The Director’s Book

First stumble through of the show. Cheat sheets backstage for the actors is going to be key. Which scene are we doing next? What shanty, how hauling? Am I pulling or am I releasing rope? Who starts the shanty? Looking through my notes there are at least 8 times I wrote WORK in caps on certain sections.

I’m including here a picture of my director’s book. Some directors are crazy like me and need to have large expanses of paper – in my case a blank sketchbook 14 inches X 17 inches. I have tabs for music, tabs for movement, tabs for sound, tabs for “What the hell does that mean? I need to look it up!” There are bad drawings of hoisting tackle and blubber hooks and drawings of my blocking, my take on the needs of the characters in each scene etc. Working in the Filling Station, particularly in the alley configuration, which we’ll be in this show, requires more choreography then traditional “take 3 steps up stage right then sit on X line…” I draw the 2 posts, and then arrow everyone’s trajectory through the scenes. I’m just that way. I need to see pictures to figure it out. It’s weird documenting this stuff and seeing how crazy I really am.