Do you ever feel...

[Anonymous067]

Does anybody here every feel like giving up on a show and sick of the show before the auditions have even taken place, just because you're so burned out from planning (and planning with people who aren't...that...bright...)?

 

[slattery93]

Or some of the people in the show itself? How they're so obnoxious, and your director wants something done his way. And it's to much of a pain in the ass to do it? Yeah I know how you feel. lol I usually go take a walk, drink, eat lol. Your best bet is not to let them bother you, just ignore it. Do your job and not let other people do it to, that's another thing I hate, I have actors telling me how to do my job Oh well lol

 

[rochem]

Happens a lot on those high school shows where the director does whatever he wants and you have absolutely zero say in how anything happens. I usually just try to get out of the theatre if at all possible - just take a break and go do something else. If it's a whole day, great, if it's 15 minutes, that works too. And I always remind myself that it's only an insignificant high school show, and that the audience really doesn't care about anything except seeing their friends faces up on stage (not normally my approach to high schools shows, but it helps put everything into perspective sometimes). Of course, that doesn't work for any other type of show, but you get the idea.

And of course, a good hour or so of cursing and ranting to your fellow crew members after a particularly bad day never hurts either.

 

[sem6727]

The WORST is working with:

A. A director that can't clearly present a vision, or has none at all.

B. Members of a production team who don't know what they're doing and won't ask for help.

C. Anyone who can not make a decision. And anyone who can not hold up to their responsibilities and are stubborn enough that they won't step down or share credit. Resulting in me doing other members jobs in order to "save" the show.

Yes, there are some theater productions that make me want to shoot myself in the foot. Thankfully there have been very very few of those. But no matter how bad it gets I've NEVER walked out on a production.

 

[icewolf08]

Does anybody here every feel like giving up on a show and sick of the show before the auditions have even taken place, just because you're so burned out from planning (and planning with people who aren't...that...bright...)?

If you are burned out before the show is even cast then you have a real problem. You might want to look at your process and figure out what you are doing wrong.

Or some of the people in the show itself? How they're so obnoxious, and your director wants something done his way. And it's to much of a pain in the ass to do it? Yeah I know how you feel. lol I usually go take a walk, drink, eat lol. Your best bet is not to let them bother you, just ignore it. Do your job and not let other people do it to, that's another thing I hate, I have actors telling me how to do my job Oh well lol

It doesn't matter what level of theatre you work in, what the director wants is what goes on stage no matter how much of a PITA it is to make it happen. One thing you should learn in this industry is that there is almost never a time when you can answer a request from a director or designer with "no" or "it can't be done" until all possible ways to make the idea work have been explored. On the first request you have to at least try to make it happen, sometimes you can't do it (for reasons like time, budgets, physical location, space, etc.) but if you just said "no" outright it doesn't make you look good.

I certainly have worked with directors and designers who have made seemingly unreasonable requests, but it is our job as technicians to do everything in our power to realize their visions. So, even if the effect is too small for any audience member to see (like spinning the hands of a 2" diameter clock to the right time for each scene that sits on a mantle that is impossible to see from the audience) you have to at least try to make it work (we tried to the point of driving our SM to tears). Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but you have to try.

 

[What Rigger?]

I'm familiar with this situation. It's called "Tuesday".

 

[derekleffew]

So Wednesday through Monday are okay for you, WR?

This thread reminds me of a quote from one of my college professors: "When's the last time we did a show that the designers wanted to to? Oh yeah, never."

Very few professionals have the luxury of choosing which projects they work on, and those that do in the past did plenty of projects they didn't want to do. Hiding one's disdain/distaste/contempt for the property/persons attached is one of the key components of professionalism.

 

[mstaylor]

I think everyone have had shows that we just wish we had never become involved with. I used to do a lot of community theatre in addition to my professional responsibilties and there was one "star" that absolutely hated to work with. There was a set,director, choreographer and star that always worked together and it was never pretty. The saving grace was the director repected my skills enough that I won some arguments.

 

[shiben]

I think everyone have had shows that we just wish we had never become involved with. I used to do a lot of community theatre in addition to my professional responsibilties and there was one "star" that absolutely hated to work with. There was a set,director, choreographer and star that always worked together and it was never pretty. The saving grace was the director repected my skills enough that I won some arguments.

Im on a show that is sort of similar to that. We have a playwright who is working closely with the director (sort of like an off-the-books AD), and its getting confusing on who we take orders from. I am working on several different roles (all straight technical and non-creative), and I cant even trust that the SM's emails are accurate any longer because the Director and playwright change things on their own (things like call times) and dont bother to inform everyone. Already gotten into it with the playwright over stuff (apparently I need to talk to her about getting power and speakers for rehearsal, not the stage manager... as venue ME, its my job to make sure that those rehearsing have things like that for rehearsals, and Im supposed to coordinate that with the SM but whatever). Icewolf08, sometimes the effect just cant happen. The director in our case wants a cast member dancing at grid height on top of a ladder, which is probably out of the question for us in terms of money or technical ability (im assuming we need fall protetion for a nearly 16 foot fall if the actor is dancing, not totally sure of the rules, and in any case, we dont have a qualified person on staff to do that). Anyhow, that needs to be nipped at the bud as not feasable to do on a show with no budget. We can try, but some things are not possible. Blah067, I think your best bet is to bury your frustration and treat the morons the same as the most competant guy out there (a skill im not too good at, I am nicer to the people I dont like so everyone I normally work with can tell). Not saying let them do anything, but work as hard as you can to make what they want happen, and if it helps, hop on the Xbox and kick the s*** out of some aliens or whatever on [video game of choice] afterwards every night. One thing not to do: visit the bar every night. Although tempting (and a hell of a lot of fun), it will negatively affect you by the end of the process (you might be able to do hung over on day 1, day 12 its really, really rough). If its any encouragement, Im pretty sure everyone here has the t-shirt from this type of experience, and its something you can get through.

 

[RickBoychuk]

I know of a college did a survey of their graduates. They found that 80% were out of the industry after 5 years!!! The major culprit - burnout. Burnout was due to a number of things. Your story exhibits one source.

I was out of the industry after my first 5 years. Culprit - burnout.

I got back in on the sales side. Working for a theatre supplier, I was able to help technicians with their technical needs. I knew the types of things that they were needing to do. And I knew the type of people that they were having to work with. I was, I hope, able to make their work lives a little bit easier.

This industry is very wide. We have manufacturers, wholesalers, dealers, consultants, etc., not just production technicians.

And the industry will benefit by your experience. You could have a chance to make it better - albeit, in a different role.

And the work tends to be 1) gratifying, 2) reasonably well paid, and 3) 9 to 5 weekdays only (a nice thing when you have kids).

Good luck.

 

[slattery93]

It doesn't matter what level of theatre you work in, what the director wants is what goes on stage no matter how much of a PITA it is to make it happen. One thing you should learn in this industry is that there is almost never a time when you can answer a request from a director or designer with "no" or "it can't be done" until all possible ways to make the idea work have been explored. On the first request you have to at least try to make it happen, sometimes you can't do it (for reasons like time, budgets, physical location, space, etc.) but if you just said "no" outright it doesn't make you look good.

I certainly have worked with directors and designers who have made seemingly unreasonable requests, but it is our job as technicians to do everything in our power to realize their visions. So, even if the effect is too small for any audience member to see (like spinning the hands of a 2" diameter clock to the right time for each scene that sits on a mantle that is impossible to see from the audience) you have to at least try to make it work (we tried to the point of driving our SM to tears). Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but you have to try.

Yeah, your right on that. The facility I work at they have to make everything so complicated, for our upcoming show Clue. We have to have a set that is mobile because "Incase they need the stage for something important" They can get our "junk" out of the way. Our drama department is so looked down on, we have no money to do anything, the money we have we buy rights for the show, and a few things for props. That's it. I'm the only one in the school that knows how to work everything in that auditorium, they expect everything to be done proffesionally but when I tell them I can't do it with the equipment we have and they say alright buy some, and I ask for the money they get all pissed off. The administration at my school is like a dog chasing it's own tail. Their getting no where. Lol

Just my rant :neutral: