Hi everyone. I'm a student at the University of Windsor. I have to do a school project about stage management. I was wondering if anyone has any opinion on how to deal with problem actors, whether they're divas or late or if they have terrible hygiene. How do you tell them what they need to be told, or should you at all?
Stage Management question for school
- Thread starterCMulligan
- Start date
It like a lot of other people have started doing this same project as well....
I would recommend running a search as it is a very useful function and will turn up probably everything you need. Also try posting/searching at SMNetwork.org - Index which is a forum dedicated to SMs.
I would recommend running a search as it is a very useful function and will turn up probably everything you need. Also try posting/searching at SMNetwork.org - Index which is a forum dedicated to SMs.
Comming from a High School setting it's really different then at a professional level but I would guess that the SM would have to tell them straight out. If it's hampering the production then a stern word putting them in place is probably all that's needed, and after that getting the Producer or Director involved.
As for personal hygiene, if it doesn't affect the production, then it probably doesn't matter.
As for personal hygiene, if it doesn't affect the production, then it probably doesn't matter.
Just always be diplomatic whenever you're talking to anyone involved in the production, whether they be actors, designers, department heads, or whatever. Rather than saying "Why are you always late", try saying "Is there anything we can do to help you arrive on time?". Actors will almost always say no, and the actor will likely start to show up on time. If they actually do say yes, then find out what the problem is and do whatever you're allowed to (within AEA rules if applicable) to help them get to rehearsals. Just always be non-threatening and non-confrontational.
Bad hygiene - I can't really see it ever affecting a production, so it's not your job to worry about it. The only time you would ever need to do something about it would be if many other actors were complaining, and then you'd just say something non-confrontational and try to help out however you can.
EDIT: What's with the sudden influx of questions like this? Are all these people at the same school taking the same class, or is it totally random that professors around the world are assigning the same thing? Is your professor actually sending you to this site, or are you all finding it on your own?
Bad hygiene - I can't really see it ever affecting a production, so it's not your job to worry about it. The only time you would ever need to do something about it would be if many other actors were complaining, and then you'd just say something non-confrontational and try to help out however you can.
EDIT: What's with the sudden influx of questions like this? Are all these people at the same school taking the same class, or is it totally random that professors around the world are assigning the same thing? Is your professor actually sending you to this site, or are you all finding it on your own?
Seems like an odd method of teaching - send your students off to a public forum to see if anyone can tell them the answers. My answer is about 10% personal experience and 90% straight-from-the-textbook. And yet she won't accept "I read the Stern book" or "I read the Kelly book" as a valid answer? I'm a senior in high school, and I pulled that definition basically out of one or both of those texts. Seems kinda counterproductive to me. But I digress.
I'm a senior in university and I have also read the Stern book and I work as a Stage Manager. I still have to do it as part of my class, so I don't ask questions. It's worth 20% of my mark, so it needs to be done. It's more of an exercise in getting us to find our own information rather than whether the answers are by the book. To be honest, I have a good idea of how to answer this question.
Thanks for your input guys. It's going to be a good help in my presentation.
Thanks for your input guys. It's going to be a good help in my presentation.
waynehoskins
Active Member
Jeesh, how many of you guys are there?
I can't speak for anyone else, but I find it just slightly obnoxious when I check the forum and there are several stage management question threads that are your homework, mostly asking the same question. Maybe it would be better if your prof would allow you all to create only one thread for each topic or question for the entire class, that way we're less inundated here.
And you of course know we're not so much stage managementy here as we are design and tech, mainly lighting. While we're all about education, I'm not sure how I feel about being a mass homework resource.
I can't speak for anyone else, but I find it just slightly obnoxious when I check the forum and there are several stage management question threads that are your homework, mostly asking the same question. Maybe it would be better if your prof would allow you all to create only one thread for each topic or question for the entire class, that way we're less inundated here.
And you of course know we're not so much stage managementy here as we are design and tech, mainly lighting. While we're all about education, I'm not sure how I feel about being a mass homework resource.
At this time, the CBmods and Senior Team are discussing how to address this very subject. We're trying to strike a balance between our desire to be a viable resource for the educational theatre community and the need to attract working professionals who can then become a part of that valued resource. We have a few ideas in the works, but nothing finalized as yet. Should any CBers out there have any questions, comments or suggestions on this subject please feel free to contact any CBmod or a member of the Senior Team.
JChenault
Well-Known Member
Tongue firmly in cheek.
The same way you would handle a professor who sends his students ( all of them) to an online forum to get answers worth 20% of their grade for vaguely formed questions about stage management.
Any chance we could get the Prof's e-mail in order to ask him why he choose this mode of instruction? From what I can see at this time it seems not too solid to me. I am wondering what I am missing.
John
waynehoskins
Active Member
I figured you guys had to be working on a plan.
It's a tough balance to strike, the one between being a resource and being used as a replacement for the library and the phone, as an appliance to be used on homework assignments.
This whole homework forum discussion thing is interesting. A buddy of mine is taking a class at the local Baptist university, something about philosophy or theology or some such, and the assignment is to discuss the topic or answer the questions on the forum -- but theirs is a forum specifically for the class, so they're not interrupting anybody else. The class he's taking is a 1000-level, and many of the class are good Baptist girls only there for the "MRS" degree, and it's interesting to see how many of the answers are the "party line" answer and how few actually involve critical thinking -- and how that probably falls along age lines.
Best of luck to you guys in coming up with a solution. Better you than me.
waynehoskins
Active Member
JChenault
Well-Known Member
Be nice John.
Frankly, I think we should be flattered that we would be thought of highly enough to be considered a valid source for a college level Stage Management course. This is new territory for us and as mentioned in my previous post, the CBmods and Senior team are looking in how best to address this type of situation. I expect that this is just the beginning of a growing trend among the theatre education community and hopefully we can find a way to address the issue that allows us to become a better resource for that community while still attracting professionals.
waynehoskins
Active Member
I have a simple solution for those of you who have a problem with these questions... DON'T READ THEM! If they are such a waste of time for you, then why do you continue to read and post in the thread? These guys are just trying to learn...they ask a question and then get it thrown back in their face. How would you feel if you came here to learn and that happened to you? The number of topics they are starting does not matter...you don't have to read every word, if you are too "inundated" here because of them, then don't read them! If you are more design and tech then don't read the sm discussions. If you don't want to be a mass homework resource, then don't write anything... Thanks.
JChenault
Well-Known Member
I can't speak for anyone else - but I have no problem with any student who wants to ask a question for a class. If I think I have something to say that will help, I will contribute to the conversation.
I do have a problem with a student who pretends they have a real world problem they are trying to solve when, in fact, it is a class exercise, and I do have pedagogical issues with some of the things the professor in this class is purported to have said.
My tongue in cheek proposal to contact the professor was to understand what he was trying to accomplish by this approach (and what he really said as opposed to what his students heard ) - not to punish him or inundate him with e-mail.
John
