When a theater director joins a production, he begins by poring over the script as if it were a business plan. He begins to plan every aspect of evolving the script from paper to live theater. He notes every scene and considers the set design, and listens to the characters' voices and forms a vision of what each they look like and how they should deliver their lines to make them appear real to the audience. He examines scene and mood changes to determine lighting and special effects, and observes how the characters interact to assess any musical and choreography needs. Once the theater director has thoroughly examined his script or business plan, he can execute his ideas and bring the production alive.
The first step in hiring actors is to hold auditions. To attract actors to her production, the theater director holds an open casting call that anyone can come to or she holds set auditions by appointment only. In either case, a theater director will announce the auditions in newspapers and through casting agencies, theater websites, local college theater departments and other channels with ties to the acting community. During the audition, the director may ask an actor to present a monologue of his choice, as well as read a portion of a scene from the actual production.
Now that the director has his cast in place, he must ensure that they not only read the script, but also interpret the material in a manner that serves his strategic vision. When developing actors, the theater director must communicate his vision up front. At the same time, the theater director must allow his actors a degree latitude to interpret the characters in their way, allowing their own creativity to flow.
A crucial duty of the theater director involves helping the cast and crew work as harmoniously as possible. In order to achieve this, the theater director must infuse positive qualities into the work environment, including respect, honesty, integrity, tolerance and fairness. In a negative work environment, conflict may arise and the production can easily go awry.
After all the auditions, the many rehearsals and the long months of preparation, on opening night the theater director finally can see her strategic vision unfold. If the theater director has done her job and if the cast and crew follow her direction, the opening night can truly be magical. This means the first of many sold-out shows and stellar acting met by applause and a standing ovation from the audience.