Directing Actors: A Practical Aesthetics Approach

Directing Actors: A Practical Aesthetics Approach is the first book to apply the Practical Aesthetics acting technique to the craft of directing.

Lee Cohn lays out a step-by-step, no-nonsense methodology for the director that includes a deep dive into the mechanics of storytelling, the rehearsal process, working with writers, and the practical realities of the director’s job. Featuring end-of-chapter exercises, this book provides a clear and effective means of breaking down a script in order to tell a story with clarity, simplicity, and dramatic force and gives directors a clear working vocabulary that will allow effective communication with actors. The techniques in this book are applicable to any theatrical style and any media platform in which a director might work. Written in an accessible, conversational style, this book strips the process of directing down to its most essential components to explain how to become an "actor’s director."

A must-read for students in directing courses and professional directors working with actors who prescribe to the Practical Aesthetics technique, as well as anyone interested in the process of working with actors, Directing Actors will help directors to get the very best their actors are capable of while approaching the work with a joyful, open spirit.

Lee Michael Cohn, MFA, is an internationally acclaimed, award-winning educator, writer, director, and filmmaker. He directed Inside Private Lives (IPL), the hit show that was an LA Weekly Pick of the Week, recommended twice by the LA Times, and received a rave review in The New York Times. IPL also placed in the Top ten out of over 2,000 shows at the Edinburgh Theatre Festival. Lee is the co-author of A Practical Handbook for the Actor, a best-selling acting textbook (over 330,000 copies sold) that is required reading in hundreds of theatre programs all over the world.