Notes on Directing: 130 Lessons in Leadership from the Director's Chair

by Frank Hauser, Russell Reich

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.

Genres: Theatre, Nonfiction, Film, Writing, School, Art, Read For School

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

FRANK HAUSER is a retired freelance director living in London. Born
in Wales in 1922, he attended Oxford University during the 1940s; worked as a
drama producer for the BBC; and, in 1956, formed the Meadow Players at Oxford.
He was Director of the Oxford Playhouse for seventeen years and directed
frequently in London and New York. In 1968, he received the award of Commander
of the Order of the British Empire (C.B.E.).

Reviews

[Ali Mousavi · Rating 3 out of 5]

اتفاقی توی کتابفروشی این رو دیدم. حجم کم و دیدن اسم آقای احیا به عنوان مترجم باعث شد بخرمش، برای من که فقط تماشاگر نمایش‌ها بودم و دوست داشتم از دید یک کارگردان به آثار و پروسه تولید نگاه کنم اطلاعات جالبی داشت.

[صان · Rating 3 out of 5]

نکات خوبی داشت، و از همه بهتر به شکل خیلی خوبی سرجمع و مرتب شده بودن. نمی‌شه گفت چیزهای عجیب‌غریبی داشت -اصلا می‌شه همچین انتظاری از یک کتاب داشت؟!- اما چیزهای خوبی داشت و خوندنش هم سریع و بدون حرف‌های طولانی و اضافه بود و هر کسی که کارگردانی می‌کنه می‌تونه سریع بخونش و چیزهایی یاد بگیره.

من خودم چیزهایی برام پررنگ شد و یاد گرفتم.

[David Wagstaff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Directing is far trickier than being president of the United States. Diplomacy and nuance are required in copious amounts. The temptation to talk too much is taller than the Tower of Babel. The responsibility is absolute. There are few books of any help. David Mamet's On Directing Film and Three Uses of the Knife are essential for the simple reason that they deal with practical considerations clearly stated. Notes on Directing is the same. In fact, it is a sort of Strunk and White of how to do this job without making huge blunders. Now there are thousands of books on theater that demonstrate nothing more than the clever minds of their authors. Directors should avoid them just as auto mechanics should avoid books on astrophysics for any reason other than curiosity -it won't help you when you open the hood. And when the director opens the hood, all of humanity is humming away there waiting for his tune up, overhaul, and best effort. Hauser and his protege stick to the basics: how to prepare, how to communicate with actors, and how to execute in rehearsal without screwing it up. If you direct or ever wish to direct, read this book. If you are an actor it might not be a good idea, for you shall know how the job should be done and thereby open yourself up to numerous disappointments when faced with the butchery directors may administer at will.

[Eva B.]

Very informative! I'll buy a copy if I ever direct a show. Unfortunately, this was all for plays as opposed to musicals, something I was not aware of going into it. I've love to read a similar book that adds in some tips for musical-related elements.
Also, this is the book that includes the "Shakespeare rehearsals where 'fuck' is added" tip and it's worth the read just for that. All the world's a fucking stage.

[Pardis Jalali · Rating 4 out of 5]

بسیار مفید و کارا!

[Kacie Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible reference book. I'm a long-time community theater actor: this is a great resource to understand why your director is making certain choices, and a perfect way to delineate why some directors can really make you feel amazing, and why some directors drive you crazy (I wish I could hammer #41 - Don't keep actors hanging about needlessly - to the door of every performance space like a modern Martin Luther). And as someone who'd like to dip my toe into directing in the future, this text lays out the entire process from start to finish, with references for further reading helpfully explained at the end.

It should be noted that this is specifically written with more professional productions in mind, so the scale of some of these instructions aren't applicable to everyone (you know, those of us with shoestring budgets and an all-volunteer production team), but the spirit of them is broad enough that you can tailor all of the advice without losing anything.

[Arsalan Shahbaz · Rating 2 out of 5]

کتاب همان تصور ابتدایی است که از یک کتاب ۱۰۴ صفحه ای و نکته وار در مورد کارگردانی تئاتر می توان داشت، نه بیش از آن و نه کمتر.
اگر آگاهی مختصری از مبحث کارگردانی در تئاتر داشته باشید این کتاب شاید چیز خاصی به شما اضافه نکند اما تاکید بر روی برخی دانسته ها یا از زاویه ای دیگر دیدنشان بدون شک مفید خواهد بود.

[Megan Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh my goodness, y'all. SUPER GOOD. Concise advice, tips, thoughts. Also, a really long list of further reading recommendations at the end, that I'm really excited about.
One section that talks about using the f-word as a rehearsal technique for understanding meaning/emphasis. I wouldn't use that technique, obviously, but like if you're not against foul language I'm sure it helps. But anyway, fair warning on the language.
Seriously, though. This is really good. Will be keeping it handy. If you read it, keep a pencil or highlighter on you, you'll want to make notes.

[Richard008 · Rating 3 out of 5]

طبیعی است که از کتاب ۱۰۴صفحه‌ای نمی‌توان انتظار معجزه یا گشودن دریچه‌ای شگرف به دنیای نمایش برای کارگردان یا بازیگر، داشت
اما می‌توان از آن آموخت و نکاتی که در پس ذهن‌ها مانده را به جلو آورده و با برجسته‌نمایی نکاتی جدید از آن درآورد.
گزیده‌گویی‌های نویسندگان اثر کمک می‌کند تا با زوایای مختلف کارگردانی با متن و اجرا روبه‌رو شویم

[yassiin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I decided to binge-read this book a day before i had a table read with my actors and boy oh boy did that prove to be a phenomenal decision. "Notes on Directing" shines in pinpointing the importance of the relationship between the actor(s) and director; it is a relationship that needs careful tending in order to bear its finest fruit. I really recommend this work to anyone who wants a very quick starter guide to learning how to communicate with actors. I cannot rate this book higher, because the rest of the theory was a little superfluous or did not apply to my focus on film. Still, very insightful.

[Xanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars!

A really lovely little book full of guidelines. The notes are very short but very to the point. It's more of a book to have in your library and look inside every now and then than it is an extensive guide on how to go about directing, but defenitely worth reading.

For people who already know a lot about this some of it may be a little obvious, but in my experience it's precisely the obvious, little things that you can never be reminded of too often.

[John Geddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

There’s some really interesting pieces of wisdom in there and the note format makes it convenient to return to.

[Bella · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick and useful read that I will likely return to during the school year. I like that they compare directing to teaching because I've thought the same!

[Bo Bilic · Rating 5 out of 5]

like all good direction should be: concise, honest and easily incorporated. so so good

[mengwe · Rating 5 out of 5]

bruh this was EXCELLENT

[Brendy Bren · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful book for aspiring directors filled with extremely useful advice on the process of directing a creative project. It allows for reflection and it's definitely a book I shall consult very often.

[Shann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very digestible book - it’s presented like a list of suggestions/approaches which I LOVED. Made it super actionable and quick to read. Even though it was “just a list” it was overflowing with wisdom and new insight. Highly recommend. I’m now coming through all of his suggested reading.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book full of insights and wisdom on directing from director Russell Reich and his mentor, British director Frank Hauser. This is a book I will return to again and again! I especially appreciate their practical tips in the chapter "Elements of Staging."

Here are a few of my favorite quotes:

"Every scene is a chase scene. Character A wants something from Character B who doesn't want to give it" (33).

"Unless characters are seen to be satisfying some need by what they do and say, the performance will be correct but bloodless" (71).

"Just tell the story...as believably, as excitingly as possible. Whatever does not tell the story should be subject to a very fishy examination" (9).

"Every object tells. In a properly created stage-world, nothing is extra and nothing is missing" (60).

[Brendan Hodge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written in a hundred and thirty short numbered lessons (ranging from a sentence or two to a page in length) and organized chronologically from the directors first encounter with the play to final production, this book is a set of in lessons on stage play directing, but it is also so much more.

Reading it did indeed provide retroactive insights into my directing experiences in college, but much of the advice on getting at the core of what the story is about, understanding conflict, and breaking a scene down into its most important parts will be useful for writers and readers as well. It's also just plain insightful about life and leadership.

A short and highly worthwhile read.

[Sleepless Dreamer · Rating 5 out of 5]

In a way this book made me sad, as I know I'm not going to be able to direct theater for at least the next two years. Other than that, this book is truly amazing, short and to the point, and I really recommend it.

what I'm taking with me
• Giving criticism as a compliment is genius.
• Directing is a wonderful thing.
• Helping your actors, together creating the play, being present together, understanding the fundamentals and returning to them.

[Jordan Alexandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so dense with stellar information that it’s almost frustrating to read, because you can feel 95% of the advice (IF you’re lucky) running off your brain like water off a duck— there’s just too much great stuff to take in at any one time. You could meditate on this book daily for years and still get more out of it, I think. An annual re-read.

[☾✦Margaret Rolfe✦☽ (on hiatus) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not going to lie, i really REALLY rarely give 5 stars to any book. However, i picked this up in my school library this morning without really thinking about it, and it blew. my. mind.
I understand not everyone's dream is to work in film or in the arts in general, and I'm not even sure that's my dream yet. But this masterpiece gives anyone the perfect insight, not just into the profession of directing, but to the whole grand scheme of drama and theatre. On a broader scale (slightly more of a tentative link, but still there) this book shows that the grit, determination and patience (which you can begin to be taught in this book) of a director can, and perhaps should, be incorporated into real life situations.
Furthermore (good lord i literally never write this much) the narrative is hilarious, so witty, so fast-paced yet not so much that it's overwhelming.
you could say the authors of this book... knew what they wanted from the beginning.
Which is the greatest compliment to a good director.

[E.H. Drake · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Your first second and third duty is to the author. After that come the actor, the audience, the producer, or anyone else.

The author tells everyone what to do, but the instructions are in code. Being a director means cracking that code, interpreting, not to demonstrate how clever you are, to get out of the way, to let the actors show the play in clear to the audience."


That last sentence still reads winky to me, but I would L❤️VE if Hollywood would just read that. Right there. Stop disrespecting writers by "improving" their work. Respect ours or make your own.

Overall, I wasn’t sure what I would get out of this as an author, but I loved the focus on respecting story structure, team responsibility, and basic management skills.

I'd probably recommend anyone who owns their own business or works in management of some kind consider this.

[Amanda Rafuse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just a great book to turn to when about to embark on a process. Like sitting with a director you admire and getting some key advice and reminders -- and some new ways of thinking and tackling problems. For those of us who come to direction from the acting path, it can feel a bit discombobulating -- there is not a lot of mentorship and direct guidance out there, so sometimes a book like this can just be... reassuring that I am not going to break the process. Frankly, I should just tattoo reminders *21 and 24 on my arm for life, let alone theater creation processes.

*don't expect to have every answer and LIGHTEN UP!

[Chelsea Reining · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're a theatre person, on or off stage, I think you'll really enjoy this quick read. It's structured in a list format so it's extremely fast and easy to consume, and I loved the succinct but useful knowledge provided.

I also appreciated how adaptable the advice was - no show, cast, or director is the same so there was something for everyone no matter where they are. This is one I know I'll read many times just to refresh and gain new perspectives, both as an actor and stage hand/director.

[Robert Fenske · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd probably rate this a 4.5/5 for aspiring directors (film or stage) who have little to no experience. It's probably best used as a checklist or little mental refresher before the start of a new production. I wish I had this when making my college capstone (also my directorial debut).

Despite several "duh" moments for me I want to stress that the advice isn't bad. It's just that after years of working on many projects most of this advice will become second nature to you.

[Amin369 · Rating 3 out of 5]

کتاب اسمی داره که هر علاقه مندی به کارگردانی رو جذب میکنه انتظار داریم از ۱ تا ۱۳۰ شماره گذاری باشه و هر عدد یه نکته بهمون بگه و همین جورم هست. ولی مشکلی که هست تعدادی از نکته ها واقعا بیهوده ان و کاملا بدون تاثیر یه جوری که وقتی میخونید اصلا نمیفهمید پیامش چی بوده.البته نکاتی هم توی کتاب هست که به درد بخور باشه. اگه عللقه مندید و نمیخواید کتابی رو تو این زمینه از دست داده باشید بخونید اما اگه نخوندید هم چیز خاصی رو از دست ندادید.
کنار هم باشیم مراقب همدیگه.

[Mica Castaño · Rating 3 out of 5]

Le tenia muuuchas ganas a este libro… pero como estaba con otro, espere mucho a leerlo, u se fueron un poco las ganas. Pero me gustó. Todo el tiempo tuve la sensación de que no va a ser mi primer encuentro con este libro. Seguro lo necesite en otro momento de mi vida. Quizás.
Amo que sea cortito. Fresco y rápido de leer.
Le doy tres estrellitas.
En 20 días me voy a Madrid. En 20 día comienza mi propia obra.

🎭💞🪩🇪🇸

[Leda Frost · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm neither a director nor an actor (nor ever plan to be one) but a writer, and I found this small book incredibly illuminating. I'd recommend this book to authors as an exercise, to put themselves in the place of a director and their characters in the place of actors. It gives engaging insight into aspects such as meaning, drive, the unseen, staging a scene, and solutions to common problems.

[Jenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Refreshing to read a director that knows what they’re talking about.

The book is simple, accessible, and easy to follow. A lot of the lessons go hand in hand with what I am personally learning about acting as well, so it’s a good read even if you’re not looking to direct and to just understand theatre a little more.