Stage Directions: The rehearsal space. At times it’s a repurposed classroom, a basement or a living room, but in a production process it must become an incubator for the play, a place for the team to feel comfortable creating their work. As one of the first people in the room, the stage manager has an opportunity to make it nurturing and productive. The space needs to be safe for the company both practically and interpersonally, and inspire everyone—cast, director, designers and everyone else—toward their best inventive work. To provide that, a stage manager not only has to provide practical support, but they also have to demonstrate a deft touch with people.
5 comments:
This article is great because it emphasizes how important it is for the stage manager to be a positive, discreet, supportive presence in the room. I think that some stage managers will sometimes get to hung up on things like paperwork and forget that they are ultimately a person in the room, not just a fancy rehearsal script. Paperwork is a useful tool that should support the SM's role, not overrule it. I have a lot of respect for stage managers who are able to make all participants of a production feel comfortable and confident, and I think that it is a quality that we should all strive for.
I agree with Camille, here. I think that perhaps the most important part of stage managing is remembering that you are working with people and not just a paperwork guru. This article shows that there are things the stage manager can do at nearly all points in a production to try to make people happier than they would have been otherwise, whether it is the actors, director, or designers. While making useful paperwork and keeping a cohesive and updated prompt book are both important tasks of the stage manager, neither of those tasks will be helpful if everyone involved with the production has negative attitudes towards the process.
Haha I didn't even know Tina wrote this article when I first read it. Besides that tidbit, this article really defines what it means to be a stage manager. A stage manager is not a dictator. They are a precious connection between each and every member on the production. Their job is to make sure that everything runs well. If that means making sure the actors have knee pads during rehearsal, then that's it. Their job is to balance everything with superhuman talent. This article says all these things and more in a very eloquent manner.
I definitely agree with Camille, it is easy to get wrapped up in all of the organizing involved in a show and check out of the human part of the experience. I think it is so important that a stage manager always be completely immersed in the environment that the show is being developed in, and constantly looking for ways to make it not only more efficient, but also more comfortable and open for everyone involved in the production.
I think this article is really a great resource for demonstrating what exactly the stage manager's role is throughout the rehearsal and tech process. A stage manager who churns out a lot of beautifully organized paperwork and sends a ton of emails out with scheduling is great, but if that manager doesn't know how to work with people and doesn't know how to make sure everyone's needs are met, they're not going to be very useful when it comes down to resolving a major conflict in the middle of a technical rehearsal. Anticipating other people's needs and establishing clear communication between departments about whose needs have to be met is a crucial part of the stage manager's job, and if your show doesn't have that, things fall into chaos very quickly.
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