“I can’t believe I have to come in early to train this act, they’re just wasting my time.”
“Don’t they know that I don’t even do this in the show?”
Hearing these words filter from the hallway into my office forces me to remember the few mindfulness techniques I’ve learned – deep breath, then focus on the breath leaving my body.
5 comments:
This is a very relatable article that I never took the time to think of before reading this. It is always something I have felt, but never really thought deeply about. This "they" talk really makes a divide between management and performers. Although some separation is always good, it often feels isolating, particularly in an educational setting. It is one thing to be a professional stage manager who gets paid and the show is their job. As a student, having your cohorts, your dormmates, the people you have class with direct their discontent towards you is frustrating. As the article says, it is not the stage manager's will to call people in for odd/long hours, and if it were solely up to us, the schedules would be drastically different. As mentioned in the article, longer runs tend to lead to more of the "they/us" talk. When talking to the SM teams on tours, I've heard from many of them how the SM team is completely separate from cast when it comes to after rehearsals/shows. This divide between us and them is something that provides a helpful scapegoat, but keeps alive the age-old crew vs. cast divide.
This could not have been more accurate. Especially in high school, when actors knew even less about what it takes to put on a production, talk like this was near constant. This type of conversation seems to stem from the age-old idea that everyone needs someone to blame, but if you asked the people talking this way if what they were taking about is the stage managers fault, they would likely say no. I don't think it is that they actually blame the stage manager in particular for the long hours, or seemingly unnecessary calls, hence why people use "they" instead of a more specific name or pronoun. I have also seen this happen in tech scenarios, actors asking why we have to do a scene again because they did it perfectly the first time, oblivious to the fact that the lighting designer needs to see a specific moment or sequence.While I don't believe those who speak this way are intending to be mean or place blame, I think it is something that could stand to change.
I think I he a somewhat different experience in high school, as whenever I wa apart of a cast, it seemed like we stuck reverently to the schedule, which worked greatly in our favor. Maybe. Because the theater program was relatively small, we all trusted that our director, who was also the technical director, knew what he was doin when he set the rehearsal schedules, and especially when rehearsal is limited to only after school hours, making the best of that time requires adherence to a structure. It is often the case when people are not given or do not understand the full picture that they complain about the strangeness of the orders of things. But, ideally, just like a soldier on the ground receiving orders from a general, an actor shouldn't need to know exactly why we're rehearsing this scene on a particular day. I do know that we are not living in an ideal world, but sometimes I wish we did.
Whenever I hear others speaking like this or have thoughts like this myself, I have to think, “Wait, you signed up for this.” People, whether they are actors or technicians, need to be more mature about these things. We all know that theatre is a long, arduous process that also contains a ton of downtime and time you have to be there on standby. Other people are relying on you to be there to do your part when they need you. Otherwise, the process will be even longer than it would be otherwise, which we all know is LONG. Sometimes it is hard to sit around, trust the people who told you to be there that they will need you, but that is all part of the work. People who are not looking at the bigger picture, sucking it up, and being a team player do not really deserve to be a part of the beautiful end result if they are not willing to put in the time to get there.
I really liked the insight that this article provided into the everyday lives, actions, and reactions of stage managers and any other theatre workers whose jobs it is to create rehearsal and meeting schedules. I agree with Truly; whenever I hear complaints like this, I do kind of think to myself, "Didn't you guys want to be a part of this show or process?". On the other hand, I definitely have caught myself thinking thought like this, as if I really don't want to do the work that will help me to grow as an artist. It is very easy to complain and have a negative energy and attitude towards doing work, but it is so important that, especially in regards to artistic work, that we are always keeping in mind why we do want to be doing the work. It is much harder and takes much more energy to enjoy yourself and the hard work that you are doing, but just wait until the show goes up! You will be so excited and proud!
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