Play Directing: Analysis, Communication, and Style

Rating:
Summary: A Tedious, But Practical Text For Only the Beginner
Review: Dry, dry, dry is the only way to describe the method of this text's approach to the work of the director of a live play. If directing a first project or working in the classroom, this book does contain useful tips for the analysis of a script, the use of various techniques in the staging thereof, and all the basic (and I mean ELEMENTARY) knowledge one needs to get a play off the ground from day one. But if seeking more insight into the art of it all, or a text not resigned to refer to the director as "he," for the sheer simplicity it creates, one would do better to seek out the other numerous interview-style tomes, with pieces from great directors on their own approach.

Rating:
Summary: The Definitive
Review: This is probably referred to as the difinitive book on play direction. Yes, different directors use different styles, and may not use some of the methods in this book. However, from a directing student's perspective, this is an essential book often simply referred to as "The Hodge". The main critique I have for this book though is it is a hard read, and very tedious. I wish it had a better flow and readability to it. But I give it high ratings for it's essential content, and it's practical approach to directing and script analysis.

Rating:
Summary: Best of the best.
Review: While getting a Masters Degree in motion picture writing and directing I took a class from the acting school which used this book. Most of the insights in the book apply to both plays and recorded performing arts though Hodge fully defines what makes play production different from the recorded mediums. The author is truly brilliant in his inclusiveness and insights into story telling using human performance. The book is not boring to those of us who love the detail that gives a deep understanding of how things work. The lack of a patronizing voiceless or feminist writing tone in the third edition that I read, thus the use of the word "he" as a pronoun, shows the author's standout individuality within an industry where being a follower of political bull-hawking is the norm (thus I dissagree with a previous viewer on this subject). While most books I've read about directing are only the author's limited viewpoint of that which they've experienced while directing, Hodge departs from this easy approach by producing a complete directorial viewpoint that gives the student of directing the broad tools necessary to handle the complex activity of play directing as a professional. You can't possibly go wrong by reading the third edition of this book; one hopes that the future editions are as fine. It was one of those life enriching reads that those of us who love to understand things will never forget. Thank you Francis Hodge.