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Students and Novice Stage Managers / Teamwork: What to do...
« on: Feb 07, 2006, 12:13 pm »
I'm having a little problem with my current production, and I was just curious as to what all of your opinions are on the subject.
I'm currently working on my college's production as the ASM and Prop Master/Designer. Last semester I SMed the production, and it was my first experience in the job. The entire run went smoothly, mainly because I had a lot of direction/insight from the more experienced members of the crew, and because I worked hard to understand the job and what was expected of me. This semester, there is a new SM who is pretty much in the same situation I was last semester. He has never SMed before, and doesn't exactly know what is expected of him. However, he doesn't seem to be trying to understand, and when I offered him a little piece of advice (trying to be helpful, as others were to me), he seemed to take it as me calling him incompetent. He seems a little immature to me, goofing off during design meetings and not being totally prepared. Because of this, I have ended up doing most of his work so far (contacting cast members about schedual changes, making sure designers and crew are where they're supposed to be etc.(we're still in the design weeks)). He usually can't be contacted, so everyone calls me when they need something. The director has faith in him, and thinks he can pull it together, and while I do trust the director, I'm not convinced. I'm just not sure what to do in this situation. I feel like I'm stepping on toes when I'm doing SM duties, but they need to get done. I also don't want to be too quick to judge, because he is new to this and I know how it feels to not know what's expected of you at the beginning, but at the same time, I don't want the show to go down the drain because he never quite figured it out.
Should I say something to the director, or should I wait and see if he straightens out? I don't want to take his job (even though it would probably go to me anyway), I just want to have a good show. What are your opinions? Has anyone had a situation similar to this?
I'm currently working on my college's production as the ASM and Prop Master/Designer. Last semester I SMed the production, and it was my first experience in the job. The entire run went smoothly, mainly because I had a lot of direction/insight from the more experienced members of the crew, and because I worked hard to understand the job and what was expected of me. This semester, there is a new SM who is pretty much in the same situation I was last semester. He has never SMed before, and doesn't exactly know what is expected of him. However, he doesn't seem to be trying to understand, and when I offered him a little piece of advice (trying to be helpful, as others were to me), he seemed to take it as me calling him incompetent. He seems a little immature to me, goofing off during design meetings and not being totally prepared. Because of this, I have ended up doing most of his work so far (contacting cast members about schedual changes, making sure designers and crew are where they're supposed to be etc.(we're still in the design weeks)). He usually can't be contacted, so everyone calls me when they need something. The director has faith in him, and thinks he can pull it together, and while I do trust the director, I'm not convinced. I'm just not sure what to do in this situation. I feel like I'm stepping on toes when I'm doing SM duties, but they need to get done. I also don't want to be too quick to judge, because he is new to this and I know how it feels to not know what's expected of you at the beginning, but at the same time, I don't want the show to go down the drain because he never quite figured it out.
Should I say something to the director, or should I wait and see if he straightens out? I don't want to take his job (even though it would probably go to me anyway), I just want to have a good show. What are your opinions? Has anyone had a situation similar to this?