[Spikesgirl]

What to do when a director wants to be in the booth?

Tell him or her no, providing that they actually listen to you. We have both in our theater.

We are lucky in that our booth locks and we can control who come in and out of it simply by keeping it locked during the show. The logic is that anyone who needs to be in the booth is there at the start of the show and if anyone needs to leave, they can always prop the door open. The director is not one of the essential booth folks and we've had to invite them to leave.

We have directors who walk out after opening never to be seen again except possibly during the last weekend and we have others who insist on being there every night to watch the show. The only problem we have is keeping the directors from being backstage, pestering the actors or techs during the show. Our producing director has actually had to step in and 'toss' a couple out from the backstage area.

There is no easy answer to this question, except to be firm, have the appropriate backing to handle the situation and do it in a professional manner. There is no room in the booth for a director.

Charlie