Rose Bruford College
DUTIES OF VISITING DIRECTORS FOR LEVEL 6 PRODUCTIONS
Thank you for your interest in directing a production at the College. The following duties
apply to your contract:
General Duties:
1. To direct and coach as appropriate all students taking part in the agreed
production, including acting, design (set & costume, lighting, sound, video), stage
management, costume, scenic and other technical students. The following
courses may be involved in the production work:
BA Hons: Acting/Actor Musicianship. Level 6
BA Hons: Americn Theatre Arts. Level 6
BA Hons: Theatre Design. Level 6
BA Hons: Scenic Arts (construction, painting and props). Levels 5 and 6
BA Hons: Costume Production. Levels 5 and 6
BA Hons: Lighting Design. Levels 5 and 6
BA Hons: Creative Lighting Control levels 5 and 6
BA Hons: Performance Sound. Levels 5 and 6
BA Hons: Stage Management. Levels 4, 5 and 6.
Levels 5 and 6 students (2nd and 3rd years) are involved in the production
departments for your production. Level 4 students (1st years) may join as crew or
other roles at key points in the production schedules, particularly during the
production weeks.
All students working on these productions are assessed and the resulting marks
contribute towards their degree.
2. To direct the production so as to ensure that all students working on the
production have the opportunity to fulfil the Intended Learning Outcomes of their
programme. Programme Directors of each programme will be able to give you
advice on this should you need it.
It is expected that production designs will give a workload for our production
students that will provide them with a wide range of design and technical
experiences within the resources that are available. We therefore request that
you take this into account when considering the staging of the production.
3. To work within the agreed production budget. The production budget is managed
by the student production manager and the Director of Productions. The budget
covers all production requirements: set, props, costume, special effects, hire,
transport and all departmental travel costs related to the production including
those of the designer.
4. To establish a clear creative and development process for your production.
Throughout the production process and in performance our students are
encouraged to recognise the importance of each others’ work; the director is a
key figure in enabling this understanding. Professional discipline and practice is
an essential part of the students training, and you are asked to make clear (in
consultation with tutorial staff) to actors and the design and production team the
way in which you would like all phases of the production to be organised.
5. All students are expected to recognise the importance of their working
relationship with you. This is particularly important for stage management who
are expected to liaise between yourself and departments and to organise
necessary production, props, lighting meetings etc.
6. To attend all required design and production meetings, and to set time aside
each week for ongoing evaluation of the work with tutors and students where
applicable.
7. To inform the Director of Productions in confidence if you have concerns with the
work or conduct of any student working on the production.
8. To report any concerns that you may have about the production to the student
production manager and the Staff Production Supervisor.
9. To work at all times within the College’s Health and Safety policy, following risk
assessments and method statements, as determined by the Director of
Productions, the Technical Manager and the College’s Technical Instructors.
10. To comply with the College’s ‘no nudity’ policy, regardless of individual student
wishes or script specification.
Duties before the rehearsal period:
1. To brief, support and work collaboratively with the student set/costume designer,
lighting designer and (where applicable) sound and video designers, to meet
regularly and agree designs prior to the commencement of rehearsals.
Please note that it is essential that you make yourself available for initial design
meetings, which will be several weeks before the start of rehearsals. It is also
important that you attend design presentations and key production meetings. The
Director of Productions will be able to give you details of the schedule for your
particular production.
2. To ensure preliminary designs will be submitted to the College for a feasibility
meeting with relevant tutorial staff prior to the start of rehearsal. It must be
understood that the College cannot accept a design and production concept
without the set being estimated and there being a clear understanding of the
technical implications of the design. Tutorial staff will not undertake or instruct
students to carry out any work which they believe is beyond the capabilities of
the students or leave students with inappropriate work to undertake in relation to
their particular programme of study.
Duties during the Rehearsal Period
1 To work with and support (if allocated to your project) a 3rd year Actor Musician
student who will musically direct the production, they will also play a part in the
production. If you have a student MD he/she may be available for limited rehearsal time.
2 The Programme Director for Actor Musicianship will discuss their availability.
3 To set adequate time aside for the actors/and or yourself to run company warmups (usually 9.30-10am).
4 To manage the rehearsal schedule to allow time for actors to be released for
fittings during the rehearsal day.
5 To ensure that meetings do not interfere with lunch breaks or cause students to
work unnecessarily long hours.
6 To brief with adequate notice visiting specialists – voice, movement, etc. and
supply a schedule for them. (This can be a designated SM responsibility). A specific
number of hours are set aside for voice and movement tuition during the rehearsal
and production week. You will be informed of the hours for these two areas by the
Director of Productions.
7 With the support of full time staff of the need for care of the voice and body in
rehearsal and production.
8 To attend production meetings, costume parades, props parades as appropriate to
the course, production and student learning outcomes.
9 Working with the student stage manager and production manager, to provide
programme copy according to deadlines set by the College’s Marketing Department.
10 Please note that students are not responsible for the booking of rooms for
rehearsal. Rooms are allocated by the college and any requests for extra rehearsal
must go through the Director of Productions.
Duties during the production period:
1. To work to the technical and production schedule set by the Director of
Productions in consultation with you, mindful of additional time needed to
accommodate all students’ learning.
The fit up and technical period in each venue is constructed to take into account
the fact that it is not only a theatrical experience but also an educational one. It is
important that not only are our students taught what to do but they also learn why
they are doing it. This educational aspect of our work demands that more time is
allowed for the work whilst ensuring that students are aware of the need for
speed and efficiency to meet production deadlines.
Duties after the production period:
1. In order to facilitate discussion and future educational and course development
and after attending an evaluation meeting you are required to write a report on
the project. The report is to be handed to the Director of Productions prior to the
last day of your contract. Your report will be taken to the staff productions debrief
at the end of the term. Only full time staff have access to your report
If you would like clarification on any of the above, please contact the Director of
Productions.
Sam Naylor
Director of Productions
sam.naylor@bruford.ac.uk
020 8308 2669