Stage-Managing Amateur Dramatics

Probably the most under-valued job in any Amateur Dramatics Society is the Stage Manager. Here are a few ideas to make the job in black more enjoyable and much less stressful.

Knowledge, knowledge.

It may be an obvious thing, but the Stage Manager must know the play – inside out and sideways. Read the script, time and time again. Attend as many rehearsals as you can – watch the actors, learn from them how they interpret their character. Watch how they make their entrances and exits: remember where they come on and go off, so that you can make sure any props are ready for them.

I always make a copy of the script, enlarging it to make it easier to read in the subdued light backstage. If you print each page of the script on one side of an A4 sheet, then file it in a ring binder with the printed copy on the right, you will be able to use the blank page on the left for your own jottings. On this new, larger copy, you should make copious notes about absolutely anything and everything – cues for the actors, cues for the lighting Tech and the sound Tech, cues for the tabs, everything. I once had to miss a performance and the stand-in Stage Manager had everything he needed right in front of him, in my file.

Crew

Your crew should also be encouraged to attend as many rehearsals as they can, because they need to be comfortable with their tasks. In a small society, this is not usually a problem, everyone wants to get involved. Meet with your crew, regularly. Even if it is only a ten minute catch-up, it will help to create a cohesive unit, with everyone knowing what is expected of them – and what everyone else in the crew is doing. Communicate and confirm everything. The more they know, the easier your job will be.

Technical and Dress Rehearsals

The technical rehearsal is your chance to see that all your planning is paying off. Make sure that the Producer / Director and the cast are aware that it might not be possible to run the play straight through, because you need to fine-tune a critical set change or re-time a costume change. Use a stop-watch to get the feel for the timings.

During a recent performance of Steel Magnolias, I had six people changing their costumes, just off stage during a set change with the tabs closed. There were just 45 seconds when the tabs were closed, to get all the actors off-stage and into the hands of their dressers, while I supervised a fairly simple set change, then marshalled the cast back on-stage again. I counted the seconds – every time. The first time, it was a disaster. There just was not enough time to get everyone back on stage again in the 45 seconds. I couldn’t ask for more time, because the audience would have started to get restless, looking at closed tabs.

So, with the approval of the Director, I made the actors and crew go through this particular scene change 5 or 6 times. They hated me but, in the end, it was the slickest show. Come the performances, we had 5 seconds in hand – the actors could be in place and calm down - and I could congratulate my crew on a job well done. I often find it helpful to count tight timings like that, out loud, especially if all of the crew are in radio contact.

Showtime

During the performances, the Stage Manager is in control. The Director has done their job – now it’s all up to you. The play’s success is in your hands. Get to the theatre early – very early. Have a list of everyone involved, on-stage, back-stage and front of house. Get everyone to sign a Fire List when they arrive, and keep that list in plain view on your table.

Have some bottles of water and plastic tumblers on your table, as well. Perhaps, also, have a box of tissues and some small mints. Anything you can do, in fact, to make the actors feel more comfortable.

Check the set – time and again. Is everything there? Then walk it again, with your Props Supervisor. They might spot something out of place.

Check the crew. Are they all in place and comfortable with their tasks?

Check the cast. Have they got everything they need? Are all the personal props on the table by the correct entrance and are they clearly marked. I have used masking tape to mark a grid on the props tables, with the props for each character being assigned an area. It helps keep things in place for entrances and exits. Don’t let an actor leave the back-stage area with a prop. When not on stage, the props must live on your props tables. That way you don’t loose track of them.

Give the cast plenty of time calls – but don’t make a big thing about it. Fifteen minutes, ten and five are enough.

Concentrate – right through the performance. OK, so you have been through the show 173 times, in rehearsal. So what? You mustn’t wander off once the performance starts, thinking it will all take care of itself. Perhaps it will – perhaps it won’t. Be there, whatever happens.

Finally, enjoy a job well done. When the cast have taken their curtain calls – you did give them enough time for their curtain calls, didn’t you? – take the time to thank and congratulate your crew. They worked just as hard as the folks on stage.

Working in black might not be as glamorous as acting – but it can be just as rewarding.

Don't forget to turn of the lights when you leave the theatre!

Monday 8th January 2007

No wine, tonight. I'm trying to be good - but there are times when I just want to blot it all out. Good day at work - rained like hell, but that's OK. At least I got out a bit. I had ten years of being stuck in an office - working as an IT and Telephony Manager for an international travel company - till the company got taken over by its most arrogant competitor, who promptly lied to all the staff, raped the client database and shut the office down. I don't understand what happened; why my boss should sell his thriving, brilliant company to his arch enemy. There were 35 or so staff all dumped after Christmas 2006. I was lucky, I got another job after just a couple of weeks - some of my ex-colleagues are still on the dole after almost a year.

Losing my job did nothing to help my debt problem. Ok, so I got a bit of redundancy, but it just got gobbled up - living expenses don't stop, just because work does.

The new job gave me an extra few pounds at the end of each month, but it didn't help. I still used the cards - mainly to draw cash out to pay other cards each month. What a mug!

Drawing cash out on a credit card is probably the VERY worst thing you can do with plastic. You start paying interest the moment the notes come out of the machine. But the cards still had to be paid, didn't they? Where do I go now? All I seemed to be doing was paying banks. I had three loans, an overdraft and six cards. It all colapsed when I was earning less than I needed for the minimum monthly repayments. That was when it all went wrong. My mind just refused to accept it and - I carried on spending.

I didn't want anyone to know just how bad it was.

Sunday 7th January

Well, I'm half way down a bottle of red wine, sitting alone in my cottage. This is my first attempt at a blog - so it may not be as slick as more experienced bloggers - Hey, but I'll learn.

Why alone? My wife and I split up a while back and I moved out. I work for a landed estate - you know the sort of thing - the farmland and forest we all drive through, every day. It is usually owned by someone, a family or trust or something. Well, I work for a family who own a good bit of the south coast. They were very good and let me rent a farm cottage - so here I am.

Why am I blogging? Well - firstly because I wanted to see what the fuss was all about. Blogging has been high on the media radar for a long time and I needed to find a way to add my own few thoughts to the on-line world. Well, why not? Thousands, hundreds of thousands of people are doing it. Why not me? I don't live in a depressed area, I don't live in a country where the media is opressed and blogging is the only way of getting news out. But I still have something to say.

I love writing, I love using words, but could never get anything together with a publishing house. I tried starting my own, and wound up doing vanity publishing for other people, never for me. That was long before the Internet developed the strength and power it has now. I recall trudging the streets of a big Wiltshire city, trying to encourage large bookshops to take a few of the books I had produced for local writers and poets. They were priced to allow the retailer to make 100% profit on his outlay - and still that wasn't enough for some of them. Seeing the books on the shelves and being looked at by punters gave me a hell of a buzz. I had produced that product for the poet and it was selling. Several months later, I saw some copies in the 'Final Reductions' bin - and that hurt!

That was a long time back - almost 20 years ago. Now everything is instant. The Internet has made everything easily accessible and information is there at everyone's fingertips - thanks to Google and the other search engines.

What have I got to say that could possibly be of interest to anyone else?

A four-lettered word - DEBT

Got you hooked? Well it ought to have. I thought I was OK. I thought I could manage - but I just did the ostrich thing and stuck my head in the sand. I ignored all the warning signs - Lord knows, there were enough of them! I didn't want to know - I just applied for another credit card or loan - and got them! Easy Peasy! Move balances around, playing one off against another. Always looking for the 0% interest offers - and still spending. Bank loan, credit card - "Hey fella - we've just upped your credit limit."

What a bloody fool. It don't work. Credit is a killer. I know - I tried that as well.

What I want this blog to prove is that my parents were right. Don't owe anybody anything. It makes for a happier life. I want you to follow my journey through the debt minefield and learn from me. I want to help you out of the same pit I'm in - How far? Almost £90k without a mortgage. Read it and watch me weep.

I have made two resolutions this year:-
1) I will not go bankrupt - it's too easy and proves nothing.
2) No more credit.

Help me - follow me and we will see how I do.