Directing from Play to Stage

By Vera J. Katz

This hands-on workshop gives aspiring directors the opportunity to work with short scenes from published plays and films while collaborating with fellow attendees, serving as actors. Participants will explore how to bring a writer’s text to life through performance, staging, and space, communicating meaning clearly and effectively.

Through guided exercises, directors will learn how to identify clues within dialogue and action, translate those discoveries into compelling stage pictures, and enhance audience understanding and engagement. The workshop will also focus on effective actor-director communication, offering practical tools for collaboration while highlighting common pitfalls to avoid in the rehearsal process.

Wednesday, July 29, 11:15am – 1:15pm
Ardmore 1, Benton Convention Center (Benton South)

Vera J. Katz is Professor Emerita of Theatre Arts at Howard University, where she taught acting and directing for 32 years, and a former acting faculty member at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts. An accomplished director, educator, and dramaturg, she has directed productions across the United States and internationally, earning recognition for her work in Ireland and at Ford’s Theatre. Her distinguished former students include Debbie Allen, Chadwick Boseman, Taraji P. Henson, Phylicia Rashad, and Anthony Anderson. In 2023, Katz received Howard University’s Living Legend Award and continues to mentor artists through the Frank Silvera Writers’ Workshop.