The Graft of the Art
Description
Theatre is a hugely competitive industry. Formal training is inaccessible to many. So how can you get your foot in the door?
This book reveals the secrets of starting, developing and sustaining a career as a theatre director.
In 100 short, entertaining notes on everything from fundraising to failure, award-winning artistic director James Grieve uncovers the steps you need to supercharge your career. It's not what you know or who you know - it's how much you want to know.
In this entrepreneurial guide you will learn:
- how to get started as a theatre director without formal qualifications
- how to develop your craft on your own terms
- how to become an unstoppable force in the face of setbacks and failures
- how to navigate every step of production from rehearsal prep to press night
- how to grow as a leader, manager and CEO of your own career
- how to deploy practical techniques and inspirational ideas to sustain you as a
director and artistic director
Don't wait for the phone to ring. Get cracking. Be the director of your own destiny and force it into existence. It starts here.
More details
Person
Content
Introduction
Start-up
Force it into existence
Entrepreneurialism
If it didn't exist you'd have to invent it
Invent the future
Showbusiness
Inspiration
Grow
Practise
Taste
Slate
Kleptomania
Things you can do to become a better director
Training
Assisting
Get a proper job
Stay on the fucking bus
Always learning
Failure
Production
Research
Concept
Creatives
Casting
Casting
Thank you cards
Prep
Fear
First days
Readthrough
Rehearsal
Body language
Notes
I don't know
Runs
Tech
Perspective
Contradiction
Dress
Previews
Cuts
Press night cards
Press night
Reviews
The show must go on?
Life
Work/life balance
Sacrifice
Realism
Drinking (with actors)
Fitness
Flow
Antisocial
Skills
You're only one skill in the room
Job description
Leadership v management
Fergie or Wenger?
Delegation
Clarity
Consistency
Transparency
Responsibility
Resilience
Patience
Dynamism
Tenacity
Running the show
Artistic Directorship
Strategy
Values
Culture
Recruitment
You can do anything (but not everything)
Fundraising
Consultative selling
Managing up
Media
Debrief
Wisdom
Mentors
Always work with people better than you
Don't work with the same people
Only do the jobs you really want to do
Undeniability
No excuses
Don't put things off
Quotes
Just do the play
Don't be a dick
The colour wheel
Notes to writers
Flattery
Luck
Exhortations
Find your tribe
Boldly go
Imposter Syndrome
Advocate
Excellence
Pass it on
Empathy
Diversity
The Netflix standard
Non-negotiables
Kindness
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
Notes on the Notes
Bibliography
Productions