A Sticky Situation

[deletedoldnotanymore]

High school theater....

To give you a bit of background, I take a very actor based approach to stage managing.  I do everything that a stage manager should do in terms of the technical side of things, but I also know and trust the staff in my program well enough that it isn't something I need to worry about as much.  I get them the information, and I go and check in with them, but I know that my props mistress will make a props list with a much clearer idea of what we can work with, and my LD can make a very complete cue list, that I only need to supplement with information from rehearsal.  I create these things for them only out of courtesy, and so we have something to start with.  I focus most of my energies working with the actors.  I make sure to build up a strong relationship with them (starting with cookie Friday's) and make sure I know every single one of them.  I go to their other shows and their concerts, they always receive cards at them.  I go out of my way to make them feel comfortable.  And, it often turns out, I am the only person looking out for them.  I am the one who stands up for them at production and scheduling meetings, I am the only one who thinks that having a kid go on wearing a burlap shirt with no undershirt might be a bad idea.  I had to lobby to buy a first aid kit for the rehearsal room!  I end up commanding a lot of respect from the actors, and it means a lot when I yell at them, because they know if I am angry at them, something is really bad.

Last year I was thrown into a very interesting situation.  The stage manager for a show announced to us he couldn't be there for three of the five performances.  I got tossed the position, two weeks before tech rehearsal.  The show was directed by a student, who also happened to be the playwright.  Thankfully (for reasons that will soon become apparent) all the actors had been in shows before.  I come in, and see that rehearsals were starting an hour late, there was not (apparent) schedule, and a good portion of the show hadn't been blocked.  Even less had been recorded.  The director was a tyrant, would run scenes over and over again, yelling at the actors for doing it "wrong" with no explanation, and tossing the understudy out of rehearsal for asking a question about the blocking.  At one point she handed the lead a note that said "Everything."  I was able to whip the show into shape, thankfully all the technical stuff had been arranged, and I was the sound designer, and that was the only cue heavy part.  But still, the director was treating the cast, and me, terribly, not respecting artistic boundaries, or even acknowledging that she was working with humans.  I talked to the artistic director of the program one we finished the first tech, and she said she saw the issues, but by the time they became apparent, there was little she could do, which I understand.  Afterward, we had a talk with the director and she was made aware that she wouldn't be directing again, but, I still couldn't help feel bad for the cast.  I knew the director wasn't going to be apologizing any time soon, but I also knew it would be breaking many boundaries if I apologized to the cast on her behalf.  I ended up just telling them I was sorry I came on so late, and wasn't able to get the show together and calm her down much earlier on.  How would you guys have handled a situation like this?

[sievep]

Well, I think when you come into a production mid way through your only option is to enter and quietly start doing things your way.  Oops, the previous SM didn't take down blocking . . .maybe it's time to sit down with the director and get some information, get yourself up to speed, and have a frank talk about how things are going and how you can best help the director.  I bet she felt unsupported by the previous SM, and therefore was frustrated.

Nothing, and I do mean nothing, gives a director or anyone else the right to yell.  This means you too.  We get angry, we get frustrated, but we can't start yelling at people.  That wouldn't be acceptable in any industry.

I've taken directors to task on how they treat people, and how they treat me.  No director is superhuman or above the laws governing workplace harassment or a company's expectations of professional behavior.  It's not your job to be everyone's friend, either.  I would have started by enforcing a schedule, getting caught up on blocking, and if I saw this kind of behavior from a director, an actor, a technician, or whomever I would have told them that is inappropriate.  Plain and simple. 

Sometimes you need to call a break to let the cast run while the director throws their handbag.  A note that says "you are doing everything wrong" is vindictive and petty, and I would have handed that back to the director with a very stern look and an explanation if needed. 

I just have zero tolerance for this kind of petty junk when I'm a PSM.

[JECSM]

Wow, yeah, I've just had a similar situation in high school theatre...

Two students (seniors) who had only acted were directors of two one acts, and basically thrown in with no guidance. Lots of problems because of lack of experience and maturity.
One director would often casually start his rehearsals late, after playing soccer with his cast into rehearsal time, and watch only part of the rehearsal before wandering elsewhere to do "tech" work. The constant tardiness of the lead actor was often used as an excuse for rehearsal not to start, as he said he couldn't do anything without him. When trying to reinforce rehearsal times with him, or told by the other director to call the cast in, I would be met with the ultimatum "I'm the director." I tried to keep up the morale of the actors, do everything I could in my job to help maintain normalcy, and tried to pick up the slack wherever possible. At one point in frustration, I told him as a friend, "I'm not the director, but you need to be." A few weeks in, the other director began doing most of the directing for his play, because her play was already solid. This director took over again a week from performance, and replaced me with one of my stage crew as his SM in tech week, because of "power issues". My replacement was a great crew member, but as she admitted to me, completely unexperienced as an SM, so I spent the rest of the run guiding her through it. This was difficult, though, as the director did not want me even in the backstage area during his performance. Luckily I already had everything on-and backstage set up for the cast already, and the shows went off surprisingly well, considering everything.
 Several of the actors from this show, who I've worked with before, thanked me for what I did do and putting up with some of the petty behavior. One of them told me, "You're still my stage manager!" That felt good after everything.

What I've chosen to take from it, what I think we have to take from it, is that in these situations, all you can do is do your job well, and try to do everything possible to help others do the same. If you do that, I think the cast knows it and will respect you more for it.

[LCSM]

As in SMgirl's case, it's quite possible that this is a lack of expirience issue. It could be that your director is afraid of loosing control over the cast and reacts by becoming a "tyrant". Again, if all else fails, do your job as best you can under the situation and make the expirience as easy for everyone else involved (including yourself). However, if it gets to be tooo much, don't be afraid to get yourself out of the situation. Some scenarios just arn't worth dealing with and you shouldn't have to put yourself trough them.