Introduction
For this module, I chose to join the creative team of ‘After’ because I believe the message behind this musical is heartfelt and relevant, and I knew that the story was definitely an important message to be shared. Despite the fact the show wasn’t my original pitch, I put myself forward to be Director and Casting Director. This was a big step for me because before this opportunity, I have always struggled to take leadership over a group of people. Nevertheless, I was excited to take on my role and work within the creative team to bring this show to life.
Concept of our Musical
Our original idea for this show was based on lived life experiences that many people go through and how they process what comes after them. We wanted to give justice to these tricky situations, therefore it was important to us that we knew enough about the subjects we wanted to include. Therefore, we started this process by meeting as a team and discussing difficult hardships we’ve individually been through to identify which ones were pressing themes we thought would be most relatable and identifiable to an audience. By December, we had begun to create a general story arc, with character traits and names which we then began to workshop into performable material.
My role within our show
“A good director will be able to listen and hear everything but have a confident vision of his own that he can say, ‘Oh yeah – that’s a great point.’” (Bale, n.d.)
This was one of the first quotes that I came across when I began my role as Director in After, and it really stuck with me. When working with our cast, I tried to block out the fact that they were my peers and, ultimately, friends and tried to treat them like any professional director would. After all, I think a good director is the one who creates the working environment in which the actor lives, which then gives them the encouragement to work to the highest levels and beyond.
The first couple months were a challenge for me and my participation within our show due to us not having a completed written script or physical performers to workshop with until our R&D week. Still, I wanted to make myself useful somehow, so I began inputting ideas to Rebecca and Nairn, who were our group’s writers and producers (Image 1). I tried to maintain professionalism and trust the process, even though we didn’t always use the ideas. If there weren’t any vetoes or rewrites, then no progression would be made at all, which for me is crucial about writing your own work, as the possibilities of what the show can become are endless.
One of the examples of how I helped outside of my assigned role was with script development through voice recording sessions. For example, Nairn and I would sit and improvise 10-15 minute conversations as if we were two of the characters we’d written, whilst Rebecca would write notes about what she heard and how the characters worked together. The more we did this, the more we benefited from it and understood the characters better. By the end of the process, we had around 6 characters who had a substantial backstory with their own stakes that we could progress and develop throughout the script. There’s no doubt that elements of characters lacked structure and depth, but we were fully aware of these issues. During one of our check-ins with Matthew Bugg, he gave us the idea to change one of our characters’ ages by 60 years. At first, we all questioned if this would fit into what we had envisioned, but we quickly came to the realisation that this idea could actually work, so we took it into consideration. Ironically, this character ‘Mabel’ quickly became our favourite character to develop, and in my opinion, she was my favourite to direct, as she had such a strong energy about her.
Another example of how I helped out before my directorial process began was in casting the show and nominating actors that I believed would be a perfect fit for the characters we’d written. Originally, the group were going to also take on the role of acting alongside their creative team roles, but we decided that it was best if we stayed on the outside of the world of the show. The task was challenging for us, as we were quite protective of our material and wanted to ensure we chose the right people to embody our characters and portray our show the way we’d intended it. We also remembered how excited we were when we were asked to help out with this module last year for the previous 2nd years and how this would broaden both our and their opportunities to work with new creatives.
When we were first given this assignment and I’d been nominated as casting director, I decided to get to know people from the year below. This helped me to decide who would be an ideal person to work with in the rehearsal room. Our first research and development week back in October was also a really good way to see how these actors performed on stage and how they acted during workshopping. For example, 3 of the actors we chose to be in our show were in my group for the first R&D, and after seeing what they were like to work with and what they could bring to a room, I was very much advocating that they were the people I’d like to have work with us on our show. Once our writers had a clear idea on what the characters would be like, I finalised my suggestions of actors that I believed would suit them well.
It was strange being a director for the first time, especially to people I’d grown to be friends with. I didn’t want to be viewed as a teacher or someone who was above these people, but in a way that’s sort of what a director is. There’s an ideal relaxed atmosphere, and I wanted to use that to encourage people to explore and express any ideas they had.
Fast forwarding to when I began my official role during our R&D process, one of the first things I did was inform the cast of potential content warnings of the show, as there were some heavy elements that I needed to be sure the cast were okay with. The creative team and I made it clear that if there was anything bothering them, we would be there to support them if needs be. By this point, we had given the cast information about each character and the plot of the story, along with a script so that they could have an understanding of their role when rehearsals started. We began working with the Actress playing our protagonist and asked her to read her opening monologue (Image 2). She explained how connected she felt to the script and if she could add something to it. While I was hesitant to do this, I think no good director would back away from the ideas of others or be open to opposing interpretations of scenes we’d written. That was something I found so special as the week went on; we all really learnt from being open to new ideas and not being afraid to let go of material. We had the trust of our cast that they felt comfortable giving their own opinions, even if they were negative. This benefitted me as a creative and a performer, as it improved how I was able to communicate with others during differences of ideas.
Whilst being in the room, I had to come up with my own directorial methods to help move the process along in a professional fashion. I decided to let each actor read through their scenes first, seeing how in touch they were with the scene and if they presented anything that would change my original perspective on the script. For example, I realised the impressive comedic timing of one of our cast members and came up with a side character called “Quentin”. Little ideas like this would flood into my head, and seeing them come to life was really enjoyable. I would then present my feedback on what I witnessed, as well as checking in with our writers if there was anything they wanted to add or remove. This was incredibly useful, as I was able to identify traits of our performers and how I could use them to further develop our written characters. When it came to giving notes, I would write down my thoughts during the scene and highlight certain ones that I found most important (Image 3). I found ideas rooted in Stanislavski; instead of telling them how to feel, I gave them something to do. By focusing on objectives and actions instead of emotions, it gave them a lot more room to play with offers, which I had encouraged since the start of the process.
Budgeting and Financing our musical
Even though I didn’t take on the role of budgeting and finance, this experience gave me valuable insights into budgeting within the theatre industry and how this affects the work being created. I realised how important it is to balance finances carefully, even more so with a limited budget. Looking back on when I studied business, I know that consistency and survival are crucial when starting a new business. I figured this obviously must apply to new shows as well. There has to be an intense focus on cash flow management, customer attention and adaptability. It is a given that the budgeting and finance aspects of our show were completely theoretical, but it was important nonetheless to discuss these topics as a group and find out if what we were doing was logical.
From the very start of our process, we all knew that the show was designed for a cast of 7-8 people, with actors taking on multiple roles. Therefore, we felt that an ensemble was not required. We knew, as a small show, that this was beneficial to us, as we wouldn’t have to spend our limited budget on an ensemble, which would allow us to use this money towards more key and accessible features. However, I realised that each actor who played more than 1 role would have a larger pay grade, as they are learning multiple tracks. Another example was that we had to discuss the character of Mabel as an elderly woman in her late 60s, and how reliable casting an actor of this age would be when performing a vocally and emotionally taxing role 8 times a week. As a result of this, Mabel would have her own understudy. This backtracks to our small cast and not needing an ensemble; we could use our budget for understudies if we felt it was needed.
Conclusion
This module has improved my knowledge as a director in so many ways and has given me insight on how I fit into a creative team during my training and after it. I have always loved R&D weeks, so I found ours highly enjoyable to see everything we envision come together. I was able to take a step back from being on the stage and instead got to give actors advice on how they could best apply themselves.
A definite struggle for me was directing the scenes that were specifically about grief, especially the funeral scene. I have been fortunate not to relate to this feeling, but I found it challenging to immerse myself in these scenes fully. I initially thought that I had to have experienced something like the scene to make it seem convincing, but I was mistaken after I had discussed my problems with my team. It was here that everyone gave advice, inputting on how they thought the scene should go, which really helped me get a grasp of the scene I had struggled with so much. It eventually became one of the most powerful scenes in the show, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t overcome with many emotions whilst watching the talented actors perform it. As someone who is usually very proud of their own work, it was definitely hard to let go of my ideas or have to change the direction of the scene because it didn’t work. But due to this, it allowed me to come up with new ideas, offering different concepts and overall having a more positive experience with my creative team. I feel blessed that in such a short space of time, we were able to write a piece of theatre that was just so touching and captivating. Ultimately, I believe that this module has allowed me to have the confidence to put myself forward more, take authority and let other people into my creative space to help improve our work.
Bibliography
Bale, C. (n.d) Christian Bale Quotes. AZ Quotes. Available at: https://www.azquotes.com/quote/16657 (Accessed 18/04/26)
