directing

from october to february and mentoring supported practice

Looking to develop your creative potential? Try directing. This course is designed for anyone interested in theatre-making and in learning the fundamentals of directing. It also supports team leadership within organisations and companies, as well as shaping ideas into a clear message.

Director

 is a creative individual with a message who shapes it into an event within an artistic (theatrical) space. They are the driving force of the performance-making process.

performance

 is a playfully embodied, balanced, and carefully shaped sequence of events, presented with a necessary sense of rhythm and tempo, forming an artistic whole that creates an atmosphere supportive of conveying and receiving a message.

Course Introduction

The directing course introduces the creative profession of the theatre director, the fundamentals of the craft, collaboration between actor and director, the structure and composition of performance, as well as the psychological, perceptual, theoretical, and practical knowledge that underpins directing.

The course takes place in a hybrid learning format, combining lectures and seminars in an online environment with live guidance from the instructor, alongside mentoring during rehearsals. The course also includes consultation and support in developing original performance material.

See the detailed programme below and read about Tamur’s Stanislavsky-based approach to directing from HERE the role of the director from HERE.

we learn

how to create a coherent performance, whether in theatre or another creative environment. The course is based on Stanislavsky’s later practical method of Active Analysis — still more widely known as an actor-training approach — and approaches the human being as an integrated whole, uniting body and mind. It also draws on practical experience from physical and audio theatre, while incorporating recent insights from practice-based research into collaboration between director and actor.

read more

What Could a Business Leader Learn from a Theatre Director?

Course Aims and Objectives

The course offers a comprehensive foundation, providing an overview of theatre-making, concrete directing skills, and concluding with an independently created practical project. Throughout the process, participants acquire the craft techniques needed to create a compelling and meaningful performance.

The directing course is equally suited to the creation of contemporary non-text-based and physical theatre work. Its core principles also support improvisational theatre, choreographer-directors working in dance theatre, or even the conceptual development of a full-length event.

The course is accessible to anyone interested in theatre-making, leading teams (within creative environments), and shaping ideas into a clear and communicative form.

The three-year full programme provides a comprehensive overview and prepares participants for directing in theatre:

  • how to find and develop material; what a production concept is;

  • how to create and follow an explication as a creative roadmap;

  • how to build an ensemble, an actor–director partnership, and collaboration within a production team;

  • what is required for the rehearsal process and performance;

  • why a director also needs producing skills;

  • which leadership skills and personal qualities are essential for a director.

NB! Participants do not need to commit to the full three-year programme from the outset. The second year is intended for advanced students, and certificates reflect the different study volumes completed. The second and third years may also be taken later, for example after a period of gaining practical experience.

“I believe this course helps the future director become a creator, guide, and source of support for their team, so that the journey of bringing a new world to life may remain open, inspiring, and free. So that the future director is not overcome by confusion — or even fear — in the middle of the rehearsal room. And so that, in difficult moments, they are able to find the thread again and give form to the unspeakable.”

Tamur Tohver

Alongside practical craft skills, the course places strong emphasis on personal development — both individually and within a team — as well as on leadership skills. Just as creative writing develops not only the ability to produce text, but also analytical thinking, articulation, structure, and storytelling, the directing course teaches you not only how to create events, but also how to lead yourself and, when needed, others.

Directing awakens inspiration, trains the ability to evoke and shape it into form, develops the capacity to interpret the ideas of others and make them meaningful to oneself, while also cultivating tolerance, self-discipline, determination, and clarity of thought.

Simultaneously, studying directing is simply an excellent form of self-development. Create a performance with friends for the joy of a birthday celebration, or with colleagues for a company anniversary — why not?

Course Topics

1. year

Course Content

  • the profession and concept of the director; the director’s role in theatre, within the ensemble, and in society;
  • the structure of directing and directorial thinking; logic within the director’s work;
  • the use of experiential and behavioural psychology in text analysis and the creation of an explication; the role of concentration, inspiration, and insight;
  • finding and generating material;
    production explication and concept;
  • the author’s idea, the director’s message, and the super-objective;
  • composition and climax;
    atmosphere, scenography, sound, and lighting;
  • the material and the immaterial;
  • the creative team and casting actors.

PRActical

Seminars, reviews of performances attended, and the creation and development of material for a future production. A short play or compositional study production (with up to four performers) will be created within the participant’s own practice environment, with mentoring from the course instructor.

The study production may also take the form of, for example, a poetry evening, thematic event, summer production, dance performance, New Year’s presentation, or another short-form creative event.

2. year

Admission to the second year requires completion of the first year, or prior practical experience directing at least two productions (including amateur work), or professional theatre-related training or higher education in fields such as acting, directing, choreography, theatre studies, drama or dance teaching in general education, dramaturgy, or related disciplines — for further information, please enquire via the contact form.

PRACTICAL

Seminars, reviews of performances attended, and the creation and development of material for a future production. A short play or compositional study production (with up to four performers) will be created within the participant’s own practice environment, with mentoring from the course instructor.

The study production may also take the form of, for example, a poetry evening, thematic event, summer production, dance performance, New Year’s presentation, or another short-form creative event.

Course Content

Topics in Directing and Performance-Making

  • building an ensemble, casting actors, and the rehearsal period;
  • directing actors and mise-en-scène;
    exercise flow;
  • rehearsal process I and II;
  • text analysis and Active Analysis;
  • run-throughs in rehearsal and related actor guidance;
  • dress rehearsals and the premiere.

Teamwork and Leadership Topics

  • the material and the immaterial;
  • qualities of a leader;
  • sharing and receiving;
  • team leadership and foundational principles of Zero Zone Praxis for actors and directors;
  • building a team I: my strengths and weaknesses;
  • building a team II: attuning the ensemble;
  • the coaching dimension in directing I and II;
  • introduction to Cultivating Directing.

3. year

Admission to the third year requires completion of the second year with a study production, or prior practical experience directing at least two professional productions (or three years of directing experience in amateur theatre), or professional theatre-related training or higher education — including acting, directing, choreography, theatre studies, drama or dance teaching in general education, dramaturgy, or related fields. For further information, please enquire via the contact form.

Course Content

  • Cultivating Directing;

  • the director’s ego and artistic ambition;

  • directing actors II;

  • invisible leadership, inclusion, and delegation;

  • the director’s stress and fears;

  • the unsuccessful production;

  • Zero Zone Praxis;

  • introduction to production.

Previous participants have said:

"“The course is an excellent opportunity to experience the entire process through which an idea becomes a story, a story becomes a script, and a script becomes a performance. From developing an explication from the initial idea, to writing the play text, finding performers, directing the piece, organising the rehearsal period, developing the script, and much more. The theoretical part during the autumn term is extremely valuable, especially for those without previous background knowledge. It is a very good course that is useful even simply for learning to see performances through a new lens.”
EderiProject Leader and Improv Actress
“I fully recognise the insights that emerged throughout the course and that can be applied directly within organisational leadership: What are we doing here, why are we doing it, and how? How do we empower and energise people who dedicate part of their lives to a shared purpose or vision? How do we motivate ourselves and remain balanced in a way that also inspires the team around us?”
AndrusCustomer Experience Manager, Author, PhD
“The directing course opened up theatre from an entirely new perspective. Above all, I now see a performance structurally — its building blocks and supporting beams — and I know how to look for the screws holding everything together. Formulating the super-objective is so important in the context of directing, yet far less simple than it may seem at first glance. The seminars were especially valuable, as they clearly revealed the areas that still required further learning and practice.”
MerilinTheatre Scholar and Psychiatrist
“At first I was intimidated — Tamur seemed distant, formidable, even frightening. But in reality he is warm and calm, and knows how to give feedback in a way that genuinely allows one to learn from it.”
DianaActress and Finance Specialist
“What surprised me most was that a course like this could genuinely work online. I admit I had some initial doubts — whether the technology would function smoothly and whether participants would stay engaged. It was wonderful to discover that it truly does work, and that physical distance between participants and teacher is not an obstacle. The participant joining from the furthest away attended from Sri Lanka.”
DiandraFormer Actress
“As a teacher, Tamur is supportive and approaches the subject from many different angles. What I especially appreciated in the course were his personal experiences and observations, as these provide an important starting point — the unspoken truths that professionals already know, yet which everyone somehow still has to discover through their own difficulties.”
MerilinTheatre Scholar and Psychiatrist
“Studying at Claresis Theatre School expanded my ability to search for and experience the whole, together with its many nuances. I gained greater self-confidence and courage, and learned to express myself more clearly. I also developed a deeper understanding of how to lead a team while remaining a trustworthy and considerate member within it.”
MaarjaActor and Cultural Producer
“We were able to test everything in practice — and sometimes fail along the way — which, in my view, was even more educational than getting things right immediately. Creating the explication was also extremely valuable, as it forces you to thoroughly work through the entire concept and the theory acquired during the course.”
MeriliDramaturg and Director
“For me, the course provided a strong analytical perspective on how the framework of a production comes into being. Much of what I encountered during the course I had already been using intuitively in practice, but now those processes gained the right terminology and a clear theoretical and structural foundation through practical examples. Tamur is both an excellent practical teacher and someone capable of creating the larger conceptual picture needed to understand the roots of different phenomena.”
IngridArtistic Leader and Director
“Alongside its practical approach, the course consistently provided a solid and relevant academic foundation, which is extremely important for framing experiential knowledge, structuring it, and organising one’s thinking. After completing the course, I believe I have become a more analytical and multifaceted director, and my ability to articulate different processes and themes has also developed significantly.”
IngridPhD in Psychology

course leader : Dr Tamur Tohver

Dr Tamur Tohver (PhD, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK) is a theatre director, practice-as-research scholar, and educator working across theatre, film, radio, and intermedial performance environments. Over more than thirty years, he has directed ninety-two productions across theatre, television, radio drama, site-specific performance, and audiovisual work.

He has taught acting, directing, screen acting, and performer training internationally at University of Huddersfield, Staffordshire University, University of Central Florida, Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, and Tallinn University. At the University of Central Florida, he has also supervised postgraduate students within Theatre MA and Theatre MFA Acting programmes.

Tamur is the developer of Zero Zone Praxis and Cultivating Directing — methodologies exploring psychophysical continuity, relational attention, performing flow, affective space, and actor–director collaboration under pressure. His recent research and publications focus on Stanislavski, screen acting, radiation [izlucheniya], mediated spectatorship, and actor–camera relations within contemporary performance environments.

He has been awarded scholarships and research support from the Archimedes Foundation (2019), the Estonian Ministry of Culture (2020–2023), and the Fulbright Program / US Congress (2021–2022) for the development of new methodologies in actor–director collaboration. He has also received three annual awards from Estonian Public Broadcasting for creative work in radio and the performing arts.

He is actively involved in international theatre and performance research through the International Platform for Performers Training, Theatre and Performance Research Association, and International Federation for Theatre Research, and is a member of the Estonian Theatre Union and the Estonian Directors’ and Dramaturgs’ Union.

How to participate?

Register for the creative entrance assessment, for which no previous specialised theatre education is required. The assessment gives the instructor an understanding of the applicant’s potential and current abilities.
Participation in the directing course requires a minimum age of 20+. This provides students with a stronger starting point through personal life experience. Registration for the entrance assessment is available via the button below. Before registering, please make sure to familiarise yourself with the nature and the terms of the programme.

Admissions

REGISTRATION DEADLINE: 31 JULY
Applicants to the directing programme are accepted from the age of 20 onwards. Please complete one of the forms from following options below: I WILL PARTICIPATE IN THE 1st YEAR PROGRAMME or I WILL PARTICIPATE IN THE 2nd YEAR PROGRAMME.

PLEASE NOTE: participation in the second year requires either completion of the first-year programme or practical experience assisting a professional director or choreographer.

EXPLICATION and LETTER OF MOTIVATION (submitted as separate files): deadline 10 AUGUST.

The explication is a written summary of your proposed future production (author and title, the message of the production, a short synopsis, the main events, and why you wish to direct this story — as precisely as you can right now, but maximum 500 words). In the letter of motivation, please explain why you wish to study directing.

Please make sure to include your full name, age, telephone number, and email address. Both files should be sent as .doc or .pdf attachments to cultivation[@]claresis.org

INTERVIEW (via Microsoft Teams video call)

The interview topics can be found at the bottom of the page. After receiving the written explication and application, the school will arrange an interview time with the candidate.

PLEASE NOTE: interviews are arranged only with applicants who have submitted an explication.

APPLICATION RESULTS are communicated on a rolling basis.

REGISTRATION FEE BEFORE THE START OF STUDIES

The registration fee equals one month of tuition and will later be deducted from the total study fee. Payment is made via the “Book” payment window at the bottom of the page (see section: Tuition Fees).

START OF STUDIES: October, during the first week. The exact time of the first lecture will be agreed within the course group.

UP TO 10 PARTICIPANTS ARE ADMITTED TO THE FIRST-YEAR PROGRAMME

Junior colleagues are welcome to apply directly to the SECOND and THIRD YEAR PROGRAMMES

(subject to the availability of places remaining after first-year admissions)

REGISTER HERE FOR THE ASSESSMENT AND THE 1st-YEAR PROGRAMME

YES, I WILL PARTICIPATE IN THE 1ST YEAR

REGISTER HERE FOR THE INTERVIEW AND THE 2nd-YEAR PROGRAMME

FOR REGISTRATION TO THE 3rd-YEAR PROGRAMME, PLEASE CONTACT US VIA THE CONTACT FORM

YES, I WILL PARTICIPATE IN THE 2nd-YEAR

Study Volume and Programme Structure

  • Duration: theory lectures and their practical extensions take place over five months (with a break during the New Year period). Depending on the practical placement or project developed, the final sixth practice month may take place separately from the main teaching block, according to students’ possibilities .
  • Mode of study: live online distance learning. During the practice month, this shifts into personalised mentoring within the same online format. Detailed guidance is provided within the course group.
  • Study load: one lecture per week, for example Sundays or Monday etc, 1.5 hours each / during the practical directing period, mentoring is provided according to individual needs. The exact day is agreed within the group, with preference given to weekends or Mondays (in consideration of professional theatre schedules).
  • Main study assignments (adaptable according to the participant’s project):  analysis of material for a future production, development of an explication, teamwork, and production-related nuances;
    * independent writing and reading assignments connected to seminar topics, as well as two reviews;
    * simple video recordings from rehearsals submitted by the student for feedback (uploaded to the online learning environment, during a personal project period).
  • The content of the second and third years is specified above in the information sections.

Practical Production Work

The final period of the first-year directing course takes place as practical work. This may involve either creating an independent production (the student is responsible for finding their own practice placement) or assisting a professional director. In the case of assistant directing, the requirement to create an independent production is deferred to the following year. The theatre school does not provide practice placements.
In exceptional cases, the study production may also take place later, after the end of the theoretical teaching period (depending, for example, on the schedule of the theatre or creative institution where the production is intended to be presented). In such cases, the certificate is issued after completion of the production. The production may also take the form of a dance performance or compositional work.

Claresis Theatre School may issue letters of confirmation to accepted students if this helps in securing a practice placement.

Please note: the School cannot take responsibility for learning outcomes — without following the guidance of the instructor, the desired results cannot be achieved. This is a creative field in which progress always depends on individual commitment, time investment, and personal aptitude.

Self-reflection for the interview

Find your answers and arrange them in order of personal importance.

Why do I wish to direct?
Do I love theatre within myself, or myself within theatre?
Do I have another outlet for my message besides theatre?
Why do I love theatre?
Do I wish to help society move forward?
Do I enjoy collective and collaborative creation?
Do I have enough persistence, consistency, and endurance?
Do I wish — and dare — to take responsibility?
Am I able to say no?
Am I capable of affirming approaches different from my own?
Am I able to remain a leader and source of support without personal ambition taking over?
Do I believe only my own perspective is the best or most correct?
Do I care about those who share the journey with me?
Is my message greater than myself, or is my present competence sufficient to fully раскрыть it?
Am I ready to continue developing myself constantly: can I recognise when to hold on, and when to let go?

Tuition Fee 896 €

5 months + mentoring

Payment may also be made in two instalments or on a monthly basis. All payments are made in advance. Invoices are available upon request; please inform us in advance if you require one.
By prior agreement, it is also possible to extend the payment period, although the principle of advance payment still applies.

REGISTER HERE FOR THE ASSESSMENT AND THE 1st-YEAR PROGRAMME

YES, I WILL PARTICIPATE IN THE 1ST YEAR

REGISTER HERE FOR THE INTERVIEW AND THE 2nd-YEAR PROGRAMME

FOR REGISTRATION TO THE 3rd-YEAR PROGRAMME, PLEASE CONTACT US VIA THE CONTACT FORM

YES, I WILL PARTICIPATE IN THE 2nd-YEAR

Tuition Payment

Study at Claresis Theatre School is fee-based. Following the creative entrance assessment and interview, applicants are first asked to pay the place reservation fee (via the first payment window: “Place Reservation”).

The course fee must be paid before the beginning of studies, no later than 28 September, either as a single full payment, in two instalments, or as recurring monthly payments (via the “Reservation” window together with the selected payment plan). In the latter two cases, each payment must be made no later than the week preceding the start of the new study period.

For all payment plans, the Reservation Fee must be paid first. This amount is later deducted from the total tuition fee as part of the main payment. Example: when selecting the single-payment option, both the Reservation Fee and the “Single Payment” amount must be paid through their respective payment windows. In the case of monthly payments, the reservation fee must also be paid in advance (it is then counted as the first month’s payment).

Payment by invoice is also possible by prior agreement. (Please note: the financial year changes during the study period.)

Payments are made through a secure payment-plan window (at the bottom of the page). This makes payment convenient, transparent, and easy to track for both parties. All payments are made in advance, as the School is responsible not only to one individual student, but for ensuring equal study conditions for all participants throughout the programme.

For students under the age of 18, Estonian law allows the tuition fee payer (either the student or their parent/legal guardian) to apply for income tax reimbursement.

Before registering for the programme, please make sure to familiarise yourself with the study terms and conditions on these pages.

welcome!

Please use the contact form to let us know about your interests, wishes, or questions regarding the study plans.
If technical issues occur during payment, please try again after some time. Make sure you have a stable internet connection, carefully consider the option most suitable for you, and avoid interrupting or changing the payment process midway.

Place Reservation

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