Thursday, December 01, 2016
Revolution in Theatre, Evolution in Staff
HowlRound: Working for a theatre, especially as a person at the beginning of their career, is like being a crew member on the starship Enterprise™. People are constantly flying in every direction, a lot of them seem like total aliens, and it can feel like the course of the ship is set by Spock, Kirk, and whoever else is on the bridge. If my Star Trek simile is falling flat here (come on, you beautiful nerds!), what I’m trying to say is that your voice as an entry-, lower-, or mid-level staff member may not always feel heard in the rush and rumble of a theatre filled with established artistic leadership and boards of directors. Big ships turn slowly, and they take time to accelerate or brake, but the artists and administrators working beneath the senior management level can fundamentally shape what a theatre does as they evolve and grow with their institution.
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4 comments:
This is an interesting way to talk about the way that people are hired, and the power that employees have in theater. It is not wrong in saying that if everyone at a mid-level job decided that they wanted to change something, then they could do it. That is pretty much true of all large corporations or businesses where a lot of middle management people are employed. Theater is the queen of too many people working on something. I am well aware that all of those people are necessary and we need them to make the show go but the list of people who work on a Broadway show is beyond over whelming, and that's why I think this article is a little patronizing. Yes, change can happen if enough people work hard enough but this article treats those mid-level management people like they need a pep-talk from those above them to get going. Maybe I'm being touchy but I just feel like if people want to make change they will, they don't need permission from the people who they want to change.
This was a very thoughtful article. It articulates how important it will be for theatres to empower the voices of their younger staff and for those staff to seize the opportunity to have an impact on their institution. I’ve personally found that the health of an organization is often related to how well it engages with staff at all levels: feeling engaged creates personal investment.
The idea that non-artistic staff can have a significant role in the culture of a theatre is empowering. It’s a reminder that theatres aren’t necessarily entirely defined by the work they produce. Certainly, that’s a major part of it, but the soul of a theatre is also influenced by process and company culture. I’ve known a number of theatre artists and technicians who return to work at places that can’t pay them what they’re worth specifically because they have fun, love the people, or find the process rewarding. As young theatre professionals, we have the responsibility to not only create meaningful art, but create a better, more engaged, more rewarding work environment for our colleagues and ourselves.
I recently read an article about interviewing. This this article they brought up the fact that you need to be aware of what you alone can bring to the company. I think this article brings up this very philosophy. This article explains that you should not just work for the company but grow the company in anyway that you can. It is interesting for someone to tell you that you don't have to wait to graduate college to actually make something or start a business. This reminds me most of CMU's Playground play festival. It gives students the opportunity to start getting their work out their now, to be free to collaborate and create as the would in the really world. It enforces the idea that you don't have to wait to start creating without hindering our education. I enjoy the message of this article, to always seek fulfillment and new challenges in your career. If it is not helping you grow, then why do it?
Considering the fact that I got into theater because it was a field where I felt that I had more input in what I would be doing, this article hits home for me. Theater has always seemed to me to be a industry that is driven off the back of young professionals. This is due to young professionals being more willing to take different projects as their own personal project that they wish to prove their worth with. It is this need to prove the value that one has for their perspective companies that I feel can be driving force in the evolution of the theater industry. With a industry that tries to support new creative ideas I feel that it will be important that the theater community does not take for granted the young professionals that work for them because I believe that like the article states they will provide new fresh ideas if given a voice. This also means that young professionals need to strive to not just meet the status quo but to exceed past it and provide new ideas and to fight for them.
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