Illness

[Reqel]

Recently I came down with the flu (not piggy sniffles). I pretty much spent two days at home sleeping, and it got me thinking...

What happens when someone gets ill in this industry? Does the maxim "the show must go on" hold true?

Does afflicted individual take time off, or just push on through?

The sickness isn't a normal run-of-the-mill cold, but something major, like a bad bout of flu.

The context of the question is both professional touring and theatre shows

Thanks
Reqel

[Footer]

You take time off. When the show is up, you take time off. Someone will cover for you. This is why you have run sheets. Now, if your in tech and your a key person (design staff, head of a dept, SM, director) you better be in the hospital if your not there.

Sickness while on tour is very common. Your living in a small space with others, coming into contact with 1,000's of people who don't have the best hygeine, and not sleeping much. I have seen tour managers jam vitiman C down the throats of people on the road on more then on occasion. I have also seen entire shows walk into a venue and everybody is sick. In those circumstances, they still work the shows if they can, if not they replace that person with a local or another person on the show. So.... stay healthy.

[jessamarie6]

To echo Footer, if you get sick you get sick and you stay home. This is not always what happens, I have seen many a SM, Tech Director or actor push through things that they shouldn't and in turn end up spreading something to the rest of the company.
When it comes to illness your responsibilities in the company are first to make sure that you have things in place to be replaceable. Keep your run sheets updated, SMs keep your book in perfect readable order, TDs make sure that your drawings are clear, and everyone make sure that you are communicating with everyone around you so that if you were to have to leave unexpectedly no one will be left lost for what is supposed to happen next.
Your second responsibility is to keep yourself healthy. If you get sick no one will blame you, but if you get sick and people know that you eat nothing but junk food, or stay up ridiculous hours, or go out drinking excessively, it will start to effect your reputation. In essence you are responsible for taking care of yourself.

[derekleffew]

The only valid excuse for missing a performance is to attend a funeral--your own.

Don't make me tell the story of the truss spot op who threw up in his shoe.

[Grog12]

I've only walked away from one show due to illness...and the illness was my father's losing a battle with cancer. Happened the night I sat down to Q my show befor dry tech.

[Van]

I just don't get sick.

[Dionysus]

We had a saying at school...

"Your running notes should be good enough, that the driver of the buss that hit you should be able to cover for you!"

It is very important to have good show notes or "running notes". They have to be able to be followed by anyone, and contain all the "what ifs" you can think of. That way when someone gets sick/hospitalized/dead someone can take over and have everything run smoothly.

Accidents happen, and people get sick. Always be prepared for it to happen and everything will be fine.

And yes sometimes people still run shows no matter how sick/injured... I've done a show when I SHOULD of gone to the hospital for stitches before myself. It's not a good thing to do unless you have to however. Sickness can be spread...Injures can make you incapable of doing your job as well as you should.

[ruinexplorer]

So, I never worked much in community theater (though I was a TD for a roadhouse that housed resident companies) and I know that it is much more difficult to replace someone who is sick or injured, but that should always be a consideration. When I was freelancing, I only called out sick once. That was the second day of a call where I had extreme stomach flu. In that case they traded me (follow spot) with another tech (deck hand) so that I could be closer to the necessary facilities. They were able to get a replacement for the next day fortunately. Now that I work on a permanent show, we make sure that there is someone crosstrained in every position so that we can shift around our crew accordingly.

I get annoyed with people who come into work sick for many reasons. First of all, I don't want to get sick. On the other hand, someone who is sick can be a safety concern to the rest of the crew (depending on position) because their body is weakened while fighting off the sickness. Their senses may also be impaired (congestion can impair smell as well as hearing). When you are sick your judgement may also be impaired due to lack of sleep.

As for injuries, people should do their absolute best to stay home and heal. If your body is not allowed to heal properly because you continue to work, you may end up causing permanent injury which will affect you for the rest of your life. That's definitely not worth the show, cuz it ain't gunna keep you fed for years to come.

[Van]

Originally Posted by Dionysus

We had a saying at school...

"Your running notes should be good enough, that the driver of the buss that hit you should be able to cover for you!"
......

This is a requirement for Equity Stage Managers. Their books must clear enough that any other SM can step in for them in a pinch. Luckily Light boards are much more easy to fill in on now day, and on a straight play sound can be the same. Last season during one of our most technically complicated shows we had to call a special rehearsal to familiarize a fill-in PA, luckily Equity caontracts allow for this. I can see how in Community Theatre this type of arrangement could prove difficult.

[kiwitechgirl]

I've had to go in and call a show cold for a stage manager who was ill - she'd left a very clear prompt book and it was also a fair way into the run so the operator knew what was going on and between us the tricky sequences were just fine. I've never had to call in sick on a show call (although I have once missed two days of rehearsal) although I came very close on a production of The Producers when I had food poisoning - it was only two shows into the run so things were still settling down, and my boss spent all day locked in his office with my prompt book and the CD trying to learn the cues - fortunately I was OK by 5pm and managed to call the show! I knew it was food poisoning so wasn't worried about spreading it to others. One show we did a while back was an incredibly complex call and operate, and early in the run the SM and operator taped the coms traffic (with show feed in it) so that stand-ins could learn the show and rehearse it by themselves. I've lost operators to illness before but with the degree of automation in our lighting and sound systems these days it doesn't cause too many problems.

With this swine flu epidemic we've had to put more back-up plans in place than we ordinarily would - happily so far the theatre has remained flu-free (touch wood!) but we've certainly had plans A, B and C well in train should someone go down with flu.