Book Review | Directing Amateur Musical Theatre: A Practical Guide for Non-Professional Theatre by Dom O’Hanlon
Written by Penny for Theatre and Tonic
Provided with a copy of the book in return for an honest review.
If you ask people to talk about “amateur theatre”, you’ll get a wide range of opinions. Some will picture wobbly sets, acting as wooden as the stage furniture and elderly divas playing 17-year-old romantic heroines. Others will think about shows they have seen that rival anything the West End has to offer.
In my local area, amateur groups perform in church halls, purpose-built community theatres seating anything from 50 to 200 people, and large professional theatres are usually home to lavish touring productions. Members include former professionals, those with training who haven’t pursued a professional career and plenty who just have a love for theatre and enjoy the challenge of learning new skills and performing with like-minded friends. Most of the people I know who are involved in amateur theatre will describe their group as family. It’s a close-knit community taking on the myriad roles required to bring a production to the stage. The audience will only see the actors on stage, loving the spotlight and the applause. But an amateur company will also include all the backstage staff – stage management, set builders, costume designers, sound, lighting, make-up, a publicity team, choreographers musical directors etc.
But what of the amateur director? Very often they come from within the company, and having proved themselves on stage or in some other capacity, they now want to bring their experience to leading their own production. But how does a first-time director manage all the many aspects of staging a musical? Well, experienced director of amateur musicals in the UK and US, Dom O’Hanlon, has written a book that he hopes will prove to be a valuable resource.
O’Hanlon runs through the production process, from initial preparations, through the rehearsal period and then to closing night and get-out. There’s a huge amount of detail, including guidance on practical issues like budgeting, audition best practices, rehearsal schedules and structures, and managing the transition from rehearsal room to stage. This gives helpful checkpoints for the more administrative side of the director’s role.
The bulk of the book looks at the creative role of the director – from understanding the text through to techniques to get the best out of actors of varying experience and ability levels. A lot of this I would expect anybody putting on the director’s hat to have already considered. If you need to read a chapter on how to talk to your actors, are you really ready to direct? But it certainly doesn’t hurt to have a reminder to hand, and there are also plenty of ideas that should help you to get the most out of your text and your company.
I was particularly interested in the section on understanding the show, looking at the source material and placing your story in its historical and social context. For example, the idea of creating a “World Map” for the various locations within a show is a great way to immerse yourself in the story and get an appreciation for the differing atmospheres from scene to scene.
There are also some really helpful insights into working with a cast to develop characters, and understand their relationships and motivations, with as much emphasis on ensemble cast members as principals. With budgetary and time constraints often limiting rehearsal time, O’Hanlon presents a compelling argument for taking the time to work with the ensemble, stressing their important contribution to the production.
Ultimately, every director will have their own vision and way of working. But this book is a handy resource to have to hand when taking on a new amateur musical project, particularly for inexperienced directors who can check in throughout the production process. And for those with a few more director credits under their belts, there is still plenty to appreciate – from the experiences shared by actors and directors to the warm up and other exercises that are suggested. As a lot of amateur theatre continues to achieve standards that equal or even surpass a lot of professional productions, it’s good to see a book that takes “am dram” seriously and supports the pursuit of excellence that people up and down the country care so passionately about.
Directing Amateur Musical Theatre by Dom O’Hanlon is available here.
