seem like a good idea for a first-time director, but isn’t. A short place with 3 – 6 characters is ideal.

Choose a piece with movement in it – David Mamet is all very well and fascinating, but many of his pieces boil down to two people in a room arguing; creating visual interest there can be hard for a novice director. Choose a piece that won’t require costumes you can’t acquire to create the world (although visually compelling is an important criteria). Think twice about choosing work you’ve written; being that close to a piece can make it hard to think outside of the box when directing.