The Courier: Directorial Approaches

Hi there everyone,

Something that I've learned during this process is how to better cater to actor needs. Actors have very different ways of approaching their art and require different guidance from their director. I've known this to be the case from my own experiences in actor-director relationships, however, it's different being on the director side. I think having my experiences with this relationship from the actor side helped me in understanding how to handle it from the director side, which I've been forced to apply in this process.

Some actors thrive on a lot of freedom while others find the freedom to significantly explore very unsettling. I have both types of actors in my cast. For some, I give a lot of direction to aid in their characters since they desire specific line notes and assistance. Others, I give a lot of freedom and ask them more questions about their characters and desires. This can feel weird when working with all the actors in the same rehearsal because you have to switch approaches very abruptly.

I really believe that a director needs to cater to the individual needs of their actors in their directing styles. This can be very difficult with more actors, however, since I am working with a small cast I think I can better perfect this skill throughout this process.

Stay tuned for more.

- Lindsey Esch