Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board: Firing a Director

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BlueEye217
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Joined: 10/20/08
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Topic: Firing a Director
Posted: 4/08/09 at 12:22pm

I'm in a show right now and I'm also a Board Member of the group I'm in. We're in the beginning stages of rehearsal with a new director. The problem is, he's not a good director. He has no blocking, no concept, doesn't even know where the set is going to be. He gives line reading, no direction, no character development, nothing. Just tells us to be bigger and he reads the character description and costumes from the script to us.

He's not getting paid and I'm afraid that the show will suffer because of him. The group of actors is talented and would be able to pull it together on there own but we are ALL very frustrated with him and do not even enjoy rehearsal.

Anyone ever replace a director before? What should we do?

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dboris
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Posted: 4/08/09 at 12:35pm

I would definitly bring the issue up to other people on the board and explain you concerns. Maybe another board member can sit in on a reherasal to see the problems first hand. If they agree that there is an issue someone will need to speak to the director and explain why he/she is not meeting expectations. If they can't improve then you may have no choice but to replace them.

To help prevent this in the future your group may also want to review thier screening process for new directors.

Of course this all assumes that there are not some underlying politcal reasons that this person is directing that would make it hard to get rid of them.

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SpenceKenzer
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Posted: 4/08/09 at 1:43pm

Has this person ever previously SUCCESSFULLY directed a play of any kind before now?

Why did your CT engage this particular person to direct this play?
- reputation, from this person's previous directing jobs?
- training, from this person's education as a play director?

At our CT, I can be engaged as a director of one of our main staqe plays IF AND ONLY IF I have previous successful directing experience and/or training.
- if I have theater training and/or have directed, that's fine.
- if I haven't taken any formal theater training, and if I've never directed a play before, then I must direct one or two one-act plays for our CT so they can see if I'm up to the job of directing a full-length main stage play.

Do you have a Producer? By that I mean a CT board member whose job it is to visit the rehearsals from time to time and to represent the CT board's wishes as well as to report back to the CT board on the progress of the production. If so, IMHO it is the Producer's job to provide the director with any feedback about how well (or badly) he/she is doing; this can include firing the director if that is the will of the CT's board.

"Amateur" meadns "for the love of it" and it's very hard to love it if it's not much fun. Having an at least average director helps to make a production at least minimally fun.

--------------------<*>
Saludos, my dahlinks, and you know who you are ... !

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greenphoenix
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Posted: 4/09/09 at 6:21am

Hmm, is the director trying? There are ways to request things that you need as actors from him. He may think he is doing what he needs to, and is simply unaware.

As long as he is not sabotaging your work, I would not try to get him fired. After all, your board selected him, and that is what community theatre is for- to give people a chance to learn.

However, if he is being divisive, uncooperative, or not showing a genuine interest in the progress of the play, I would have a talk with the board.

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Rorgg
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Posted: 4/09/09 at 1:27pm

While it sounds like the director is bad, it doesn't seem (from your description) that it's a malicious thing -- they're just unskilled.

Speaking as someone currently taking his first attempt at directing, if I was making a complete hash of it (and I think I've minimally avoided that so far, knock wood) I'd LOVE for someone to approach me outside of rehearsal with constructive suggestions for improvement. Maybe, if this is a big production, finding an experienced AD would help channel that assistance, though you'd have to be careful not to overshadow the actual director.

If they're uncooperative, then you're back to what you're looking at now, no worse the wear. If they're willing (or even eager) to learn and improve though, you may be building a good director for the future, and those can be hard to come by.

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chel
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Posted: 4/09/09 at 3:22pm

If possible, it's worth training, who knows what dormant talent lies beneath and simply not rising to the challenge due to inexperience. Perhaps the other(s) play(s) he has directed were with familiar people who knew what he was talking about and were very independent...we have no idea.

First give benefit of the doubt, see if he's open to guidance and suggestion, then follow up with what is most needed by your actors. Who knows, you might give him just the lessons he needs to come back and be terriffic.

Good luck.

chel

www.windhamtheaterguild.org

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KEB54
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Posted: 4/09/09 at 5:52pm

Pretty hard to fire someone who's not getting paid. If you "fire" him, what kind of message are you sending to future potential directors? I'm really asking cause I don't know. I think it could go either way.

If a volunteer actor isn' too good, can you ask him to leave because you can find someone better? What does that do to future potenial actors?

I'm not sure what you mean when you say that you're a group of talented actors that can pull it off on your own. If you mean in spite of his poor directing, you may be right. But if you mean directing yourselves, I'd rethink that. I just saw a production where the director got ill and so the cast "directed themselves". Not good.

What is the rest of the production staff like? Is the director getting enough help? Does the costumer and scene designer talk to the director? Maybe if they talk to him about his needs for the show the costumer would be asking character questions and the scene designer blocking questions. Those kinds of things should be discussed way before rehearsals start. Those two positions should be forcing the director into a concept, or in a worse case, forcing their concepts on him.

KEB

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Directing
Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board :Producing Theater :Directing

Author	Message
BlueEye217 Player Joined: 10/20/08 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 20	Topic: Firing a Director Posted: 4/08/09 at 12:22pm
	I'm in a show right now and I'm also a Board Member of the group I'm in. We're in the beginning stages of rehearsal with a new director. The problem is, he's not a good director. He has no blocking, no concept, doesn't even know where the set is going to be. He gives line reading, no direction, no character development, nothing. Just tells us to be bigger and he reads the character description and costumes from the script to us. He's not getting paid and I'm afraid that the show will suffer because of him. The group of actors is talented and would be able to pull it together on there own but we are ALL very frustrated with him and do not even enjoy rehearsal. Anyone ever replace a director before? What should we do?

	IP Logged

dboris Celebrity Joined: 2/10/04 Online Status: Offline Posts: 124	Posted: 4/08/09 at 12:35pm
	I would definitly bring the issue up to other people on the board and explain you concerns. Maybe another board member can sit in on a reherasal to see the problems first hand. If they agree that there is an issue someone will need to speak to the director and explain why he/she is not meeting expectations. If they can't improve then you may have no choice but to replace them. To help prevent this in the future your group may also want to review thier screening process for new directors. Of course this all assumes that there are not some underlying politcal reasons that this person is directing that would make it hard to get rid of them.
	IP Logged

SpenceKenzer Star Joined: 1/23/09 Location: Canada Online Status: Offline Posts: 71	Posted: 4/08/09 at 1:43pm
	Has this person ever previously SUCCESSFULLY directed a play of any kind before now? Why did your CT engage this particular person to direct this play? - reputation, from this person's previous directing jobs? - training, from this person's education as a play director? At our CT, I can be engaged as a director of one of our main staqe plays IF AND ONLY IF I have previous successful directing experience and/or training. - if I have theater training and/or have directed, that's fine. - if I haven't taken any formal theater training, and if I've never directed a play before, then I must direct one or two one-act plays for our CT so they can see if I'm up to the job of directing a full-length main stage play. Do you have a Producer? By that I mean a CT board member whose job it is to visit the rehearsals from time to time and to represent the CT board's wishes as well as to report back to the CT board on the progress of the production. If so, IMHO it is the Producer's job to provide the director with any feedback about how well (or badly) he/she is doing; this can include firing the director if that is the will of the CT's board. "Amateur" meadns "for the love of it" and it's very hard to love it if it's not much fun. Having an at least average director helps to make a production at least minimally fun.
	--------------------<*> Saludos, my dahlinks, and you know who you are ... !
	IP Logged

greenphoenix Star Joined: 1/21/09 Online Status: Offline Posts: 52	Posted: 4/09/09 at 6:21am
	Hmm, is the director trying? There are ways to request things that you need as actors from him. He may think he is doing what he needs to, and is simply unaware. As long as he is not sabotaging your work, I would not try to get him fired. After all, your board selected him, and that is what community theatre is for- to give people a chance to learn. However, if he is being divisive, uncooperative, or not showing a genuine interest in the progress of the play, I would have a talk with the board.
	IP Logged

Rorgg Celebrity Joined: 2/10/09 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 151	Posted: 4/09/09 at 1:27pm
	While it sounds like the director is bad, it doesn't seem (from your description) that it's a malicious thing -- they're just unskilled. Speaking as someone currently taking his first attempt at directing, if I was making a complete hash of it (and I think I've minimally avoided that so far, knock wood) I'd LOVE for someone to approach me outside of rehearsal with constructive suggestions for improvement. Maybe, if this is a big production, finding an experienced AD would help channel that assistance, though you'd have to be careful not to overshadow the actual director. If they're uncooperative, then you're back to what you're looking at now, no worse the wear. If they're willing (or even eager) to learn and improve though, you may be building a good director for the future, and those can be hard to come by.
	IP Logged

chel Celebrity Joined: 6/20/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 106	Posted: 4/09/09 at 3:22pm
	If possible, it's worth training, who knows what dormant talent lies beneath and simply not rising to the challenge due to inexperience. Perhaps the other(s) play(s) he has directed were with familiar people who knew what he was talking about and were very independent...we have no idea. First give benefit of the doubt, see if he's open to guidance and suggestion, then follow up with what is most needed by your actors. Who knows, you might give him just the lessons he needs to come back and be terriffic. Good luck.
	chel www.windhamtheaterguild.org
	IP Logged

KEB54 Celebrity Joined: 7/24/08 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 227	Posted: 4/09/09 at 5:52pm
	Pretty hard to fire someone who's not getting paid. If you "fire" him, what kind of message are you sending to future potential directors? I'm really asking cause I don't know. I think it could go either way. If a volunteer actor isn' too good, can you ask him to leave because you can find someone better? What does that do to future potenial actors? I'm not sure what you mean when you say that you're a group of talented actors that can pull it off on your own. If you mean in spite of his poor directing, you may be right. But if you mean directing yourselves, I'd rethink that. I just saw a production where the director got ill and so the cast "directed themselves". Not good. What is the rest of the production staff like? Is the director getting enough help? Does the costumer and scene designer talk to the director? Maybe if they talk to him about his needs for the show the costumer would be asking character questions and the scene designer blocking questions. Those kinds of things should be discussed way before rehearsals start. Those two positions should be forcing the director into a concept, or in a worse case, forcing their concepts on him.
	KEB
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Topic: Firing a Director( Topic Closed)