SEARCH RESULTS

I was working late on a play at one of the theatres I design for here in the Pee Dee. That night, everyone in the cast was struggling with their lines, and the director was losing patience. He pushed them hard. I was running lights, and we were heading into our third hour of rehearsal. I had been there all day from early morning, and I was exhausted; so were the cast, who had also come from a full day’s work. One of the cast members, a good friend of mine, was at her breaking point; I could see it in her face. Not only did she work a full day, but she was also trying to get pregnant, and her doctor had her on a special treatment to help. Despite the challenges, she was still on stage. Everyone in the theatre knew her situation; the theatre was her support, but when the director threw a sharp criticism at them, along with the pressure to get it together because there was a paying audience coming to see a show, she snapped. Tears streamed down her face as she broke down and walked off the stage. After I caught up with her and made sure she was okay, I felt so grateful to her. There were two other men in the cast, and we all wanted to cry, but we couldn’t. We had to be strong. However, as the tech that night, I believed the rehearsals needed to stop. I never got a chance to suggest that idea because by the time I returned to the stage, another female cast member had quit the show. After this experience, I see is a tug of war going on in community theater. You get involved, and instantly, you face this gigantic task before you. Somehow, you must manifest this complicated artistic communication in a short amount of time, with a limited budget, in a theatre that barely has enough seats to cover the rent. At the same time, there are people in the community who not only love theatre but also practice it. They hold terminal degrees or have performed on professional stages, but life, in the form of family, limitations of the body, or even the simple desire for a smaller community, has called them back. Some talents never left because serving and developing their community, along with the people in it, mattered more than the possibility of making it big. These are the individuals that make up a Little Theatre, the people you need, as they too need the theatre. However, at some point, community theatre seems to be in conflict over whether the focus should be on creating the show for the sake of the individual or finding individuals for the sake of the show. Stories like what happened to my friend are not isolated incidents. In many of the theaters I design for, they make the mistake of sacrificing the individual. On the professional stage, there is a system that demands excellence and selects competitively, but local theaters cannot replicate that system. The community theater environment needs to serve as a refuge first, and at its core, be recreational for the volunteers. Now, theatre people are complex as far as humans go, and with that comes a host of challenges. But, despite that, we know from making theatre, there is a flow of control. That flow is what ensures a show can be produced. The thing that must not be forgotten as you move with that power is the reason for it, the people who show up, eager to challenge themselves and grow. The ones who want to work together to accomplish something beautiful and share it with others in the community. That is rarely done without tears, but it can be done without bitter ones. We live in a world where you are often told it has to be one or the other, but in theatre, we are manifestos of worlds, and the directors are stewards of everything inside the four walls. If we say, “we will have both honor for the persons that sacrifice, and a dynamic communication in show”, the walls will give what is required. That is theatre at all levels, humanity demonstrating greatness.

What would you say is technology's biggest effect on modern Community and Little theaters, and what advice would you give on this matter? Technology has made massive changes to the landscape of theatre and put a great weight on small local houses. The look and feel of Broadway often serves as the template, and even coming close requires a lot of technology. So, in pursuing the designs of the highest stage, with the invested upgrades in tech, the biggest impact becomes the need for skilled technicians. That may seem obvious, but before the big tech change that became possible nearly a decade ago because of lower equipment costs, you could have a volunteer run audio or set up lighting, someone who worked with theatre in High School or throughout the community for years. But once you bring in LED lighting fixtures, a digital soundboard, or even an LED wall, just the programming itself is a job on its own, not to mention all the mounting, daisy chains, and load calculations. The plain truth is, if you bring in the new state-of-the-art equipment, you now have to employ someone to make it go; someone to make it do the things you have envisioned. And you can’t hire just one person, you are looking at two to three. Our modern audience expects that, and all the theatre Directors and Producers are highly aware of that fact. To make the plunge to invest in new technology is a must, and that understanding, that action, alters the structure and economic demand on the community theatre. My advice would be two fold: Hire designers to consult, and look for duo-skilled technicians. Hiring a designer to tell you what you need first can make an impactful difference. Often, by the time I get to the theatre or church, an enormous amount of money has already been spent on things that are not needed or cannot fit with the fundamental technology. LED lights that aren’t bright enough. Moving lights that won’t make it through a year. Near professional light luminaires, but not enough DMX to patch them or a DJ board that just won’t be able to operate large personality fixtures. Finding a designer to tell you what is needed before you purchase, list it, and make plans to build that system is far more efficient. Start with what drives it, the lighting console, the digital board. Build the infrastructure from that capacity. It will be worth it to build forward and steadily, rather than needing to break everything down three years later because the wrong things were purchased with grant money that is likely not to come again. Now, when we begin to think about upgrading theatre tech, putting funding into more things, and believing that by purchasing new, everything instantly becomes better, is often the perspective, but I would disagree. The best use of money should go to the development of systems that are consistent and use time and resources efficiently.   That system starts with trained technicians. Most of the technicians I know in the local theatre range have multiple skills. They know lighting and sound, sound and set construction. If they are not proficient in the needed second skill, a little time, research, and practice often is all that is needed to build on their experience and understanding. Find them and compensate them properly for problem solving, which is ninety percent of the job. There is nothing better in a theatre than someone who shows up consistently, creating solutions for problems you didn’t know existed, and puts out the fires for the ones you knew. Someone who is looking at the beginning and ending of a series of events and using that information to clear a path to a great production. Technology is like a heavy baby, too cute to leave alone, but you’d better get ready for the lift. It is the necessary transition that has to be made. The best you can do is find the right fit for your demands and considerate handlers to meet them. Smart technical designers and technician experts keep you focused on what you love, no matter the burden.