#thespian problems

[respectyourtech]

[performerstuff]

10 Great Monologues from LGBTQ-Identifying Characters

10 Great Monologues from LGBTQ-Identifying Characters

[kotikskreations]

[theatre-never-theater]

Real Talk

I truly cant wait until I don’t need a retail or restaurant job and I can just work in the theater..

[respectyourtech]

How do I, the stage manager, tell the director that she's putting an incredible amount of effort into something that's a collosal failure waiting to happen?

[performerstuff]

[respectyourtech]

How do y'all deal with burnout? This isn't rhetorical. I feel like I'm getting burnt out and over used and don't really know what to do about it.

[respectyourtech]

I love working tech, but...

... honestly, one of the saddest parts of my job is the utter disrespect. I'm new to the stage management game. I've SMed two middle school shows, ASMed one college show and am ASM for another currently, and did run crew for a theatre company I was in as a child for the plays I wasn't in. Otherwise, the rest of my theatre career has been performance. I didn't realize how utterly disrespectful other actors can be to the back stage crew.

When I was run crew, I was an actor in other shows for the company, so the actors who were performing knew me and treated me as an equal. When I was the SM for a local middle school, I expected some sass and being ignored, but only a few people behaved that way in a cast of 30+ people. I knew of a "divide" between actors and techs in the theatre world, but I was not prepared.

I got to college, and most people are perfectly lovely, but there is a not-insignificant number of actors who are terrible to their tech crew, especially the ASMs and run crew. During the last show I ASMed for, not one tech member got invited to a cast gathering, people rarely spoke to me before rehearsal began and during breaks, and, during auditions for the show I am currently ASMing, I said hello to an actor who was in the previous play I worked on, and he just glared at me and snapped at anything I said.

It's hard to do a good job, even when it's something I love, when I feel invaluable and unappreciated. All it takes is a "hello" or a smile when you sign in with me and a "have a good night" when you walk by as you leave.

I know it's kind of a cliche statement, but it's true; techies are theatre kids, too. Actors: Be good to your techs. They're part of the theatre family and they work just as hard as you do, and the only thing they can't fix with gaff tape is their broken hearts. Techs: It isn't fair that the job can be so thankless, but it's still critical. No show would be complete without the sound effects or the lights or the prop manager or any other tech job. You're doing a good job when no one notices because everything is going smoothly.