Tips: Ideas for Directors

Until very recently, directing wisdom was passed on in the form of "tips". Continuing this tradition, you will find them ranging from the way set a scene to directing the actor on the way to laugh. The tips are clear, concise, evocative, and constructed to give you a better day in rehearsal and performance. A buffet of ways to improve immediately that you'll refer to over and over again!

Jon Jory served as the producing director at Actors Theatre of Louisville for thirty-one years, during which time he directed over 140 plays and produced over 1,300. He is recognized as a major innovator and initiator for the American theater during a crucial era of its growth. Throughout his career, Mr. Jory has devoted his energy to the rebirth of the regional repertory and to excellence in all facets of production, but especially to the encouragement of new writers and the production of new American plays. Mr. Jory is himself a published playwright. He now teaches theater at the University of Seattle. Mr. Jory has been responsible for developing the internationally lauded Humana Festival of New American Plays, the SHORTS Festival, and the Classics in Context Festival. Through his work at Actors Theatre, he has brought new plays to festivals all over the world. Plays from Actors Theatre directed by Mr. Jory have been seen On- and Off-Broadway, on national television, and in fifteen regional theaters in the United States.

Mr. Jory has directed and taught in Greece, Canada, Bulgaria, Australia, Hungary, Israel, Ireland, Yugoslavia, Poland, Egypt, and Syria. As a result of these efforts, he and Actors Theatre have received the Margo Jones Award twice for the production of new plays, the Shubert Foundation's James N. Vaughan Memorial Award for Exceptional Achievement and Contribution to the Development of the Professional Theatre, Carnegie Mellon's Commitment to Playwriting Award, and a Special Tony Award for Achievement in Regional Theater. Mr. Jory was an honored recipient of the American Theatre Association's Award for distinguished Service to Theatre, the National Theatre Conference Award, the Southeastern Theatre Conference Distinguished Career Award, and the Milner Person of the Year Award.

"The craft of playing comedy is a lost art." Jon Jory