Enforcing Punctuality in Community Theater

[catalinacisne]

I'm SMing for a small community theater, and am having a little problem with punctuality - people are showing up a little bit late, asking if they can miss rehearsal to hang out with friends, sometimes just not showing up. I'm used to working in schools and professional theaters where something is at stake if you're late - course credit, or your stipend. These actors aren't getting payed and we don't have a large pool we can pull replacements from, so I don't want to make empty threats about recasting or anything like that. In the past my director made people pay a dollar for each minute they were late, but I'm not sure if that's appropriate for a theater company who's mission statement is all about community. I'm not sure an inspiring "do it for the love of the art" speech will help, either.

How do you guys make sure people are timely in community theater?

Thanks.

[maximillionx]

To premise: an individual who refuses to come on time, plan ahead, be courteous, etc...will not change merely because of a policy you institute ::insert The Price Is Right losing music here::  However, as SMs, we can always plan ahead and try to schedule in the most efficient manner possible.

A policy that has worked for me in the past has been to keep all those who arrived late an equal amount of time after the rehearsal has ended to help clean up, close up, or help with the after-work tasks we all perform.  This, as far as I can tell, helps to establish the notion that everyone's time is valuable and that if they choose to waste your time, you will be happy to waste theirs after the rehearsal.  But I'd stress the former of those last two.

If a policy of yours does not seem to do the trick either, you might want to schedule a buffer before rehearsals normally start. For example, your rehearsals are scheduled for 7 and people stroll in late, so your actual start time is more like 7:15/:30. Make call 6:45/:30 to compensate.

Best of luck, and hope this helps~

[Tempest]

In a similar situation, I've required the tardy actor to make an apology to everyone who had to wait or adjust their working plans because of them.  I made them include a phrase along the lines of, "I'm sorry that I think my time is more important than yours."  Having to get up and say that once or twice to a room full of people who are already annoyed....yeah, they usually weren't late again.
Of course, I usually only enforced this when someone was QUITE late.  I usually let a few minutes slide with just a private reminder, otherwise, it wastes more time than it saves, in the long run.
I've also required them to bring treats for everyone to the next rehearsal.  That works pretty well, too, and it makes everyone else that much happier!

[missliz]

I only ever dealt with this in a college student-run atmosphere, and I started charging people. Flat out. $1 every minute they were late. Stopped that pretty quickly.

[cprted]

I SM'd a community show a little while back.  One of the things that I did was I called the actors at home if they weren't in the hall at call time.  With one exception they were never there and I got Wife/Husband/Mom/Dad telling me they were on their way.  But finding out when you get home that the SM called at 7:01 when you were late for the 7:00 rehearsal sets a tone.  Nobody likes nagging phone calls at home.  I had very little in the way of punctuality problems after the first week.

[MatthewShiner]

but I'm not sure if that's appropriate for a theater company who's mission statement is all about community . . .

I think make it a think about community - if you are group that is bound by community, have people respect that community.

You know, this problem isn't just about community theatre . . . it happens all the way up the ladder.

My suggestions, talk to the worse offended.  Talk about the problem being separate from them, ask them what you can to do to help them arrive on time, see what the core of the problems could be.

Also, I suggest, start on time, no matter what.  If you have to read in missing people, get started.  You are going to have wait or go back anyway, why not show the cast we are starting on time no matter what . . . so let's get started.

If that is a little passive aggressive . . . try starting each rehearsal with a 5 or 10 minute warm up . . . that way people are working towards getting ready and focused.

[ChaCha]

Also, I suggest, start on time, no matter what.  If you have to read in missing people, get started.  You are going to have wait or go back anyway, why not show the cast we are starting on time no matter what . . . so let's get started[/quote]

I couldn't agree more! Tell anyone who asks that if they have been scheduled then yes they are required - dont feel bad about doing this - and then start on time no matter what. Explain this strategy to the Director in advance if you need them to be on board to make this work. If not just do it. Starting late because some people are late is a self perpetuating cycle where eventually noone bothers to arrive on time.

And as Matthew also said - this is a problem in varying degrees at many different levels of theatre practice, not just community - but if you set the tone by your own demonstration of committment and professionalism you are less likely to have problems - ie EXPECT them to be committed and behave as if they will be.

I also agree with the phone call strategy. If you have an asm who can do it - ring everyone who isnt there right on start time and ask why they are not there - I usually start by asking if everything is OK (ie that they havent had an accident )- if they have had a problem you dont want to be being stern with them about lateness - that tends to end badly

Hope  things are improving for you
ChaCha

[planetmike]

I SM'd a community show a little while back.  One of the things that I did was I called the actors at home if they weren't in the hall at call time.  With one exception they were never there and I got Wife/Husband/Mom/Dad telling me they were on their way.  But finding out when you get home that the SM called at 7:01 when you were late for the 7:00 rehearsal sets a tone.  Nobody likes nagging phone calls at home.  I had very little in the way of punctuality problems after the first week.

I did this, and got griped at by the director (directing her first show), because the late actors complained that I was calling too soon after the call time. I was told to give the actors 15 minutes, then call them. When we finally moved into the theater, and only had limited time there, the director was mystified why people weren't showing up on time. I explained it was because they had learned they could be 15 minutes late.

Is it the director's decision how to run the actual rehearsal? Isn't it their decision to do a warm up, or to hold for the tardy actor? All I can do is let the director know I've contacted everyone, the space is ready, etc... I can see how the process at rehearsal could vary with each director's style. Mike

[Celeste_SM]

I do community theater, and punctuality is often an issue. These are the things I do to address it:

1) On the first night I ask everybody to put my number into their phones and to call me if they're going to be late. No matter what. Even if it's only a couple of minutes late. I explain that if we know you're late, it helps us decide how to handle the rehearsal. I then say, "and by the way, if you're late every day because of traffic, you need to leave for rehearsal earlier, because clearly the traffic is always going to be there."  This usually gets a laugh.

2) At call time I call everybody who isn't there. Even if it's only one minute after the call time. I use the language that ChaCha suggested, to not be confrontative... "Hey, just checking to see how close you are?" or "Just calling to make sure you knew your rehearsal call was 7pm today..."  Usually it only takes one of these calls for the person to start calling me when they're running late. (And if my director doesn't want me to do that, I won't. But I also won't apologize for rehearsals starting late for the duration of the show.)

3) Start on time, even if they aren't there. This is of course up to the staff to some extent, but you can usually do something that makes good use of the people who were on time.

4) I keep a sign-in sheet, and when somebody is late and calls, I note that. If they are late and they don't call, I note that too. If somebody is chronically late, I pull out my sheet and highlight their late days and show it to them, and say "hey, you seem to have an issue getting here on time. Is it traffic or what time you get off work, or what?"  Usually I already know that it's just their pattern, but a personal talk and visual proof of the problem helps the conversation be taken seriously.

5) I also note and announce local events that are likely to cause traffic problems. If there is a football or baseball game, or a bridge closure, or anything that is likely to make traffic or parking horrific, I give them warning and tell them to plan extra time to get to rehearsal

[SMrose]

Is it the director's decision how to run the actual rehearsal? Isn't it their decision to do a warm up, or to hold for the tardy actor?

I like to be on the same page with the director before we even begin rehearsals by letting them know I really like to start on time.  I remind the director that "I" have to deal with the cast for the run of the show and procedures that "we" establish in rehearsals go a long way to lock in punctuality with the entire cast.

[bethanyb5]

I have worked in similar situations and have come up with some things that helped. A lot of them have already been suggested but I'll still include them.

1) start on time all the time! even if someone has to stand in for the person missing or work on other scenes with the people you have or have the actors do warm ups. Basically make it look like they have missed out on something when they walk in.

2) at the first rehearsal I give the please be on time speech, here is my number if you are running late, please check the public transportation's website to see if there are any scheduled delays etc. Some times actors don't think and you have to give them step by step instructions. (I actually had an actor tell me she was going to be late for the Saturday rehearsals because the trains didn't run on schedule. I said well then you could leave earlier or you could check the MTA's website and see if you can take a different route. She responded with "Oh that's a good idea!")

3) On the sign in sheet I have a column for them to write the time that they arrived. that usually works after the first or second time. Some times they avoid writing the time so if I know they were late I write "LATE" in that column. that helps as well.

4) If those things haven't done the trick yet (usually there is one person that still doesn't get it) I take that person aside and ask what happened why they were late and if it is something that can be avoided I help them come up with a solution.


hope that helps