Think about what a Director does.

It is more than just placing actors on the stage. (stage picture)

They are the audience in the rehearsal room – ( what meaning will the audience understand from a line delivery or a piece of action)

They are responsible for the Overall Concept

They are responsible for the casting (what look – shape of actors do the characters suggest)

Here are some sentence starters to quickly GET WRITING ABOUT BEING A DIRECTOR.

COPY THESE INTO YOUR JOURNAL AND MAKE UP SOME OF YOUR OWN

• The main idea in this extract is….
• My directorial concept is to …..
• My aim as a director is (EXPLAIN)… revealing [Insert your justification] for the audience.
• By placing the characters (explain)….. the audience would understand [reveal something about the play/extract/character(s)…..]
• I would instruct the actor playing X to……[insert something about physicality, voice or proximity]
• This would reveal…….[explain what the audience would understand]

14 general points for improvement.

1. Read the Question carefully and the Extract even more so. [10-15 mins to read/prep for all 3 Questions]
2. No lengthy introductions – this is not your Standard Essay – Only in 1 answer should you plan to use the name/date/practitioner/ source material/ style info.
3. Avoid any lengthy explaining of PLOT or Themes – Only relate plot in so far as it creates a context for the EXTRACT given and what has happened just before. (No general plot of the whole play as the examiner will know this is a play about a man who transforms into an insect.)
4. Engage with the question in the 1^st few lines. (know exactly what the question’s focus is) – “attitude of Lodgers to family” NOT family to Lodgers.
5. Zoom in ONLY after you establish the focus of your answer and the context of the moment you are focusing on.
6. Choose the ‘best moments’ – The Lodgers 1st entrance, interacting with Samsa’s, eating (as there’s lots of ideas already on the page)
7. Use paragraphs for EACH new moment you ‘go to!’
8. Start each paragraph with a strong statement: “I want to suggest that the Lodgers are greedy so I will direct them to sniff around the living room like pigs as if looking for food. On the line…. I would have them grunt before saying X and their ‘looking’ will be quick and jerky, with them occasionally going on all 4s to flag up this animalistic impression.
9. Look at the Stage Directions as much as the spoken words. As Berkoff is highly physical there’s a good chance that ideas, and action is hidden in the Stage Direction italics (e.g: mime…pig faces…greedy…copy each others movements.)
10. Time keeping – you won’t have a teacher calling out when to move on – 20 mins of writing PER Berkoff question (about 3 paragraphs) DO NOT STEAL TIME AWAY FROM OTHER BERKOFF QUESTIONS
11. Aim to use quotes (about 5-8 per Berkoff question) in the form of lines BUT also Stage Directions, and interviews with Berkoff
12. Don’t spend too long on one example – and don’t repeat the same skills or justification in multiple examples – SHOW THE EXAMINER YOUR RANGE OF UNDERSTANDING
13. Make sure your interpretation of the role can be supported by what the characters do and say.
14. Be more creative (add value to Berkoff’s ideas) – don’t just repeat what is implied in the stage directions. If you don’t do it like Berkoff sets it out then have another idea that is BETTER! [Justify your NEW idea]
15. Use some of the BIG terms (expressionism / total theatre) and knowledge of the whole play for your Justification.

“This is in keeping with the expressionistic style of the whole piece and would highlight the idea that their attitude to the family is one of ‘wants’ and ‘greed’ – they are out to exploit the Samsa’s as it is my director’s interpretation that they know how much the family need the money they can provide.”