Possible structure for your Director’s Notebook

What to include in Criterion A

The play text, its context and the ideas presented in the play

Its Context
Step 1

Start off this section by discussing the main purpose or reasons for why this play was written.
Obviously, it was created to entertain. There is no question about that. Moving away from that
idea, what we want you to identify are the message(s) the playwright is trying to send to its
audience that it was written for.

Example

Athol Fugard’s play Nongogo

This play rather than being solely for the purposes of entertainment, is used to promote
a political message. Athol Fugard touches upon difficulties that the South African apartheid
inflicted upon the black populations of the townships. Instead of presenting straight up facts
of racial segregation, Nongogo pulls the audience into the lives of 5 very real, and human
characters. This allows the audience to connect with the characters, feel sympathy and
ultimately a need to fight the apartheid- and ultimately human oppression….

Its Context
Step 2

Support what you have discussed above (for why the play was written) with facts about either:

1. Researching and outlining events that were happening at the time it was written
2. And/or, the culture (traditions, customs and social behavior of the people or society) that
the play explores
Example
 The Play Text

Step 3

Link these facts directly to the events that happen in the play (yes, you should definitely start
talking about the play at this point!)

Example
Fugard does not explicitly state that the lives of the characters stem from apartheid. In order for
the audience to recognize the effects of the apartheid they must recognize that the lives of the
five characters (all of whom are black), are restricted to the townships in the city of Port
Elizabeth. Queeny’s, position in society can only reach being the owner of bar, a Shebeen, and
with no ability to escape those constraints. As soon as she attempts to change her life for the
better, Queeny is pushed back down. A powerful part of the play is that she is NOT pushed down
by a white person – but by another black. This allows the audience to see that the apartheid has
embedded itself in the culture of the blacks. Johnny- who brings hope into the play is also the
one that extinguishes it. Fugard’s original intended audience for Nongogo is a privileged white
audience – middle income and upwards (people well established in society – whose lives are
filled with opportunities). This specific audience is essential to deliver Fugard’s artistic intentions
– presenting limitations placed on the blacks by the apartheid – to an audience who can make a
change….

The ideas presented in the play

Step 4

In this part you can identify the themes that are present in the play and even start to introduce
the characters.
Try your best to discuss how the themes and/or characters connect to the historical or cultural
facts you addressed in Step 2.
Example

Nongog portrays the constraints of life under apartheid and the inability to escape these
constraints. After research and my first read through I idenitified the themes of: hope, desire for
a better life, and attempted pride. In addition thwarted aspirations and the inability to escape
social constraints are scattered across the play- which are created by the apartheid. There are
hints of romance as well between Johnny and Queeny (they talk about who they want to settle
down with together). This is never truly realized, to the audience’s disappointment, because the
turbulent pasts of some of characters (in this case both Johnny and Queeny) drags them down,
not allowing them to move forward and prosper together…
 What to include in Criterion B

My artistic responses, creative ideas and explorations and my own experiences of live theatre as
a spectator

My artistic responses

Step 1

Talk about what your experience was like during your first, second and/or third read through of
the play text.

1. What were your initial reactions? What did you think of the characters? Setting?
2. How did the play make you feel? Could these experiences you had be reactions you
would consider wanting your audience to experience as well?
3. Did any line or scene and/or situation jump out at you? Are they important moments
that you would use to really get your message across to the audience?

Example

After reading the play through, I was disappointed that Queeny does not escape the constrained
life of her Shebeen and township.p Throughout the play I began admiring and feeling empathy
towards Queeny. When she was shunned by Johnny because of her past as a nongogo
(prostitute), despite her efforts of escaping that past, I was infuriated and disappointed- as I was
expecting the typical ‘happy-ending.’ Fugard surpasses the audience’s expectations of Queeny
escaping the constraints, and instead presents the reality – that it is impossible to escape the
apartheid. My frustration I experience during my first read through is what I want the audience
to experience. I think that it is important the audience experience this same frustration towards
the oppression that each character experiences. The characters should be present as real human
beings – as it is embedded in the text- where the audience can connect to and experience
empathy towards them.
There are many themes touched upon by Fugard however I want to focus specifically on
oppression of each character (as I noticed that each character is affected by the apartheid in a
completely different way), the limitations the characters experience and their lack of identity.
Identity is an important theme and allows for dignity and pride- it is one of the few things the
people can still possess.

While reading the play I found the extract above extremely powerful- in this dialogue between
Patrick and Johnny, Patrick delivers the truth about his life to the audience. This opens up a
window for the audience to understand the lives of the black populations in the townships.
Patrick is a minor character- and having a monologue of this importance, portraying his despair
and inability to provide for his children, is something the audience will be unable to forget. The
hardships his children are inflicting upon him and his wife are complete contrast to the joy that
children provide to the privileged audience watching the play. Hence, it is essential to create a
moment like this so that it will have an everlasting impact on the audience.

Creative Ideas

Step 2

Here you can highlight all of the creative ideas you in regards to the staging of the play.

Remind the reader of where the play takes place (is it a singular set time and space? Or does it
happen over time and in different places?)

Describe to the reader how you imagined this to initially look like and reference anything that
might be mentioned within the play text (production notes) at this time.
Example
A shebeen is an illicit bar, usually present only in townships as blacks weren’t allowed to enter
normal pubs/bars (Shebeen, 2016). Queeny’s is located in one of the Port Elizabeth townships-
which is where the play is set.
Nongogo is wisely cut down to 5 actors and is set at a single time place and action, confined to
one significant set. The Shebeen is described in the stage directions as “the very best but
neglected and this is a parallel to Queeny herself- a beautiful and strong woman with a
‘powerful personality’, but worn down by society and the surrounding pressures of the society
she is entrapped in. Below is a diagram of my first vision of what that might look like.

Creative Ideas
Step 3

Describe the general atmosphere, mood and tone using descriptive writing (paint a picture in
our minds as to what it might look like)

Discuss colours, objects and/or symbolism that are present in your play. What do they
represent? How is evident in the text.

What possible ways could these ideas be presented using various design elements?

Example
The general atmosphere should be depressing- surrounded by drunks trying to forget their woes
and men scraping for the last few coins they have to spend on alcohol. While reading the play
Queeny’s Shebeen seemed to be a representation (a gathering) of all the distress and destitution
people experienced because of the apartheid and essentially the oppression they are exposed to.
I also have a diagram below that reflects on the importance of colour within the play. This is
should be emphasised during the play. In the script time and time again, the importance of
colour jumps out at me, it represents a hope for the characters – especially for Queeny and
Johnny. Colour could be extremely noticeable, and almost slightly out of place in the midst of the
Shebeen. I imagine that if I were to enter Queeny’s Shebeen, it would be hazy due to smoke,
shabby – with stains on the tables and ripbs in the couch. I also imagine it to be not very clean,
with an abvious air of neglect.

Creative Ideas

Step 4

Explain some performance techniques that you could utilize in directing your performance and
how this relates to the intentions of the script:

Theatre Theorists (Stanislavski- The System, Bertolt Bretch- Epic Theatre, Antonin Artaud-
Theatre of Cruelty, Utah Hagen- 9 Questions, Jacques Lecoq-Physical Theatre, ?

Theatrical forms (musical, melodrama, comedy, tragedy)

Theatrical style (naturalism, realism, modernism, postmodernism, theatre of the Absurd,

Classical, expressionism, children’s theatre)

Other possible theatrical conventions:

Pantomime, dance, puppetry, tableaux, chorus, thought tracking, cross cutting, transitions
Example

This play encompasses the serious topic of oppression towards human beings. Therefore, the
message of the play – presented through the inability of Queeny to improve her life and
constraints which other characters face needs to be portrayed in a realistic way, to emphasize
the reality and importance of this message. Naturalistic style of acting could be used so that the
audience would be able to recognize the humanity within the characters- feel sympathy and pity
towards these character who all exist in some part of the world at this moment. This realization
should hit the audience full force and make them motivated to do something about these types
of living environments in which people who are denied their freedoms and rightful human
dignities live. Aristotle’s Mimesis theory of characters to imitate real life people would be a
powerful tool to achieve lasting effects on the audience and fully engage them in the action.
Incorporating this imitation/illusion of reality is certainly embedded in this play as it represents
the reality of the townships and the struggles faced by real living people.

explorations and my own experiences of live theatre as a spectator

Step 5

Address (two) live theatre experiences you have witnessed as a spectator and how ‘moments’
from the performances influence you as a director:

Moments are really just technical choices made by the director. You can talk about
performance techniques, portrayal of characters, design elements, theatrical style, technical
elements…
*How did the director(s) create moments of tension, emotion, atmosphere and/or meaning
through their choices? (This is an essential question in this section so don’t disregard it!)

1. Describe the ‘moment’ as if you were reliving the experiencing as an audience member.
Be descriptive.
2. How did these ‘moments’ of theatre impact you?
3. How could these same ‘moments’ be implemented into your production?

Example
 What to include in Criterion C

My Directorial Intentions and the intended impact on an audience

My Directorial Intentions and the intended impact on an audience

*This is where you outline your intentions for the production and how you will create a specific
impact on the audience. Intention and impact co-exist together in this section.

*Any specific things you include in this section (right down to single costume pieces) should be
explained by you, on how it supports the plays theme(s), intention and/or impact you are trying
to create

1. How do you intend to get the plays message(s) across to the audience?
2. Describe who your targeted audience is and explain how they will benefit or what they
will take away from watching your production.
3. What creative ideas (that involve staging and theatrical elements) you have already
discussed previously in your director’s notebook, that you can now use, but in more
detail.
4. Describe how you will incorporate the same techniques you mentioned in the
explorations and my own experiences of live theatre as a spectator section and how this
will help support the impact you are trying to create.
5. Choose specific lighting, sound, costume and/or props and explain how they connect to
the atmosphere you are trying to create, messages you are trying to send and or
characteristics you want to highlight (costume).

Example
My main artistic intention for this play will be to deliver Fugard’s political retaliation and
criticism of the apartheid, as well as launch the audience into a whirlwind of sensual experiences
of the townships through immersion. Even though today the apartheid seems distant, this play
centers around social oppression between human beings. Oppression still exists within society
today – we still deal with racism, poverty and sexual discrimination. My production of Nongogo
will allow the privileged audience to step out of their comfort bubble and realise that there are
people experiencing conditions such as the characters in the play. People still live in poverty,
they are still shunned for mistakes made in the past, and the audience has to be more aware of
these things which may be happening not that far from them.
The intended audience will be a higher class audience- who possess money, and are rarely
exposed to poverty. The presentation of real life human beings and the hardships which the
character’s face will allow for direct empathy from the audience; even the blacks have turned
against the blacks…
I want the most sympathy from the audience towards Queeny – she is a strong woman, with
morals, who is unable to reach her full potential. Through breaking down the fourth wall the
audience will feel closer to Queeny – and will first grow to admire her, and gradually shift to
liking her – when she opens up to Johnny as well as the audience. When Johnny discovers the
truth about Queeny’s past, the audience should feel infuriated, as it presents a double standard
against the character they like the most within the play. Queeny didn’t treat Johnny any
different when he told her about his past and getting raped by men. At the same time however,
the audience should understand that Johnny’s inability to escape ‘dirt’, his desire to be ‘clean’ is
engraved in the culture of all the blacks in the townships.
Each character presents a different theme within the play. I want to distinguish each character,
and in this way portray each theme through them and their overall demeanor. Patrick
represents the loss of identity and this dignity. Johnny shows the torment and the burden of his
past, his inability to accept Queeny despite her past shows that oppression is engraved in the
culture. Blackie shows degradation of the population and the dependence required for him to
survive. Sam is the depiction of survivors who are molded by the constraints – he is hated by the
audience but he is the only one who seems to end up mildly unaffected. Therefore, these themes
will be achieved through each individual character. Since there are only five characters, the
audience will be able to focus on each one – and remember what each one has said.

The Set
To enter the Shebeen I want the actors to pass through a curtain of beads – similar to the
picture below. This will contribute to the shabby atmosphere and poverty which existsed in the
townships (bead curtains act as a substitute for a door). A few other atmosphere designs will be
run down plastic tables with stains, wooden crates and cracks on the wall. This atmosphere will
persist all around the audience. Symbolism in the set will be contained in colours. The two
images below are what I drew inspiration from to understand what a Shebeen looks like. There
is colour but it is muted with grime and dirt. I want to increase the lack of colour. If there is
some colour it will always be tinged with a sense of greyness. Therefore, when Johnny enters
into the Shebeen selling bright blue and red table cloths – they will seem out of place. Therefore
colour will symbolize hope, and the lack of its signifies that there is no more hope for
improvement in this place.
Props and lighting and Sound
Characters and Costume
 What to include in Criterion D

The staging of two moments of the play

The staging of two moments of the play

Here you will select two distinct and focused moments from the play.

Clearly describe how you will go about staging these moments and make solid connections to
your intention/impact. Explain how you will achieve this through production elements.

The moments you choose should be moments that are meaningful to the key ideas (themes,
etc.) you have already discussed.

Explain how tension, emotion and atmosphere will be created and the impact this will have on
the audience. Be extremely conscious of the audience experience at this point.

Example