Notes on Directing: 130 Lessons in Leadership from the Director's Chair (Performance Books)

Five years ago, Frank Hauser, then a retired freelance director, and writer Russell Reich, his former student, self-published Notes on Directing in hardcover. It was immediately acclaimed as "a gem-witty and full of insight;" "so sensible, so complete, and so right;" and "amazingly illuminating" by the likes of Judi Dench, Edward Albee, and Terry Teachout. Gathered over Hauser's long career, and polished to a sharp edge by Reich, the 130 "Notes" address a wide range of topics, from "understanding the script" and "defining the director's role" to casting, how to handle a first read-through of a script, rules for rehearsal, how to talk to actors, how to get a laugh, and the key elements of staging. Filled with enduring good advice expressed in assertive, no-nonsense language, and supported with explanatory commentary, insightful quotes and examples, and five valuable appendices, this deceptively slim book has the impact of a privileged apprenticeship to a great master, providing deep insight into the hidden process of creating a live, shared experience. It can be appreciated by everyone from the student aspiring to a directing career to the professional looking for new ideas to the theater-lover wanting insight into the creative process. Indeed, Notes on Directing offers life lessons to all who read it.

• A Sense of Direction: Some Observations on the Art of Directing
• Thinking Like a Director: A Practical Handbook
• Directing Actors: Creating Memorable Performances for Film & Television
• The Empty Space: A Book About the Theatre: Deadly, Holy, Rough, Immediate
• Creating Character Arcs: The Masterful Author's Guide to Uniting Story Structure (Helping Writers Become Authors)
• The Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller
• Into the Woods: A Five-Act Journey Into Story
• The Art Of Dramatic Writing: Its Basis in the Creative Interpretation of Human Motives
• The Director's Craft: A Handbook for the Theatre
• Backwards & Forwards: A Technical Manual for Reading Plays