A hands-on, step-by-step guide to directing plays – by one of Britain's leading theatre directors.

Stephen Unwin has worked with hundreds of different actors in a multiplicity of different venues. He is the ideal author of a 'how to' guide to directing.

As Unwin himself says: 'Directing plays is difficult. The aim of this book is to lay out what skills are needed, and to give some sense of how you might develop them. The emphasis is on the professional theatre, but the book is useful for directors in other contexts - amateur dramatics, university drama, school plays and so on. Directing is directing, wherever you do it.'

Starting at the very beginning, Unwin takes us step by step through:

* Choosing the play

* Casting

* Design

* Rehearsal - Establishing Facts, Improvisation, Language, Character, Blocking, Using Specialists and so on

* Running the Play

* Putting it on the Stage

* Opening Night