The Directors Notebook : The Ultimate Guide

What you actually do and dont do:

You independently choose a published play text, read the text and record your personal responses.
You then:

research and record the cultural and/or theoretical context of the play and identify ideas
the playwright may be addressing
explore the play and record your own ideas about how this play may be staged for an
audience
explain your directorial intention(s) and explain how this will inform your staging of two
particular moments of the play; these can be moments of atmosphere, emotion or tension
or which communicate the meaning(s) of the play; you must demonstrate an
understanding of how performance and production elements function together to create
these moments
make reference to live performances they have experienced and how these have
influenced, inspired or informed their directing of these moments. The live theatre
performances must not be a production of the same play you have chosen this
assessment task.

This process could be first recorded in your journal, then curated and presented in the form of a
directors notebook (20 pages maximum), which is made up of visuals and words.
This is a theoretical exercise. The play text is NOT actually staged as part of the assessment task
though you may choose to work practically as part of the process of exploring the play or
examining particular moments. You are NOT permitted to edit, make additions or alterations to
the play text selected for study. All sources must be acknowledged and cited.

You approach this task from the perspective of a director.

The aim of this task is for you to explore the processes involved in
transforming a play text into live action by developing a directorial
vision for staging the play text.

What you will learn from the process:

Through this exploration you will understand:

the importance of research into the context of a play text and how this can inform your
directorial intentions for staging the play text
the artistic processes required to transform text into action
how meaning is communicated on stage and how to create moments of atmosphere,
emotion and tension
how performance and production elements function together to create an intended impact
for an audience
how live performances you have seen and experienced influence, inspire and inform your
work as a director.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE ROLE AND THE TASK

This task is concerned with the textual exploration a director might carry out before they go
into the rehearsal room to work with actors, defining what they want to bring out of the
text and how it might look when finally staged. The process of how this might be achieved
through rehearsals is NOT the focus of this task.
It is unlikely that a director would be responsible for the full scenic or technical design of
the final theatre production; however their vision for the staging of the play text would
certainly involve a clear understanding of how individual production elements might be
employed to fulfill their directorial intentions and how these would potentially impact on
the audience

How it links to your learning on the course:

THEATRE IN CONTEXT

THEATRE PROCESSES

PRESENTING THEATRE

Researching and examining

Taking part in the practical

Directing at least one scene or

the various contexts of at least

exploration of at least two

section from one published

one published play text and

contrasting published play

play text which is presented to

reflecting on live theatre

texts and engaging with the

others.

moments they have

process of transforming a play

experienced as spectators.

text into action.

How the process links to your learning:

Theatre in Context

You will carry out research into the cultural context

from which the play originates and/or research into
the play texts theoretical context, focusing on its style,
form, practice or genre.
You will identify the key ideas presented by the
playwright (such as intended meanings, motifs, themes
or through-line). As the author(s) of the text, the
playwright might be one person, more than one
person or in some cases a theatre company.
You document both of these processes in your theatre journal.

Theatre Processes

You record your interpretation of your chosen play text and your artistic responses to the
entire play text as a director, making links to live theatre performances you have
experienced as a spectator that have influenced, inspired or informed you. REMEMBER,
the live theatre performances must not be productions of the same play you have chosen
for this assessment task.
You record your exploration of your chosen play and your own ideas about how this play
may be staged for an audience.
You document both of these processes in your theatre journal.

Presenting Theatre

You explain your directorial intention(s) and your intended impact on audience and
demonstrate/record how this would inform your staging of two particular moments of the
play. These can be moments of atmosphere, emotion or tension or moments that
communicate the meaning(s) of the play.
You demonstrate youre understanding, through the staging of these two moments, of how
performance and production elements function together.
You document both of these processes in your theatre journal.

Discussing live theatre performance in your Directors Notebook

In you final Directors Notebook, you must discuss and make links to live theatre
performances you have experienced as a spectator during the theatre course. You should
identify performances that have influenced, inspired or informed you and should pay
particular attention to how directors employed production and performance elements to
create effective moments of atmosphere, emotion or tension or moments that
communicated meaning in the live theatre performance experienced.
The live theatre performances identified must not be productions of the same play text
selected for study in this assessment task. Neither are you allowed to write about
productions in which you have had involvement, for example school plays in which you
helped backstage or local productions in which you have performed.

How you choose and use

your play:
You choose a published play text
that you have not previously
studied (or acted in), which you
are interested in practically
exploring as a director and which
would allow you to successfully
fulfill the assessment
requirements and criteria of the
task.

CHOOSING YOUR PLAY CAREFULLY

Your choice play text must be one you have not studied in class, and for which you can
clearly identify the potential for success in transforming it from page to stage, so this choice
is crucial and will be guided by your teacher. Once you have made your choice, the play
cannot be used for any other assessment task for this course.

You need to, and you must, read a number of plays before you make your final choice, which you
will do in discussion with your teacher. The key to success in this task is for you to choose a text
that excites your imagination and that you will be passionate about transforming into action and
putting on stage.
You cannot edit, make additions or alterations to the original printed work. You can, however, in
communicating your vision for the staging of the selected play text, add as much additional action
or introduce additional elements of design if this will help you to realise your vision for the staging.
HOWEVER, in every case of an addition, it must be appropriate to the play text and you must
clearly identify and justify these additions in your journal at first and then in your Directors
Notebook.

On the other hand, the play text does not necessarily have to be set within the original
practice/style/genre for which it was originally intended. You can to set the play in a contrasting
practice or style in order to bring out a particular idea or theme appropriate to your intention.
Also, you can work with play texts written in any language. However, any descriptions of plot or
direct quotations used in your final Directors Notebook must be translated into English.

Things to think about to get you going:

What may have influenced the playwright, and what are his or her intentions?

How do the theatre productions you have seen inform, influence or inspire his or her
interpretations of a play and his or her work as a director?

How have the cultural, social and/or political conditions of the time influenced or inspired
the play?

What is the genre/style of the play, and how has the playwright employed the art form to
communicate his or her intentions and ideas? To what effect?

What processes does a director employ to develop his or her intention and vision?

What processes does a director employ to bring text to life?

What processes are involved in staging a play text?

How does a director present his or her ideas for staging moments of a play?

How does a director communicate his or her interpretations and intentions in a directorial
notebook?

What the Directors Notebook should actually look like:

The Directors Notebook must:

Be up to 20 Pages long
Be a combination of creative ideas, presented in words and visuals (photos, drawings,
storyboards, mood boards etc)
Be written in the first person
Present your personal interpretations, responses, ideas, discoveries and intentions for the
proposed staging of your chosen play.
Be precise and specific as possible when discussing performance and production elements.
Use subject specific terminology (that will help you being precise).
Be clearly annotated and appropriately referenced to acknowledge all sources
Also acknowledge and identify any of your own photographs or images in the same way
Have a table of contents (that is excluded from the word count)
Have numbered pages
Have all sources cited in a separate document (see examples in Lionel)

Use of sources
As well as the more obvious sources (books, websites, videos, DVDs, articles) valid research
should also include your own practical explorations of the play. You are also required to
refer to theatre experiences you have had as a spectator. All sources consulted must be
acknowledged following the referencing style used by Discovery College and be presented
in a bibliography and as footnotes of the directors notebook.

The structure of the Notebook:

1. The play text, its context and the ideas presented in the play
2. My artistic responses, creative ideas and explorations and my own experiences of
live theatre as a spectator
3. My directorial intentions and the intended impact on an audience
4. How I would stage TWO moments of the play

WHAT THE IBO REQUIRES FROM YOU, IN THEIR WORDS

Each student submits for assessment:

a directors notebook (20 pages maximum) which includes: the students research
into the published play text, its relevant contexts and the ideas presented in the
play

the students artistic responses and explorations of the entire play text as a
director, referencing live performances they have experienced as a spectator that
have influenced, inspired or informed them

the students ideas regarding the staging of two specific moments from the play
and how these would create the desired impact on an audience

the students presentation of their final directorial intentions and the intended
impact of these on an audience

a list of all sources cited.

What it should actually look like:

Your actual Directors Notebook is scanned, uploaded to the IBO and then assessed on screen so
you need to make sure work is clear and legible when presented in a digital format. Therefore you
MUST use an A4 format, landscape or portrait, with all pages numbered.

MARKING CRITERIA THE DIRECTORS NOTEBOOK

1-2

3-4

5-6

7-8

Inconsistent

Underdeveloped

Good

Excellent

Criteria A
Theatre in context: The play text,
its context and the ideas
Presented
Criteria C
Presenting theatre: The directors
vision and intended impact

Criteria B
Theatre processes: Artistic responses and live
theatre experiences
Criteria D.
Presenting theatre: The staging of
two moments of the play

The student lists the

cultural and/or theoretical
context(s) of the play text
using few appropriate
sources, not always
effectively.
The student identifies the
ideas presented in the play
text by the playwright but
these are obvious or
contrived and lack depth
The student lists any
artistic responses, creative
ideas or explorations of
the play but these may be
superficial or
underdeveloped
The student makes little
attempt to make links to
their own experiences of
live theatre and lists how
directors employed
production and
performance elements to
make impactful moments
of live theatre.
The student lists their
directorial intentions but
these may not be
appropriate, effective or
feasible
The student shows little
consideration for how
their staging of the play
might create an intended
impact on an audience.

The student lists how they

would stage two moments
of the play. This work is
incomplete or contains
edits, cuts or alterations to
the original text
The student lists how
production and
performance elements
would function together
with little consideration of
their stated intentions.

The student outlines the

cultural and/or theoretical
context(s) of the play text
using limited sources
effectively

The student describes the

cultural and/or theoretical
context(s) of the play text
using a range of sources,
but not always effectively

The student explains the

cultural and/or theoretical
context(s) of the play text
using a range of sources
effectively

The student identifies the

ideas presented in the play
text and describes how
these ideas are linked by
the playwright.

The student clearly

identifies the ideas
presented in the play text
and explains how they are
linked by the playwright.

The student describes

their artistic responses,
creative ideas and
explorations of the play
with clarity and some
imagination

The student presents a

clear, detailed and
imaginative explanation of
their artistic responses,
creative ideas and
explorations of the play

The student makes some

appropriate links to their
own experiences of live
theatre and describes how
production and
performance elements
were combined to make
impactful moments of
theatre.

The student makes clear

and appropriate links to
their own experiences of
live theatre and explains
how directors employed
production and
performance elements to
make impactful moments
of live theatre.

The student outlines their

directorial intentions
which are largely
appropriate, effective and
feasible, but these may be
underdeveloped

The student describes

their appropriate, effective
and feasible directorial
intentions which are
supported by a range of
ideas

The student clearly

explains their appropriate,
effective and feasible
directorial intentions
which are supported by a
range of imaginative ideas

The student outlines how

their staging of the play
might create an intended
impact on the audience.

The student describes how

their staging of the play
would create an intended
impact on the audience.

The student clearly

explains how their staging
of the play would create
an intended impact on the
audience.

The student outlines how

they would stage two
moments of the play

The student describes how

they would stage two
moments of the play

The student explains how

they would stage two
moments of the play

The student outlines how

production and
performance elements
would function together to
fulfill their stated
intentions.

The student describes how

production and
performance elements
would function together to
appropriately fulfill their
stated intentions.

The student explains how

production and
performance elements
would function together to
appropriately and
effectively fulfill their
stated intentions.

The student identifies

some of the ideas
presented by the
playwright in the play text
but does not identify
appropriate links between
these
The student outlines their
artistic responses, creative
ideas and explorations of
the play but these may be
lacking clarity
The student attempts to
make links to their own
experiences of live theatre
and outlines how directors
employed production and
performance elements to
make impactful moments
of live theatre.