Tag: learning

technical theatre, Theatre

40 Reasons Every Actor Should Try Theatre Tech

Posted on by Thtrthts

I pride myself on being a multi-talented actor. I have had the good fortune to experience theatre in a number of on-stage, off-stage, and backstage positions, and I have really treasured these opportunities! In fact, I value them so much, that I think every actor should try them out for themselves.

Here are 40 miscellaneous reasons you should:

  1. You learn practical life skills. Almost every skill you’ll pick up in theatre tech– whether it’s a hard skill like design, construction, and electrics, or a soft skill like teamwork, critical thinking, and problem solving– can be used in other domains.
  2. You get to experiment with tools you’ve never used before. Learning to use new power tools and other technology can be both fun and extremely useful even outside the theatre. I learned how to weld because I decided to try a position as a work-study tech in college!
  3. You make new connections. You’ll likely work with different people than you do as an actor, and that networking can translate to new opportunities.
  4. You become more marketable as an actor. Tech skills are a nice addition to a resume. If you do community theatre, this skill is extra useful, since much of the tech crew will be volunteers anyway.
  5. You develop your problem-solving skills.
  6. You develop your mathematical and technological skills. Essentially every role you’ll take on in theatre tech will involve some measure of either math or technology, or both. This can be a valuable way to practice these skills.
  7. You discover new ways to participate in and enjoy theatre. I’ve known many actors who have tried tech theatre and discovered they actually enjoy it much more than acting!
  8. You deepen your understanding of theatre as a whole. Understanding “how the sausage gets made” so to speak can help you better understand the art of theatre. You’ll be surprised at how this can shape your understanding of performance.
  9. You can find new hobbies. Theatre tech integrates a number of different trades and skills. You may find that painting sets or making props becomes a source of creative inspiration for you!
  10. You can pick up skills that can be useful for a professional career. As I said before, both the hard and soft skills of theatre tech can be practical in many other domains– including professional ones! For a time, I seriously considered looking into taking formal welding lessons to shore up the welding skills I learned doing theatre tech in order to get a new vocation. You never know how useful the skills you learn may be: you might even be able to build a life out of them.
  11. Or pick up a new professional career itself! Theatre tech is a career, and one that can be highly satisfying. If you experiment and find the work exciting, you might have a new career aspiration on your hands.
  12. You hone your teamwork skills.
  13. You become more well-rounded.
  14. You stay active. Theatre tech can be a decently physical job, though it also doesn’t always have to be.
  15. You learn useful safety principles. You’ll learn the importance of and how to operate useful safety equipment, and learn important rules for keeping yourself safe while working.
  16. You learn useful design principles. You’ll learn about artistic ideas that can be used in many other domains of design and decor, not just for the stage!
  17. You get to flex different creative muscles. If you’re used to acting, trying set construction, prop design, or scenic painting can be a good way to try something new and develop new artistic skills.
  18. You can become known for some niche skills. I became known as a good “strange props” person in my local theatre communities after I made a prop dog for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. This has made for some cool opportunities! If you have an interest in puppet-making, handcrafting, and mixed-media art, you can find a really sweet way to put those skills to work in tech theatre.
  19. You find joy in supporting others. I’ve found working backstage to be incredibly rewarding– getting to support a performance in a different kind of way can be a lot of fun.
  20. You’ll always find opportunities. Theaters always need volunteers (and/or paid professionals!) to run light or sound boards, work backstage, or build sets! Once you have some of these skills, they can be a great way to get your foot in the door with different groups of people.
  21. You can lend a helping hand, and maybe even save the day. It often happens that productions suddenly discover they need an extra dresser backstage, or their light board operator has suddenly become unavailable. Sometimes, theaters need a volunteer to step up right away. Stepping in and saving the day in situations like this can be super rewarding!
  22. You learn to work under pressure. Theatre techs often work with challenging time constraints put on their work. They need to find solutions for big problems, sometimes while a whole room full of actors are waiting around for you to find a fix. The work isn’t always high-pressure, but working in these conditions when they arise can be a valuable learning experience.
  23. You can discover a new sense of purpose. If you become talented with these skills and develop a good reputation, you can find yourself becoming indispensable within certain theatre communities for your skills. You may find yourself becoming hard to replace!
  24. You can hang out with friends who aren’t actors. If you’ve been trying to get some of your friends to try theatre, but they’re nervous about acting, consider getting them to volunteer for set builds or run crew with you. Or you may already have friends working backstage– join them!
  25. You might be able to find paid opportunities more easily. Finding paid acting work is notorious for how challenging it is. Some shows require more technicians than on-stage talent! Finding paid work as a technician can be easier than doing so as a performer.
  26. You’ll engage different parts of your brain. We often say that some people are “good with their hands,” or “book smart”– these are just ways that certain people have become accustomed to working. Some people develop different areas of the brain more than others as a result of the things they find interesting and fun. Actors who are more accustomed to academic skills may find experimenting with more physical and technical skills to be a fun challenge.
  27. You develop dexterity on both small and large projects. From gluing tiny rhinestones to a prop you’re making to building massive set pieces, theatre tech trains a number of unique muscles both physical and mental.
  28. You refine your eye for detail-oriented work. Being “detail-oriented” is a soft skill many employers praise.
  29. You learn to be more adaptable. You have to be when working backstage! Lots of tech tasks don’t go the way you expect them to at first, and that’s okay. You learn to work around this.
  30. You build communication and collaboration skills. Almost nothing in tech theatre is a solo endeavour– you will always be working with others, asking others for feedback, or working with others’ ideas. These skills are a must!
  31. You’ll discover greater confidence with all things theatre. Once you’ve worked backstage and you understand the theatrical process better, working on stage feels surprisingly different. The greater understanding of the art and craft can do wonders for your sense of confidence, and for banishing the dreaded imposter syndrome.
  32. You test your time management skills. If you’ve been tasked with building a prop, designing a set, or doing some other independent task, you’ll have to plan accordingly to ensure your work can be completed before any deadlines set for you. Learning to manage your time well is a must!
  33. You can make some friends in high places. I have found that taking positions as a stage manager, ASM, or volunteer scenic technician can be valuable for meeting new directors and tech directors. These people can then help get you more opportunities going forward. Who you know is definitely important!
  34. You’ll appear more dependable. Showing up at set builds and working hard is a great way to show a production staff your work ethic. People will notice!
  35. You learn to think in different ways. Working with new people and learning new skills forces your brain to discover new patterns of thinking.
  36. You’ll understand how to interact with techs better. Being a technician and working backstage can be humbling. Many actors can be quite rude to techs! Working as one can teach you a lot about how to treat others, and the impression you make by interacting with techs positively and helpfully can help open doors for you.
  37. You get to participate in theatre with less of a time commitment. Okay, this one is admittedly very situational depending on the tech position. Many theatre tech positions do not spend nearly as much time working on a production as actors do. Instead of attending weeks or months of rehearsal, many techs will only participate in a fraction of the process. If you enjoy theatre but don’t have the time to commit to a whole production, tech may be a great option for you!
  38. You learn to be inventive. I have a friend who calls theatre tech work “making gold out of trash.” You’ll often find yourself working with odd materials, on a low budget, with minimal assistance– the process can be very freeing, and a little crazy in the best way.
  39. You may find the experience useful to include on a professional resume. As I’ve said before, theatre tech is a great opportunity to learn both hard and soft skills. Listing your tech experience on a professional resume can help you resume stand out– unusual skills can provide interesting discussion in an interview! When I told a hiring manager at a retail chain that I had learned how to weld, we had a spirited conversation about it because it turned out she was also a welder… I ended up getting the job.
  40. You’ll have fun! Tech is hard work, but

What reasons have you found to enjoy technical theatre work? I would love to hear about peoples’ experiences in the comments!

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directing, Theatre

What I Learned as a First-Time Community Theatre Director

Posted on by Thtrthts

Directing for the first time is a learning curve nothing can really quite prepare you for.

In 2022, I got the opportunity to solo direct my first full-length play. My production of Qui Nguyen’s She Kills Monsters ended up being a big success and one of the better selling plays in our community theater’s season! I had a blast, and I also discovered a lot. 

Here is what I learned from my first directing credit!

Read more: What I Learned as a First-Time Community Theatre Director

Staring Early is Key

I began making plans for my production in earnest in 2020. While the world was shut down, I had little else to do, so I spent time workshopping designs and reading and re-reading the script. At this point, I had no idea when I would get to put on the show, but I was adamant that I would get the chance to somehow, somewhere. The play is one of my absolute favorites, and I had dreamed of directing it for a number of years by that point.

The benefit of starting so early was that I had a lot of extra material to bolster my directing proposal packet. When the theater asked for directing candidates for 2022, I was ready! The board was impressed by the work I’d done, which made my pitch all the more appealing. 

Starting early also meant that I had to do less work during the run of the show itself. Which was great, because…

Every tech and design element will take 2 to 3 times longer than you think 

Having a solid base of pre-production work to operate from proved very important. In fact, I should have done more. Without a costumer or a dedicated props person, I ended up spending days during the rehearsal process working on various props and monster costumes. It was creatively fulfilling, but super hard work. I had a specific vision for how I wanted these done, and I had a method that worked for me, so I was determined to finish them myself. It took forever.

Speaking of which…

You absolutely must learn the skill of delegation

This is a skill, because it is absolutely something you have to learn how to do. 

At our first set build, I was an absolute mess, a chicken with my head cut off. I was trying to give directions to everyone, about everything, all at once. I would give someone a job, and by the time I finished explaining instructions to the next person, the previous would be done with their task and coming to me for a new one. I ended up becoming a bottleneck in the whole process— we had so many volunteers, and because I didn’t plan properly for delegation, I couldn’t use them all effectively!

Part of this issue was simply the way this particular theater works, in which the director usually wears a lot of hats and does a lot of things themself. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a control freak, so I kind of love working this way. Designing practically every element of the production was super exciting! But the work also could’ve turned out much better if I had let more skilled people take the reins on certain things. Letting others take the reins requires some more pre-thought and communication (which is also a learnable skill). It’s worth it. 

It’s important to know a little about everything in theatre

I went into this production knowing basically nothing about lights or sound, and boy do I wish I had known more. It was difficult to communicate with my light and sound techs because I didn’t have the vocabulary to express my desires.

Before directing, it is very helpful to volunteer for and learn about as many different tech positions as possible. Many community theaters are always looking for sound and light board operators. Stage managing (or assistant stage managing) is also a valuable experience, as you’ll be at all rehearsals and can observe up close how a director works. It also gives you a good idea of some of the more practical elements of a production that many actors don’t think about— good, hands-on experience with planning, paperwork, and problem-solving.

You can probably get more done in one rehearsal than you think

Maybe this is just a me thing, but I thoroughly under-filled our rehearsals. I just really thought we wouldn’t be able to get as much done as we did. For the first month of rehearsals, we’d inevitably end up finishing everything I wanted to do within the first hour and a half to two hours of rehearsal, and then we’d end up drilling or dipping into stuff we had planned for other rehearsals until the end.

This wasn’t really a bad thing— I actually think scheduling your rehearsals just a little light so your cast has time to mess around, have some fun, and get to know each other can be really good for morale and the group dynamic overall. Not planning rehearsals to be more efficient started to bite us towards the end of the process, though, when everything always gets a little crunchy and nerve-wracking.

Don’t be afraid to plan your rehearsals rather heavy on activities. Just know that the more work you plan, the more rigid you have to be about staying focused.

Attendance and the schedule will probably be a little bit of a mess, no matter what

I was really adamant about planning out the entire rehearsal schedule in advance. I did… and then we had a slew of conflicts come in anyway due to illness, changes to another local production’s rehearsal schedule, childcare surprises, etc.

Turns out, you just can’t really organize a group of peoples’ schedules perfectly. This is why it’s super useful to have a number of “TBD” days in your rehearsal schedule, so you can catch up on things people miss. (I list these as full-cast rehearsals on the schedule and whittle them down to whoever is actually needed. Or, if we’re all caught up, they can be cancelled altogether. I only had a few of these sprinkled throughout the process, but I wish I’d had some more. You can cancel an extra rehearsal, but you can’t ask everyone to clear their schedules at the last minute to add an extra rehearsal.)

If attendance is truly a big issue for your production, you can of course fire actors who are especially unreliable. I never felt like the issue was that serious for our show.

Also, no matter how direct the schedule is, or how clear the daily call is, or how many times you said it at yesterday’s rehearsal, you will have people asking you what you’re doing that day. Always. You’ll have to embrace it. 

Giving direction is one of the hardest parts of directing

It’s not enough to know what you want (although this is a step I think a lot more directors should spend more time on). You also need to know how to steer your actors there.

This is a skill that thousands of pages of directing theory have been written on. There’s actually achieving the performance you’re trying to get from an actor, and there’s also doing it in a way that doesn’t demoralize them. Maybe I’m just too polite, but discovering how not to feel guilty giving actors repeated notes was a harsh learning curve for me. I’m still working on this today.

This is something that only gets better with practice and wisdom. Reading books on directing is super helpful, and working with lots of different directors to examine their manner is awesome. But in the end, learning to do it yourself is just really hard. Try to get experience any way you can. 

You also have to let the actors be

Some of the best and most creative decisions that will be made during the production process will come from the actors themselves. No amount of pre-planning can really prepare you for the individual chemistries and personalities of the actors in the room, so don’t be afraid to let your plans change, and let the actors do the jobs you selected them to do.

You are the director, and you ultimately have creative control. You do have to learn the art of reining in choices you don’t like, and helping actors find choices that adhere more closely to your vision. But it’s also important to learn how to let the actors take charge themselves.

Suddenly, you’ll find you have nothing to do

There is a point at the end of the rehearsal process where, after weeks of absolute panic and endless toil, you will suddenly find your to-do lists empty. Everything will be humming along without you. You will miraculously find yourself empty-handed, wandering around the theatre as your actors prepare to perform independently of you. 

Some directors will work backstage during their shows, or run lights or sound for their productions. As a first-time director, I wanted to be free to just watch my show. It was very odd when things all at once changed from being intensely dependent on me to not dependent at me at all.

At a point, the show is no longer quite yours. It belongs to the actors. You have to pass it over gracefully. 

You can never quite be 100% ready

You’ll always be kicking yourself a bit during the production process, wondering why you didn’t taking the time to learn more about X or Y or Z beforehand. That’s okay. Embrace the information you have now, and welcome the learning process.

And as the production deadline comes rushing at you, you’ll inevitably be wondering how you’re going to get everything done in time. You’re just not ready yet. You could, hypothetically, continue refining and reworking a show forever. But that isn’t how most real-world theaters work, so you’ll have to let it go, whether you feel quite ready for it or not.

Directing for the first time is the hardest thing you’ll ever do, and also one of the coolest

It is a boatload of work. No one else will completely understand how much work it is. You are doomed to be the person who cares the most about the final product, and yet, in a roundabout way, have very little bearing on exactly how that product turns out. You will forever be learning and being horrified by what you didn’t know you didn’t know. You will put literal blood, sweat, and tears into the process.

And when it’s done, you’ll be dreaming about when you can do it again. 

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Teaching Theatre, Theatre

Many Classrooms are Becoming More Student-Centered: Why Does School Theatre Lag Behind?

Posted on by Thtrthts

Most school drama departments are not democracies. Instead, they tend to resemble dictatorships.

This used to be the way every school organization functioned: the students unwaveringly followed the command of the teacher, the all-knowing, all-powerful leader of the classroom. Nowadays, classrooms are moving away from functioning this way, as this is not the practice most modern education theory supports. The role of the teacher becomes less hierarchically superior, with many educators considering themselves “guides” or “facilitators” rather than singular leaders. In their place, students step up to direct their own learning, and learn about leadership and self-actualization by fulfilling a more active role than “the one who receives the knowledge the teacher imparts.” The process is better for educating critical thinkers and problem-solvers. 

School theatre is lagging behind in this endeavor.

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Actor Life, Theatre

The Comfort in Saying “I Can’t”

Posted on by Thtrthts

I would love to be a belter. One of those pure Broadway belters who can effortlessly hit high notes all day long with their perfect, clear tone, as if it’s the most normal, natural, easy task ever. It’s something I’ve been really trying to work towards ever since I started performing– and, speaking humbly, I think I’ve made some strides.

I’d also love to be a dancer. But I “can’t dance.” Guess how my dancing skills have developed?

If you guessed, they haven’t at all, you’re probably more or less correct. At least, I don’t think my dancing skills have developed. But I haven’t really been looking for improvement in that area, anyway. That’s the beauty of simply saying “I can’t.”

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Theatre, Theatre 101 Series

Theatre 101 Series: So you Want to try Theatre? 10 Things you Should Know

Posted on by Thtrthts

The Theatre 101 Series is a set of introductory articles meant to explain theatrical concepts and situations to young actors as well as adult theatrical newcomers. View the whole series here.

Getting started in theatre takes a lot of courage.

If you’ve never performed before, you inevitably have a lot of questions about theatre. What does it take to get started? What should I know? What will I learn? The questions can become so daunting that they often prevent would-be performers from ever stepping on stage at all.

In order to help more newcomers make the transition from potential actor to first-time actor, I’m going to explain ten things everyone should know about the art of theatre.

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Guides and Tips, Theatre

The 5 Most Important Learning Objectives From Every Theatre Degree Program— And how to Achieve Them Independently

Posted on by Thtrthts

A college degree simply isn’t the best choice for everyone.

I’m not in the business of discouraging anyone to go to school for theatre. I always stand in support of theatre majors. However, in education, the phrase “one size fits all” is a harmful myth. For many, a college education just doesn’t make sense. Besides the obvious (and woefully often overlooked) point that the traditional higher education setting isn’t the best learning environment for everyone, college is expensive, and theatre majors are too often reminded of the fact that all the money spent for tuition still can’t guarantee future employment.

Many agree that the degree itself  is not the most important outcome of a college education in theatre. Rather, what you receive in return for all that tuition is valuable training and professional connections. As the official degree is the only thing a traditional college path can boast over independent study and on-the-job experience, some are more suited to seek training outside of a college setting, preferably at a much lower price point.

So what exactly should one get from their theatre degree program? And how could they go about getting those without pursuing the degree at all?

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Guides and Tips, Theatre

How to Practice Show Material at Home Effectively

Posted on by Thtrthts

In my adventures (and misadventures) as a middle school musical co-director, I find the phrase “please work on this on your own time” within my top-five most said in rehearsal. As an adult involved in community theatre, the same sentence is probably within my top-five most heard phrases as well. Most performers will agree to practice at home in earnest, but often find themselves at a loss when it comes time to do so. How can we make at-home rehearsal feel as useful and efficient as rehearsal with our peers?

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Actor Life, Theatre

“Where am I Going, and Where Have I Been?”: What I Learned From Reviewing Six Years of Past Performances

Posted on by Thtrthts

I have compulsively taken audio recordings of every voice lesson I’ve had over the last four years, as well as recordings of most auditions and a handful of rehearsals. I’ve made it a habit and feel the strong need to be recording whenever I’m doing anything with my voice. Funny enough, I rarely end up listening back to these recordings– I’ve probably listened to less than a third of the entire library of recordings I’ve made with the app Voice Record Pro.

For fun I recently listened to some of the first recordings. These were from my freshman year of college, a time in which I was very insecure in my voice, and still very green in my vocal training overall. I was struck by the difference in those audios from the most recent ones! I was excited about the prospect of growth, and ended up mentioning the fact to my therapist. She was very excited with my discovery, and asked that I take it a step further.

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Actor Life, Theatre

“Don’t Take This the Wrong way, but You’ve Really Improved”

Posted on by Thtrthts

These words were spoken to me upon the completion of the singing portion of a recent audition.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but you’ve really improved a lot since last year.”

The director said this and caught me completely off guard. A few hours later, he apologized, and caught me even more off guard. He explained that he’d meant what he said as a compliment, and hoped it hadn’t sounded rude.

My response was basically, “yeah, of course it’s a compliment, duh.”

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Guides and Tips, Theatre

Where to Grow Next: Self-Evaluation and Targeted Practice Recommendations for Performers

Posted on by Thtrthts

Do you feel like you are falling behind compared to some of your performing peers? Do you feel that you have plenty learn, but aren’t sure where to focus your energies next? It might make you feel better to know that lots of other actors and artists feel exactly the same, but that knowledge alone won’t help you become a better performer.

When you feel like you’re cornered in terms of growth and improvement, one of the best things you can do is stop and take stock of where you currently are. Self-evaluation is something most performers do on the daily already. What if we harness that often-negative energy and use it to help you grow in a positive way?

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