My Play Directing Experience

In the beginning, I was a Play Director who had no clue what to do or say, but I remembered that I wanted to have fun with my actors and properly collaborate with them and work together. I tried to care for their needs and understand what could happen altogether. Thankfully, the play was not that long to rehearse. It was around 3 minutes long, and I thought it was longer due to the page length of the play, but it ended up better than expected. I am grateful that it was not that long. And nobody wanted to grab this play besides me.

???????????My strengths over this semester as the Director are being able to listen to actors and implement ideas together. Thankfully, the play was short; I was able to see what can we do to improve even better for the play during the rehearsal. My other strength is listening and instructing what needs to be done. The good news is that the actors are easy to work with and did not have too many questions and problems with the other cast and myself. My weakness is that I feel inadequate to direct because I do not have the skills or the tools to give actions to the actors. I knew what I wanted for the finished product but didn't know what to command or what needed to be done to improve.

From one standpoint, I understood how it should be especially asking the actors to be at certain positions to work, and at times, it did work, and we played along with a little more, which made a remarkable difference from my point of. But it was not until Professor and Master Densley came in to help see the difference and effectiveness. Now that they gave me some roadmap to direct on specific places in the play, it made everything more smooth and good to view. I guess that would also be part of my insecurities too. I felt I didn't know what to do and would always feel ashamed because I did not know what to do, but I realized the beauty of taking this class. Also, Emily, Vanessa, Dallin, and Bryan were fantastic to work with. And they gave me lots of guidance as well. Although I have taken up almost every role possible for the play, such as Director, Actor, Sounds, Stage Manager &, etc., I understood what can be done and what is efficient in the process.

Throughout this rehearsal period, I discovered that I knew more because of this experience. Now, I have a better understanding than ever compared to the first day. Also, I needed some guidance to change and readings to perfect my play and give stage directions. I changed phenomenally because of guidance. And indeed, I can say that I am proud of myself because I have gained the knowledge and confidence to guide future plays, which made me even more excited to be the future direction of future plays. Perhaps this will be time for me to hone my skills even more for my future.

???????????As for rehearsal processes being differently next time, I would say I would like to give instructions that whenever it is serious time to rehearse, I would need to say keywords to start the rehearsal because there were times that the actors were distracted and just started having conversations when we're stuck in a rehearsal or we have longer breaks than usual. Other than that, I would not change our prayer meetings, vocal exercises, physical exercises, texting on Facebook messenger, and the tradition I always like to share encouragement for the actors and stage manager. And the other rehearsal process I would change is probably understanding the stage words more and using them because some words are strong, and most actors will understand what they mean so that when I command, people will work. Nonetheless, the actors I had for this play were easy to work with. Those were just minor that needs to be worked with.

???????????As for theatre experiences, I have never had them besides taking the classes here at BYUH with Professor and Master Densley. I had never acted on stage before nor even directed a play. But it was thanks to both of my professors who were so willing to teach and aid me when I needed it. I have felt that I was incapable of doing this because I didn't know how but I had to ask questions and understand what works and doesn't. However, one thing is for sure, I have always looked at the script for reference as it is the Bible to help the Director and actors to work together and, more importantly, to make things happen. I am glad that everything turned out fine. I think my instincts to ask questions to the Densley and the actors have helped me see the vision that would work for everyone. I am grateful that my play was short so it could work for everyone. This experience, being the Director and actor, has massively made me see many things differently and continually explore for more things to come. I can't wait to get more experiences if possible.

???????????As for what is missing or things that still need to learn, I guess just getting more experience. I never knew I could act or direct, and hearing from the actors and my friends what they said about what I did. I was delighted to hear because I never knew I could do something like this before, and it does drive me to act, direct, and playwright in the future. There is a more technical term that I can learn to direct better, and if I manage a more lengthy play, I would need more patience to work with the time and, more importantly, with a more extensive cast on different scenes. I think once I experience that, I will know how hard it is and be able to see the difference in the process.

???????????As for actor feedback, they did shape my abilities to be better. I have always asked my actors what we can do to be better together, and to my surprise, they all have said that I am doing my best to help everyone. And they said I give very close instructions, and whenever it is not clear, they would let me know to make everything more vivid for them to understand. Perhaps if I did more extended plays and an enormous cast, I would be able to measure how much I could do better. Thankfully this play was short, and the actors were satisfied with everything I did. I am happy that I could do so with this extraordinary cast!

The Cast of Larry's Luck (Left to Right): Terrell Wu (Director), Vanessa Latchuman (Janna), Dallin McKay (Man (Larry)), & Bryan Larson (Maurice).

???????????My final thought for this directing experience is that I want to do this again someday. I don't know where and how, but I want to be able to do this all the time. This was one of the passions I could discover, and I would like to have more experience. I loved interacting with the actors and doing everything related to directing. I know I am still new at this point, but I would like to do more. I know I have a great chance to be a Stage Manager with Professor Densley and to be able to work closely with her, but I would like to be able to direct a more extensive cast and a more significant play. This was a challenge to begin with, but after this experience thus far, it does push me to do more. And I am sure I want to do more, and hopefully, nothing can stop me from directing, playwright, and acting. I have found my niche. Thank you, Professor Densley, for this beautiful experience. It is one of the ones that I will never forget. It was awesome!

Here's the video of the play that my friend helped me take! :)

Photo Credits to Mark Gatus.