New Experience: Advice/Opinions Appreciated

[BlueLily31]

I have been sming and asming since high school and now I'm in my third year of college, and can't believe I have never run into this problem before. While I was sming a show, two of my actors became involved in a personal relationship. Normally I feel like it is none of my business, but it was starting to effect the show. They were not arriving on time for call and were distracting each other backstage. I ended up talking to them about it, but it still didn't help. I felt kind of weird about talking to the director about it, because it was a personal relationship and there wasn't really anything we could do about it. We didn't have understudies to replace them if it became needed. The show went fine, but it could of gone better without the lead being distracted and two actors showing up late for call (not answering their phones either). I would really like to know if anyone has any ideas on how to deal with this or even if I did the right thing by talking to them. Again I can't believe I never ran into this problem before, but I'm not sure how to deal with it.

[missliz]

I think talking to them was correct. Personal lives are personal lives, but if they start to effect the run of the show, then it becomes your concern. Did you talk to them together or individually?

[bex]

Speaking to them about it was definitely the best way to go.  I would look at it in the same way you would look at anything that is affecting the show, and not treat it differently because you know their personal business already. 

I was in this situation with a show in college where the 2 actors who were dating fought constantly, she was super jealous if any other girls in the cast talked to him, he was constantly distracted trying to make her happy (an impossible task) and this eventually culminated in them getting in a fight after opening night where she broke his nose, and he and another actor ended up in the ER until 4AM.

So speaking from experience, I would say you need to address it before it turns into something worse.  Just make sure that you treat it professionally and that they know that you expect the same from them.

[On_Headset]

If you have access to a faculty advisor, something you might do is schedule these two actors a meeting with that advisor to discuss the importance of professionalism. As the SM (and a fellow student), your words only carry so much weight. A faculty advisor saying "No, sorry, this won't cut it in the real world: you need to be on time, you need to be in touch, you need to keep the affection to appropriate times and places... and if you can't figure that out, you're in serious trouble" would drill the point home much more effectively, and would allow you to ramp up your own rhetoric (and, should it come to that, consequences) if the situation doesn't improve.

This with the caveat that it depends upon the advisor's schedule, personality, relationship with you and the show, and so on.