Theatre Complaints

A blog for my own general rants, musings, complaints, etc about theatre and theatre-related phenomena.

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Finding Your Light

When there’s that one actor that can never find their light. If you’re not sure, you’re probably not in your light. They’re very bright. That’s why they’re lights

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Children's Shows

Be careful of how much time and energy you invest when working on children’s shows. No matter how cool an idea you have or how hard you work, all people want from a children’s show is to see and hear their own child. Furthermore, even if your work/performance is perfect, be wary of being let down by the lower standards of others that are working on the show.

[shittheatregeekssay-blog]

anon submission

[charliebartlett]

"Look at me, I’m the king of New York!"

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Rushing

No one will ever know the depths of my aggravation when I see any well dressed person over 30 in the rush line for a show. I get that you want the cheaper tickets, but you could clearly afford full price. Kindly either hock your Rolex or gtfo.

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Notes

It is incredibly frustrating to want to give actors notes when you're not in a position that facilitates it. When someone just wants to make a production better by giving an actor a suggestion, they should not be harangued for being "judgmental" "overly critical" or "out of line." Almost anyone's opinion on a performance is a valid source of criticism. If someone doesn't understand something about a performance or sees a certain weakness, it does not mean that anyone did anything wrong, it only means that something isn't getting across and could be improved. A performer or other artist can take any comment for what they value it at, but they should always be respectful and see the value in every well-intended criticism.

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Being a designer

Being a designer is hard. We have to literally create the whole world of the show, while having it be functional, cheap, and nice to look at. Whether you do the set, lights, or costumes, a large part of whether the show is good or not depends on you.

Some actors think it's all about them because they're the ones in the show and they're the ones who get the praise, but so much more of whether people enjoy a show depends on the set, lights, and costumes. A show can be good with poor actors and excellent design, but rarely vice versa.

Respect your designers. They are often the hardest workers with the least recognition.

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Theatre days

It's days when all you want to be doing is working on a show, but can't that make up for the days where the last thing you want to do is work on a show, but have to.

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That one person backstage

Why in every production must there always be at least one person backstage who is just always incredibly disagreeable about their job? It doesn't matter how big or how small it is, they are always so defensive of it and belligerent about it. The new follow spot operator refuses to let someone with more experience run it. The props master insists on not leaving the props table and requires extra people to bring props to actors. You're not that important. Please just be a team player.

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Run Crew

Run crew is one of the most stressful jobs to have during a production, next to Stage Manager. Every member of the Run Crew has to know specifically what their task is, how to get there, what to do when they get there, and how to get off. What sucks is how underrated they are in terms of the overall production, when the Run Crew's optimal performance is vital to the smooth running of any performance.

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Habits in Actors

Actors are creatures of habit. They model their art off of what they have seen and done previously. This is how both good and bad actors develop. Those that see and learn good acting habits early develop into good actors. Those that learn poor habits develop into poor actors who believe they are good. It is through no fault of their own, they have just learned techniques that their experience has told them are good. This is how we see very overdramatic actors that do things like look at the audience after every joke and make big hand-gestures often. They have learned that these habits result in positive reaction and thus do them more often.

Regardless of development, it is when an actor breaks his/her habits and is thoroughly uninhibited that he/she can truly become great.

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Subbing in for an absent cast member

When a cast member is absent and someone replaces them in the scene for a rehearsal, they should at least attempt to act. Reading the lines in a monotone voice while standing where an actor usually stands for a scene does nothing for the rehearsal but distract the actors that are present. Having someone there that isn't devoted to the scene is more distracting than not having someone there at all. If they are just reading the lines, they might as well sit outside of the acting area.

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Nature of Techies

As techies, we are generally docile creatures. However, we develop a temper very quickly when someone or something impedes us from doing our job.