Good Grief! Using the Grief Sheet to Improve Community Theatre Production: Telling the Story Better Than It Has Ever Been Told

Good Grief! Using the Grief Sheet to Improve Community Theatre Production was written to encourage theatre directors to take advantage of the benefits involved in a daily written critique of amateur play rehearsals. In over 40 years of directing community and school productions, as well as acting for other directors, I have yet to meet a director who employs this technique. I don't know why this is so, except that it does require a large investment in time. Typically, the directors I have known wrote grief notes and then assembled cast and crew to convey them verbally. Obviously, much time is wasted following this method since everyone has to listen whether or not they are specifically involved. Furthermore, the published grief sheet provides the perceived need for instruction as well as a record to return to, to refresh the memory in regard to the needed improvements, which often are forgotten otherwise. The Grief Sheet is also a team builder, and the team concept is an essential quality of a successful theatre company. In writing this book, my collections of grief sheets have enabled me to relive some exciting and memorable productions.