If you have read my Blog on a regular basis you might think
that everything about working in theatre is wonderful.
Well it is not.
There are times that I hate it and think I should do
something else, but then I come to my senses and realize that I am lucky to
have made Theatre and Teaching my career.
So what is not to like.
Well the hours can be a pain.
During the build for a show I often work a month or more
without a day off.
Because of the students limited available free time to work
on the productions I have to offer work call hours as much as I can, including
nights and several weekends.
As we get closer to a production we go into the technical
and dress rehearsals which mean that after a long day in the shop I have to sit
in theatre for another six hours and get home after midnight.
As long as we are busy it is not too bad, but recent technical
rehearsal was driving me a bit crazy.
My areas were fine, the set was done and the lighting was
all set but we needed to work on the sound.
Everyone in the theatre had to sit through hours of starting
a stopping every sound cue and re-setting the levels or timing.
It was something that needed to be done and I think we could
have found a better way to do it, but it was not my area and did not want to
butt in.
The hardest part is keeping the cast and crew focused during
the painfully slow process.
We got through and the show opened and everything went fine.
Sometimes production meetings and more often faculty
meetings make me want to scream.
We go over the same stuff over and over and over again.
No one ever seems to remember things from one meeting to
another.
There are times even when something is in the meeting
minutes that people will say: “No, that
can’t be right, we didn’t agree to that . . . . “.
My favorite example is from a few years ago when we were
voting on students awards at the end of the school year.
We had voted not to give out one award but because it was
not written down right away we had to have another vote and that time the
student was given the award.
Now I am sure that he was a good student who had done some
good work but I clearly remember that he had lost the first vote.
Gee is there anything
else that drives you nuts Gary?
People from outside the department or college who want to
use the theatre.
They never plan early enough; want to know why they cannot use
the theatre a week before our production is set to open and that the theatre
does not come with a staff sitting there ready to jump to work at a moment’s
notice just for them.
I try to explain how things work but they never hear what I
am saying, all they want me to say yes to them.
Our latest show here at the college and turned out excellent
and the students who helped all did a very good.
Of course next week there will be some students who did not
finish their work hours and I will have to fine them work.
Fortunately there is always something to clean, sort or
throw away in Theatre.
Sometimes if I get a bit down I read a few chapters of
Robert Edmond Jones’ The Dramatic Imagination.
You can still find online, it may seem a bit pricey but it
is worth it.
Quick, go online find a copy, get it and then read it and
then read it again.
There will be a quiz on this . . . .
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| Robert Edmond Jones |
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