First of all, I should say that my
point of view is only valid for high school theatres. Having said that, if a director has to be on
headset during a performance, (s)he didn't schedule enough rehearsal. That will only result in what seanandkate describes above. My shows are prepared to go
on opening night and the kids run them. I expect and trust that I'm going to get a high production value and I get it. Going into the booth during a performance does nothing to impede my students from having ownership of the
theatre program or from the sense of accomplishment they get from doing it themselves. I want them to own the product of their hard work, not a room in the back of the
house.
I'm only in the booth when I need to be, but I don't feel that
safety is the only valid reason to be there during a performance. My main reason for going into the booth is when something goes wrong that doesn't get fixed quickly. That's usually an opportunity to help teach troubleshooting techniques and get things working again. If, for example a mic stops working in the opening number and then doesn't work again on the next
cue, I'm going to the booth to find out why and to help fix it if they can't. If that makes me guilty of "interfering", so be it. We're going to do a quality production, even if that means I have to do some work during a performance. My job as a teacher is not over
on opening night.
In the professional
theatre, the director has no business in the booth. I can even support that idea in a college setting. In high school
theatre, the booth is just another classroom.
Sorry if I sound a little irritated, but the high school students who think that they should be able to lock their director out of the booth need to deflate their egos a
bit and have some respect for their teachers, even if they do know more about tech
theatre.