Directing Tips for Maestro™
by Shawn Kinley
(For more information on Shawn Kinley, who studied closely with Keith Johnstone at Loose Moose, go to his website.)
Directing Maestro can be challenging, rewarding, overwhelming and a practice in staying calm while the show whips around you like a storm. In a normal scenario, you are sitting beside another director for a two hour show setting up scenes and trying to help the improvisers create an evening of varied improvised entertainment with a wide range of stories, some interesting images, a couple bits of craziness while dealing calmly with the occasional improvisational shipwreck.
There are many ways to direct and many types of directing. We hope that some of these tips will aid you in finding a way that works best for you in creating an enjoyable evening for the audience, the performers and you.
In a typical Maestro evening you might have 12 improvisers to draw from. 3 of them might be your top improvisers who do shows consistently and successfully. 3 of them might be new to your company and this is the first time they've stepped on stage. The other 6 are smiling men and women are improvisers with experience somewhere in-between the other two groups. Skill level of your performers dictates some of how you will direct.
In the random choosing of performers, the first half of the show might have good scenes and not so good scenes but more than likely it will need your full attention because of the great mix of skills on stage. The format is designed to create a strong "show arc" to the evening. After some eliminations you will hopefully find yourself with your strongest improvisers to work with. At this point, your directing can be practiced with more leeway given to the performers.
Tip 1: Encourage initiative in your performers.
Before the show, educate the performers that when they are called up they might occasionally want to initiate their own scenes. Improvisers who are announced might see each other and feel motivated to just begin "the date", "the job interview", etc. When this happens your job becomes much easier. They are already inspired and you can simply respond. (we don't want this ALL the time but the danger with directed formats is that the improvisers lose initiative in scenes)
If the scene looks like a mess in the first 15 seconds you can stop them and ask would they like to re-start. Then you can set them into something different.
- If improvisers are a little out of sync with each other, you can nudge them forward or clarify what is going on. "Gerald wants you to be his butler.", "Go to sleep so Tina can be the tooth fairy and climb in your window.".
Tip 2: Ask the players questions to initiate scenes
When you don't want to give too much information at the beginning of a scene and you are looking for ways to inspire your players, consider asking questions that will make them WANT to do the scene. Demand truth from the answers.
Some questions might be:
- Ask them what job they wanted when they were 5, (set them up to be that occupation). Not only will they be inspired but the audience will take a special interest in watching a person doing something they honestly want. Remember to move the scene forward when the opportunities arise.
- Ask them what 'pisses them off' in the world. Give them a chance to solve the problem. I remember Rob from the Loose Moose exploding emotionally when dealing with the problem of bureaucracy at city hall. What you are angered about will often be mirrored through the audience's opinion.
- Ask questions that touch the performer on some emotional level and then you've done a big part of your job.
Tip 3: Move the performers towards relationship.
Amazingly, we avoid deepening connections on stage all the time. If the performers are a master and servant in a castle, take a step further and bring the relationship closer. "Tell your servant you've been watching him sleeping at night." "Tell your master you have fallen in love with her." "Tell your servant that you are actually his father".
And even with what might seem non-human relationships - bring the relationship closer. The pigeon has a message around it's leg that you read. The old picture on the wall is not random, it looks like you, your mother, your best friend. One night when you pray, a voice answers you.
TIP 4: Move forward!
You would be surprised sometimes how easy it is to direct by simply saying “Move forward.” Many improvisers are delaying the action because they are scared. They can be scared to define, scared to show emotion, scared to improvise.
If a gun is pulled, it had better be fired or cause a strong reaction. If you've been standing at the foot of a mountain or entrance to a cave you had better climb or go in. Listen to the audience whispers. You sometimes hear the voices, “Kiss!" when the couple have shown the signals of what MUST happen. Move forward.
TIP 5: Define!
Watch performances and listen for words like "things, stuff, 'I don't know' ". When the performer is scared to define, the scene can't move forward. Give the pet a name. “Sebastian the bull mastiff” is much better than feeding the pet. Climbing “Mount Sinister” implies a lot more than just climbing that generic mountain.
TIP 6: Move performers towards actions rather than words.
For example, having an improviser climb out on the window ledge is more interesting than an improviser telling his boss that he is depressed and angry about being fired.
Tip 7: Common mistakes made by new directors.
In the last 'tip' I want to offer some gentle warnings about things that often happen to new and experienced directors.
Some common mistakes made by improvisers who sit in the director’s chair include:
- Setting up only games for the improvisers to follow and not really directing a variety of work (scenes, games, emotional variety)
- Following a set list of ideas created before the show. Try to respond to the needs of the show – during the show. If the performers aren't connecting, you might want to throw in a "speaking in one voice" game to get them working together. If we have seen two adventures already maybe it's time for a romantic meeting.
- Over-directing. Commonly, directors will direct what the improviser is about to do or say. Hold yourself back if this is you. Let the improvisers shine - not you. Be invisible when you aren't needed. Also, scenes CAN go in other directions. If a scene is healthy and going well, adapt your original thought about what you wanted the scene to be and let it be what it is becoming.
- Being too timid when the moment begs you to speak up. After directed shows you might hear the phrase "I thought about saying something but..." Letting a scene go down a destructive path for too long will make it much more difficult to salvage. There is no science here but if you have a tendency to say "I should have followed my impulse.." then take more risks.
- Direct them to work against negativity. (Re-start scenes with players that consistently have negative starts.)
Many suggestions here are basic improvisation suggestions. Directors have an outside eye and HOPEFULLY keep some perspective on the scenes and the show. Their job is to remind most of the performers about what they already know and to move the scenes towards what is already latent in the scene. If the audience sees the possibilities and the performers don't, it is the director who has to remind them.