10 Things All Theatre Directors Know To Be True

1. We don’t want auditions to be scary or stressful — we are rooting for every actor that comes through the door. Tough casting decisions really are one of the best problems to have.

2. “Bad dress rehearsal, good opening night” is a superstition because we desperately want to believe it. Bad dress rehearsals are actually pretty terrifying.

3. When our friends audition for our shows, we’re excited and scared at the same time because we would love to cast them but know we may not be able to.

4. Speaking of casting, it’s usually about being ‘right’ for a role more than anything else, which, yes, is entirely subjective. There’s so much about casting that is out of the actor’s control. This is helpful to know when you’re both a director and actor.

5. When something goes wrong during a performance, muttering to ourselves will magically make the problem disappear. Or so we hope. A classic case: “Don’t leave that onstage! Someone pick it up! Pick it up!”

6. We make mistakes sometimes, and sometimes we forget our own blocking. Having a kickass stage manager is key.

7. When we say, “okay, let’s run that scene one more time”, we really mean “let’s maybe run this one more time, probably more like two or three”.

8. Sitting in the last row in the dark and laughing during tech week is the best feeling ever, second to the instance when our notes are full of smiley faces. We have so much love for our actors, even if we get snippy sometimes.

9. When we offer to email notes instead of say them out loud at the end of a tech rehearsal, it’s more because we want to go home to our significant other / pet / bed than anything else. It’s a win-win, because the cast usually feels the same way.

10. This moment is everything: When we get to say, “My job is done; this is your show now.”