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« on: Aug 19, 2012, 04:59 am »
Speaking as myself here, I think one thing that we are forgetting is the change in dynamic between director and SM that happens during tech. Nick alluded to it - the director has had six weeks with the cast. During that whole time, the relationship between SM & director is largely treated as a diumvirate with each party having equal power. It is very rare for a director to openly critique the SM in the rehearsal hall. Tech may be the first time in the whole process where you're on the receiving end of the director's direct critiques.
It isn't only that the actors have had six weeks to get their work right, but they've also had six weeks to build up a critique-based relationship with the director and establish boundaries. Actors spend their entire lives taking notes from directors. (Well, they do if they're good.) SM's, on the other hand, are only on the receiving end of critiques for the shortest and most stressful phase of the process. For the rest of the time we're taking notes, yes, but they're to pass on to other people. I think in some ways that is what makes tech so challenging - the long hours and rapid learning requirements are part of it, but we also lose that 100% mutual advocacy with the director that exists in the rehearsal room and instead can wind up, as Besieged has, surprised at how quickly a supposed alliance has gone sour. We are accustomed to running the joint. To spend a whole tech basically holding the room together and then receive your first critiques from someone that you thought was your friend? It's all to easy to take personally or get us reacting defensively.
Just as learning the script & the cues is important for a stage manager, a good director picks up on the psychology and best learning styles for each actor. For all you know, the director may have learned exactly what trigger words get the performances he wants out of his talent. He can be as sweet as pie while saying the right words and have the right effect after an entire rehearsal period to learn their psychology. You only have 1-2 days to learn the cues? The director only has 1-2 days to shift focus from knowing his actors' minds only to knowing that of his designers, crew and stage manager in order to effect the vision she's got in her mind. And while you spend a huge amount of time in rehearsal getting ready for tech, the director has spent probably months before rehearsals even started parsing the script and hashing out the design. It's easy for the transition to tech to catch them by surprise and make them more brusque than they ought to be.
I'm not saying that this director isn't out of line, but I do think we need to keep a little perspective. He is stressed and a stage manager is supposed to be a safe landing place for that stress. He cannot show that he's stressed in front of the actors or the designers. In some ways I would be complimented if a director put enough trust in me to show that he is anxious or angry about my work, because that means I am a trusted outlet for his internal tsuris.
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