Thinking Like a Director A Practical Handbook [Paperback]

Bloom draws on nearly twenty years of directing and teaching experience to convey the full experience of directing for the stage, as well as the mindset that all successful directors possess. More than a mere set of guidelines,Thinking Like a Directordetails a technique that covers every facet of theatrical production, from first reading through final rehearsals. The key to directorial thinking, Bloom asserts, is a dual perspective--an ability to focus on both the internal lives of the play's characters and the external elements of the play's structure. In this illuminating, engaging, and accessible handbook, the art of dramatic interpretation and the craft of working with actors are integrated into a single, unified method.

In addition to directing throughout the United States and Japan,Michael Bloomis head of directing at the University of Texas at Austin. His writing on the stage has appeared inThe New York TimesandAmericanTheatremagazine. Bloom directed the premiere of Donald Margulies's Pulitzer Prize-winning playDinnerwith Friendsat the Actors Theatre of Louisville, and he also directed premieres by Don DeLillo, Ariel Dorfman, David Hare, and David Lodge. He won the Elliott Norton Award for Directing for his production ofGross Indecency, and was nominated for a Drama Desk forSight Unseenat Manhattan Theatre Club and the Orpheum Theatre. He lives in Austin, Texas.

???More engaging than a textbook,Thinking Like a Directoris a concise and highly practical guide to the craft. It's a required reading for young stage and film directors, students, and anyone who wants to know what a skillful professional director does.??? ???Gilbert Gates, Producing Director of the Geffen Playhouse and Producer of the Academy Awards Show

???It's rare for a ???how-to' book to be at the same time so practical and so literate.??? ???Robert Brustein, Artistic Director, American Repertory lC.