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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / HEALTH: Injured actor
« on: Apr 28, 2010, 02:57 am »
Unfortunately I'm going to have to deal with this before the insightful SMs have a chance to post their perspectives, but I could still really use some advice. Here's the deal....
On tour with a show. We had a week off after having performed in Vancouver (which was beautiful, by the way!). 4 of the actors decided to spend a few days skiing in Whistler during that week off. One other went mountain biking in Squamish, one went home, and I went to visit my family in Edmonton. We are NOT under Equity contracts, but rather UDA (Union des Artists) which does not have the same restrictions on traveling while under contract that Equity does (in fact, the one who went mountain biking is a long-time performer at Stratford). Their last day of skiing, one of the actors got into an accident and cracked a few vertebrae & a bit of his skull & got a severe concussion. This was 5 days ago. We are scheduled to do a relatively rigorous tour of Ontario right now.
The actor in question is in quite a bit of pain and, due to the concussion, is having short-term memory problems (which are getting better with each day). After some reflection & discussion, he has decided that he is well enough to continue with the tour, but many are questioning this decision. The largest question hanging over us is that we were told that the choice of continuing on with the tour rested entirely with him, but during the car ride, he let slip that the AD sent him a vibe that it would be very difficult to cancel shows at this late period, and so he felt pressured to say 'yes'.
According to the schedule, we're supposed to arrive in a small Northern Ontario town tomorrow afternoon & do the set up of the set (which is far more complicated than a touring set should be, but that's another post), take the evening off, set up the lights & sound the next morning, followed by a school matinee & and evening show with a strike afterwards. This is going to be the first time the actors have ever helped with the set-up & strike and I expect it to take quite a while. It has already been decided that the injured actor will not participate in the set-up or strike.
I have made a few decisions already. There are some things that I need to see him complete in the near future before I even begin to be comfortable with him performing. They are: a) do a line run in the car during the 3 hour drive tomorrow. I'm not looking to see whether or not he flubs his lines, but whether or not he becomes confused and frustrated. This will help to tell me how he is recovering from the concussion; b) have a conversation with the cast & the reps of the company who are going to be there - all of this needs to get out in the open; c) have a one-on-one conversation with him to see how he's really feeling.
A couple of things. I truly believe that the "pressure" he felt from the AD was more than likely an audible reaction to having to cancel a few shows and NOT a reaction to the actor feeling he needed to. I think that the actor may have taken that personally and suddenly changed his mind. It's like when you give someone bad news and they respond strongly to the news, sometimes it's simply their immediate physical response and not truly the way they respond to the situation (subtle, I know). I also feel very strongly that the actor more than likely needs to rest right now. Doing 2 shows less than a week after a severe concussion is too much (particularly since it's such a physical show), and I believe we should cancel them, for the sake of the actor's long term health. I just don't know if that's something I can argue as the SM.
I appreciate any advice anyone can offer. It's a complicated situation, and I'm not sure if I've left enough details for people. I will certainly answer any questions that may arise. Thanks again!
Edit added tag to subject line-Rebbe
On tour with a show. We had a week off after having performed in Vancouver (which was beautiful, by the way!). 4 of the actors decided to spend a few days skiing in Whistler during that week off. One other went mountain biking in Squamish, one went home, and I went to visit my family in Edmonton. We are NOT under Equity contracts, but rather UDA (Union des Artists) which does not have the same restrictions on traveling while under contract that Equity does (in fact, the one who went mountain biking is a long-time performer at Stratford). Their last day of skiing, one of the actors got into an accident and cracked a few vertebrae & a bit of his skull & got a severe concussion. This was 5 days ago. We are scheduled to do a relatively rigorous tour of Ontario right now.
The actor in question is in quite a bit of pain and, due to the concussion, is having short-term memory problems (which are getting better with each day). After some reflection & discussion, he has decided that he is well enough to continue with the tour, but many are questioning this decision. The largest question hanging over us is that we were told that the choice of continuing on with the tour rested entirely with him, but during the car ride, he let slip that the AD sent him a vibe that it would be very difficult to cancel shows at this late period, and so he felt pressured to say 'yes'.
According to the schedule, we're supposed to arrive in a small Northern Ontario town tomorrow afternoon & do the set up of the set (which is far more complicated than a touring set should be, but that's another post), take the evening off, set up the lights & sound the next morning, followed by a school matinee & and evening show with a strike afterwards. This is going to be the first time the actors have ever helped with the set-up & strike and I expect it to take quite a while. It has already been decided that the injured actor will not participate in the set-up or strike.
I have made a few decisions already. There are some things that I need to see him complete in the near future before I even begin to be comfortable with him performing. They are: a) do a line run in the car during the 3 hour drive tomorrow. I'm not looking to see whether or not he flubs his lines, but whether or not he becomes confused and frustrated. This will help to tell me how he is recovering from the concussion; b) have a conversation with the cast & the reps of the company who are going to be there - all of this needs to get out in the open; c) have a one-on-one conversation with him to see how he's really feeling.
A couple of things. I truly believe that the "pressure" he felt from the AD was more than likely an audible reaction to having to cancel a few shows and NOT a reaction to the actor feeling he needed to. I think that the actor may have taken that personally and suddenly changed his mind. It's like when you give someone bad news and they respond strongly to the news, sometimes it's simply their immediate physical response and not truly the way they respond to the situation (subtle, I know). I also feel very strongly that the actor more than likely needs to rest right now. Doing 2 shows less than a week after a severe concussion is too much (particularly since it's such a physical show), and I believe we should cancel them, for the sake of the actor's long term health. I just don't know if that's something I can argue as the SM.
I appreciate any advice anyone can offer. It's a complicated situation, and I'm not sure if I've left enough details for people. I will certainly answer any questions that may arise. Thanks again!
Edit added tag to subject line-Rebbe