Author Topic: RUNNING: Harmful line-throughs?  (Read 7513 times)

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BlueRidgeSM

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RUNNING: Harmful line-throughs?
« on: Jun 17, 2011, 09:07 am »
So I am stage managing a straight play right now with a small cast (5 actors).  I was on book for them pretty much up until tech week, but they had the lines down very well and I only gave line notes once or twice because they really did not need them and my director was sort of indifferent. 

The show has been open for a week now, and the lines have gone steadily downhill.  I was confused by this, because my ASM was telling me that the cast frequently does line-throughs in the dressing room prior to the show.  Well, on Wednesday night we had a photo call and afterwards they said they wanted to stay and run lines.  I had to stay too, so I set myself up in the dressing room with the ladies (cast of all women) and my knitting and let them run lines.  I did not have my book with me as I leave it in the booth after the show opens and I wasn't aware we were doing a linethrough until I got all the way backstage to the dressing rooms.

Well, sitting in on that linethrough I now know exactly why the lines are all over the place.  I realize I am not an actor and thus can't really speak to one method vs. the other when it comes to helping remember lines, but to me as a SM there is a difference between running lines with the intent to remember them and just running them haphazardly, going through the scene as fast as possible with no tone or inflection or even throwing in phrases that aren't in the script with the intent to be funny.  I realize it can be harder to run lines than running the scene because there are no visual cues, and whenever they would get to a point like that they would all jump in at once, only to sort out who had the first line after whatever the visual cue was.  No one was referring to their script at all.

So... we have three performances left.  Has anyone dealt with something like this before, and if so, how do you stop it?  I mean, on the face of things running lines is a good thing, right?  But it seems to me that the type of linethrough they are doing is damaging to the performance, especially since apparently they are doing more linethroughs than they are actually doing the scene onstage and so what is coming through in performance is the haphazard linethrough.

I will fully admit that my weakest facet as a SM is the ability to put my foot down, so I'd be interested to get other SM's take on this and a course of action.  It might be too late to fix the damage for this show, but it's something I'd like to know how to handle in the future.

Edit to subject line-Rebbe
« Last Edit: Jun 27, 2011, 06:41 pm by Rebbe »

BayAreaSM

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Re: Harmful line-throughs?
« Reply #1 on: Jun 17, 2011, 11:11 am »
It is the SM's task of upholding the artistic integrity of the show and the script. You should give notes prior to the show. Even if there are only 3 performances left, the show is entitled to be the same quality of show it was on opening night.

I am not that comfortable with putting my foot down either, but I write notes, put them in sealed envelopes and hand deliver each one. Granted, this does not guarantee that the actors will read them, but at least you gave out the information. Since they are all female, it may need to come down to you doing 1 of 2 things.

1) Speak to the group of women in the dressing room, saying that you were interested in their Italian/Speed Through the other night. However, you noticed several line adds that you're pretty sure weren't in the script, and you've been noticing a lot of line drops/adds/jumping during the performance. It's making the production unclear to the audience, as well as making it difficult for you to call the show properly. You want them to have the best show possible, and in order to do that, they need to follow the script. Then ask them to review the script. [It would be ideal if you can cite specific scenes and don't say "You're messing it ALL up!"]

2) Speak to the group of women in the dressing room and offer to be on book for their Italian/Speed Through after that performance (or depending on how early you are all there, offer to do it as they get into costume). Then stop them on every error.

BlueRidgeSM

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Re: Harmful line-throughs?
« Reply #2 on: Jun 17, 2011, 11:40 am »
Wow, I have never given notes like that in sealed envelopes prior to a show.  I've never heard of anyone doing it that way either.  Interesting!  That definitely cuts down on the time factor (I can type it all up beforehand) and also the icky confrontation part.   :-\

The line messups aren't really impacting my ability to call the show at all; this show is mainly lights up/lights down with four scenes total and I am running the sound cues myself (tiny booth).  I always like to think I am not tooooo nitpicky about lines but the line have just gotten steadily worse as we progressed through the run.  There is also a large monologue in act two that has *never* been right which is a shame as it always gets lots of applause/laughter and there are three entire sentences that have never been in it since somewhere in tech week.  I know I can cite that as a specific error but I'm not sure about others.

I think I will offer to be on book for their next linethrough and see if that will work - my ASM tells me they often run lines while getting ready for the show and I usually report to the booth as early as possible once I have confirmed everyone (cast and crew) is present.  And if we do that, I will stop them every single time.  But if that doesn't work out timewise I can take line notes during tonight's performance and pass them out tomorrow.

Thanks!   :)

Post Merge: Jun 17, 2011, 02:21 pm
So I sent out an email to my cast letting them know I would like to sit in on their next linethrough and be on book for them, and if that doesn't work (this is community theatre, so minimal staff to do preshow duties plus many people are coming from day jobs etc) I can take line notes on tonight's performance.  Now my director has emailed me wanting to know why he wasn't aware of this issue before now??? Sigh.  At least the managing director of the theatre has been supportive.  We'll see what happens next!
« Last Edit: Jun 17, 2011, 02:21 pm by BlueRidgeSM »

loebtmc

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Re: Harmful line-throughs?
« Reply #3 on: Jun 18, 2011, 02:42 am »
I presume you don't do a nightly show report, which is why the director didn't know - or that you haven't reported it. That's always smart, if it looks like a pattern

FYI altho many actors learn their lines with blocking and beats attached, it's actually good practice to learn lines without anything other than words, so they can live fully in the moment and allow them to flow based on the interaction/life force from their scene partners - that is, the other folks in the scene. However, ad libbing is a whole other thing. So doing an Italian run for cue pick-up or to clean lines is good, if they are accurately doing the script. If not, perhaps they need to do it on their feet or do it with intention alongside cue pickup.

BlueRidgeSM

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Re: Harmful line-throughs?
« Reply #4 on: Jun 18, 2011, 12:20 pm »
I am doing a nightly performance report but I had not mentioned the line issues in the report, just things like run time, house count, etc.  I have never really gotten a complete list from this theatre of who should get what reports, so I sort of just create two distribution lists - one "tech" list with all the theatre staff, the director, all the designers, the TD, my ASM, etc, and a second "cast" list with the cast, the director, my ASM, and the managing director of the theatre.  If I have a big announcement I'll send it to both lists at once, but I always feel a little odd putting specific actor notes in the performance report when it's going to the LD, the SD, etc who haven't been there since opening night anyway (since I send the performance report to the "tech" list).  But I also feel odd adding the actors to the distribution list for the performance report when it includes notes about problematic lighting cues, etc (these actors would definitely read the report and bombard me with questions about things that did not apply to them).  For previous shows with this theatre I had asked if they had a preferred format for reports, and they gave me one, but it was incompatable with my Gmail account, which is what I use to send the reports out.  So I just created my own format that included the info they wanted and no one ever said anything.

The director did not raise the issue with me last night, but made it pretty clear via email that there was to be no line through and I was not to give the actors line notes.  I ceded to him but also forwarded my response to the managing director, who told me prior to the show that she agreed with me and did not understand why he didn't want me to give line notes.  So there was no line through and I took no notes.  Lines were better last night though, so who knows. 

loebtmc

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Re: Harmful line-throughs?
« Reply #5 on: Jun 18, 2011, 12:30 pm »
Line notes go in the general section of the report you send around to director/tech/designers/producer etc, but I am not sure why you send a report to the actors. You can send them a group note saying lines are getting sloppy, please review scripts especially pp________. Individual line notes sent to individual emails are always appropriate and a great way to clean things up. You can be specific "p. 13, LINELINELINELINE", or you can say something like "please review at p. 13". You can add "Let me know if I can help" as well.

Either way, if you come at it from a learning experience perspective, you can ask the director why they didn't want a line-thru - he/she may have info you don't, esp abt specific performers. Some actors who run lines every day before the show have either "2nd show syndrome" - they forget in the show because they have just said it already so they don't connect it to THIS SHOW NOW, or they exhaust themselves in the line run and have nothing left to bring to the stage.

....good luck with this!

Maribeth

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Re: Harmful line-throughs?
« Reply #6 on: Jun 19, 2011, 02:48 pm »
I will fully admit that my weakest facet as a SM is the ability to put my foot down, so I'd be interested to get other SM's take on this and a course of action.  It might be too late to fix the damage for this show, but it's something I'd like to know how to handle in the future.

In terms of prevention for future shows- I like to check in with the actors following each performance when I'm reminding them about the next call. It gives me a chance to check in with them about how the show went, it gives them an opportunity to tell me about anything that may have happened during the show that I'm not aware of or need to do something about, and it's the perfect opportunity to say something like, "I noticed that the lines were off in the ______ scene- can you take a look at that? There was a lot of ad-libbing tonight." Giving them daily feedback can help keep things on track, and keeps you involved in the process.

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Re: Harmful line-throughs?
« Reply #7 on: Jun 19, 2011, 04:00 pm »
maribeth's response is absolutely the best first line of defense - mine is great if they aren't listening and need a real listing of places to work, peel out before you see them or need a tactful but discrete and personal reminder. And I have always been taught never ever to tell them what they said that was wrong, since it reinforces that in their brains and may pop out next time.

BlueRidgeSM

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Re: Harmful line-throughs?
« Reply #8 on: Jun 20, 2011, 09:56 am »
Thanks everyone, I really appreciate the guidance/advice. 

I don't send the performance report to the actors, I just send it to "tech" staff - designers, director, theatre staff, my SM team, etc.  That's why I felt a little weird putting actor notes in there like the lines were sloppy - I guess because it feels like "tattling" on the actors behind their backs.  I'd rather just tell the actors directly that hey, the lines need a little work, please look at scene 2 especially around page 21 or whatever.  But when I went to do that, the director prevented me, so I guess into the performance report it goes.

I have never been able to check in with actors after a performance.  Usually by the time I get backstage from the booth half the cast is gone and the other half will be leaving as soon as they are done getting out of costume.  If we have a weird call time for the next performance, I might tell my ASM to make an announcement after curtain call to the cast to help remind them, but there is no way I could hold everyone and prevent them from leaving before I got back there.  However, I have had actors repeatedly tell me that they don't like not seeing me when we are in performance (vs. seeing me all the time in rehearsal).  I will often hang out backstage until maybe 45 minutes before the top of the show, but at that point I usually relocate to the booth (I am often the one turning all the equipment on, running test sound cues, doing a light check, etc and we open the house at 20 till so I want to have time to troubleshoot if necessary).  Checking in with them after the show would be a nice way to re-establish that connection but again I don't think I could make everyone stay that long.  Then again, tying in from the cell phone thread, if we did start checking valuables etc they would have to stay for me to get their stuff back.  Hmm....

I do believe the managing director of the theatre will be following up with the director as to why the line notes were prevented.  I would totally buy that there may be issues I don't know about.

Thanks everyone!

BayAreaSM

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Re: Harmful line-throughs?
« Reply #9 on: Jun 20, 2011, 11:07 am »
Quote
That's why I felt a little weird putting actor notes in there like the   lines were sloppy - I guess because it feels like "tattling" on the   actors behind their backs.

Aside from reporting on technical issues, audience response, etc - a performance report reports on the performance as a whole. I consider my reports to be "what was different from Opening." If everything on show 10 runs just like show 1, then I consider it to be a good show. If suddenly on show 6 actors are adlibbing like crazy, jumping major sections of dialogue that affects a cue sequence, or someone ads a bit of silly gesture/dance to a scene that was never there on show 1, it goes into the report - because it is different from what was set on Opening by the director. I may not break down into the report each individual adlib/line multilation, but I will comment on the Scene/Page and give a rough explanation of what happened.

Minor line drops/rephrasing are a given, as long as the original intent of the script is still relayed it doesn't go in the report - it just results in line notes in an envelope, to be given out at the top of half hour for the next performance. I'm like you - I can't get to the actors fast enough after the show, and I don't feel it's fair to hold them until I can get backstage post show.

Quote
However, I have had actors repeatedly tell me that they don't like not   seeing me when we are in performance (vs. seeing me all the time in   rehearsal).
Ok, maybe this is just me, but this sounds really odd. Perhaps it's the theater you're in, that maybe the actors don't see you after Opening and they get used to seeing you only when there's a problem - and it becomes a Pavlov kind of situation. ["Oh no, there's the SM - what's wrong NOW?"] The only way to remedy that is to be backstage, say hello to everyone at the top of the Half Hour call, and be seen - preferably in a positive way. Granted, it sounds like you've got a lot going on, but once you do all of your preshow checks, you should find a way to be backstage until 10 or 5 til curtain. Sometimes just sitting in the Green Room, chatting with actors, helping with the preset, something positive. You need to keep your relationship good with the actors, make it clear that your presence isn't always Notes or Fixing Technical Issues. So once you do have to give notes, or fix things, people won't be jarred by your presence.

I hope that helps for your next show.

BlueRidgeSM

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Re: Harmful line-throughs?
« Reply #10 on: Jun 21, 2011, 03:46 pm »
I work with a variety of different houses, but the one I'm talking about here has no passage from the booth to backstage without going through first the lobby and then either outside the theatre or through the house.  There is no way to get backstage without going outside or through the house.  And since obviously breaking curtain is bad once the house has opened, if I wanted to go back and forth I'd have to go outside.  Sometimes this isn't so bad, other times it is a nightmare (heavy rain, snow/ice, etc).

I am also always on headset from half hour on because I am giving my ASM calls to go give to the actors backstage.  I guess if I hung out backstage I could just make my ASM do the calls themselves and go up to the booth later (there is no intercomm system so ASM must physcially walk from wing to green room and then into each dressing room).  But then there is no way for the house manager to communicate with me... unless they break curtain or go outside.  And house managers are volunteers, and some are elderly, so that's not a good idea either.

On smaller shows I think sitting backstage wouldn't be an issue, but on larger shows we are often cramming 30, 40, or even 50 actors back there and it can become very tight.  The one time I ASM'd on a children's show I said Never Again because it involved literally climbing over small children who were sitting on the floor every time I went to give a call. 

I do think you have a point with the actors associating my prescense with "oops, what did we do now, here's the SM!".  Definitely a reason to try and build up a stronger prescence backstage.  But with the communication issues and the physical layout of this theatre, I have often found it to be much more convenient for everyone if I just report to the booth and stay there to act as a central hub of communication between the lobby (house manager) and backstage.

Rebbe

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Re: Harmful line-throughs?
« Reply #11 on: Jun 27, 2011, 07:39 pm »
If you work in this theater again, what about opening the house at 25 or 20 minutes before curtain, instead of at half-hour?  I think it is important to have face time with the actors at every show, and thirty minutes is usually more time than is really needed to get the audience seated.   Just explain to the house managers that you need to personally make sure all the actors are present, make announcements, and give the half-hour call, before you let them open the house. 

Aside from reporting on technical issues, audience response, etc - a performance report reports on the performance as a whole. I consider my reports to be "what was different from Opening." If everything on show 10 runs just like show 1, then I consider it to be a good show. If suddenly on show 6 actors are adlibbing like crazy, jumping major sections of dialogue that affects a cue sequence, or someone ads a bit of silly gesture/dance to a scene that was never there on show 1, it goes into the report - because it is different from what was set on Opening by the director. I may not break down into the report each individual adlib/line multilation, but I will comment on the Scene/Page and give a rough explanation of what happened.   Minor line drops/rephrasing are a given, as long as the original intent of the script is still relayed it doesn't go in the report
My approach is similar to what BayAreaSM describes here.  During the run of the show, I usually circle or note lightly in pencil in my script the first time I hear a line flub.  If the error is repeated, I make written note and put it on their dressing station for review before the next show (or hand it to the actor if I catch them). 

My thought on your director's response is that he might have been concerned about throwing the actors off at the end of the run by suddenly having you give line notes, and would not have had a problem with it if you had been doing it throughout the run.  He may have asked you to have them stop the line-throughs to control the damage of them rehearsing the lines incorrectly any more.  I usually see actors doing line-throughs pre-show if they’ve had a few nights off, but can be over-used as loebtmc said, and are not helpful if they are drilling the lines without being stopped at mistakes. 

Another thing to keep in mind is that the idea of “tattling” does not apply here; everyone in a production is on the same team, and needs to work together for the good of the whole show.  Production staff are used to seeing acting notes in reports, so you don’t need to feel weird about that (although I agree that cast should not be part of the report distribution list).     


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