Directing. Book.
COMING SOON!
It is a book about the creative calling of a theatre director, the fundamental truths of artisanal craft, the methodology of cooperation between actor and director, the construction of a piece, as well as the psychological and sensory knowledge, both theoretical and practical, that create the background for it. Despite of its light narrative style, Directing contains concrete instructions for creating a production that carries and speaks to the audience through both thorough preparation and the real, complex process of staging. It is a contemporary and fresh look at Stanislavski-based creative directing, but not only that. Directing is equally fitting for making modern theatre simply without text or physical theatre; the base truths also support improvisation work, choreograph-directors in dance theatre or simply creating a full evening event. Directing is manageable for everyone who wishes to make theatre and wants to formulate their message in it.
TO WHOM
This book could support everyone who finds directing a creative field interesting enough to want to know it better. Reading does not presuppose thorough advanced knowledge, although the book does not explain the nature of basic theatre terminology: who is the actor, the author, the director, what is theatre, how production design is created, etc. The target audience includes a student of any field, as much as a drama student. The necessary vocabulary is clarified within the pages and those wanting to delve deeper into the nature of those terms will find plenty of references to guide them further.
INSIDE YOU WILL FIND
- what is the vocation of directing,
- how to find material, what is the concept of a piece,
- how to construct an explication like a roadmap,
- how to create a team, working with actors and the production team,
- what is required for the rehearsal period and the performance,
- why a director needs the skills of a producer,
- what leadership skills and personal characteristics does a director need
Good professional colleagues worldwide may perhaps find things they happily identify with or come across something that provokes sharp disagreement. The reader will surely find all that – aided by their own life experience.
AUTHOR
The author Tamur Tohver is a theatre director with 40 years experience and has brought to the stage over 80 productions with more than 500 different actors in various locations around the world. Tamur is actively involved in research about the art of theatre as a member of the International Platform for Performers Training, Theatre and Performance Research Association and the International Federation for Theatre Research and a PhD candidate in directing at Manchester Metropolitan University.
Directing. Course.
Immaterial Fear in Zero Zone
Despite the best intentions,
you suddenly meet an unexpected confrontation from the actor, and it surprises –
why deny joining this exciting journey?
Then you reflect and see –
you are even wary of the unknown ahead.
As a director, I realised
I must first support actors in overcoming their fears for sharper creative solutions.
Furthermore, I acknowledged that we are both scared for different reasons.
To encourage an actor, I chose to be balanced and flexible,
give up my desire for artistic achievement,
and not be taken away by ego-induced fear:
am I enough?
I enrich myself through self-cultivation
to get tools from outside directing craft
to carry our dyad across the Zero Zone of fear
in profound rehearsing flow in a state of higher consciousness.
This cultivating directing later reaches an excellent actor-spectator union,
now freed from blockages and prejudices.
WHERE AND WHEN
The theatre school awaits! Come as you are to study directing – we welcome everyone! As the soon-to-be-published Directing is intended as supportive material for learning the craft tools and awakening inspiration, we will wait with putting together our first directing course until Directing is available to be used as a study book. The course includes practice and theory, runs from September to May, and offers a theoretical overview of the art of theatre, practical and specific directing skills, some brief acting experience, and concludes with the submission of a written explication and a short directed piece. After Directing has been published, we will issue more detailed information about the courses.
INDIVIDUAL TEACHING
However, you need not simply wait for Directing to roll off the press or the course to be convened. Get in touch with us through the button below – the author of Directing, Tamur Tohver is happy to offer consultations on methodology within the framework of, for example, producing a particular piece or constructing a customised programme of study (e.g. for an amateur director or event organiser). It may seem peculiar that as a creative calling, directing entails a significant amount of working alone, in thought, writing and sometimes visualising on paper (e.g. your vision of conceptual design needs or the event curve, et al.). Therefore, it is possible to study directing via distance learning relatively successfully up until a certain point (and perhaps even a bit beyond that, by the use of video recording). The base material is always the same, but the approach for every individual is tailored specifically to Your needs, talents, and previous experience. Read more about Tamur and get in touch for the online training through this button:
Directing. Executive Coaching.
This book could also support everyone involved in leading people and themselves. Although Tamur Tohver intends to focus on leadership in his next instalment, focusing on directing from a coaching point of view (a brief introduction of this is found in the current book, too), an experienced or future leader will find some varied food for thought in this publication. The author doesn’t jump to direct parallels with business. Still, through experience in leadership and executive coaching, he is aware that just as people come to the theatre to live vicariously through strangers’ lives on stage, being introduced to a different field will suddenly ignite the sources of inspiration in You. Despite the field of creative arts appearing distant at first glance, a leader will recognise the parallels to team building and people management that can be applied in their everyday practice. This is a bonus feature of the observer position – looking in from the side leaves room to grasp.
THE LEADER AS A CREATOR AND A COACH
The director is not merely a creator or a leader. They are also a coach in the most direct meaning of the word—a person who has already been to where they are leading others. Like a business executives, they can only realise their goal with the help of other people; thus, vision alone doesn’t cut it – it takes several attributes to support the journey. Now – where do they find the energy and strength for this journey? They have to follow three trails at once: exercise self-restraint, invite along with the suitable companions, and support them where necessary? Only through the alignment of goals can the shared part and consolidated space be found. The book references many things that could provide an additional energy source. The author (with extensive experience in personal development consulting) is happy to elaborate on these in training sessions. The foundation of directing is the super-objective, and no enterprise can function, nor a person develops without it.
TAMUR AND TOHVER STUDIO
Tamur gave his first lectures to Tallinn University (Estonia, EU) students in 1998. Tohver Studio was born in 2021, focusing on individual development consulting, creative and executive coaching, team leading, communication consulting, and spiritual self-development practices. This knowledge has been mainly accumulated thanks to theatre education and self-cultivation practices, combined with the vast personal experience from leadership which have contributed skills such as observation, distinction, emotion guiding and inspirative integration of the above. Tamur’s mission is the opening and expanding of human ability. Tohver Studio offers a selection of various academic, creative and entrepreneurial courses supported by over 30 years of practical experience. Tohver Studio cooperates with many corporations, banks, educational establishments, and media enterprises both at home and abroad. Zero Zone Praxis, the freshest science-based technique in our portfolio, is already gaining international recognition. ZZP helps you maintain focus and balance and dissolve obstacles in various complicated situations. It helps to say in the Flow. Write!