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| ReAct Theatre, Seattle |
IN REAL LIFE, THEATRE PRODUCTION isn’t as
difficult as some people insist on making it. No, really. This shit
isn’t that hard. I understand, however, that, in any and all kinds of
life, there are those who don’t feel real unless they create drama. It
follows that a field of work devoted to making drama would be conducive
to making more drama than is needed to, uh… make drama. I prefer my
drama scripted. I like calendars. I plan things. I make art. I work with
people who make art. I also work with technicians and managers. Most of
them want to get the job done, and done well, without more stress than
necessary. I’m there. That’s what I want, too, and I work toward that,
beginning with my first contact with everyone I’m going to work with on
an upcoming project. I let them know from the get-go that I really want
things to go smoothly. It can’t be that tough. Really.
It seems that at least ninety percent of
the professional work I’ve done in my life has involved some form of
customer service. That’s not special, but I think calling it that is a
bit of a broader view than most people take on what they do. Basically,
you and someone else are engaging in a transaction in which they’re
trying to get what they want — usually by paying you or your company —
and you’re trying to give them what they want because you’re getting
paid to do so. You got the goods, they got the dough. It’s up to you to
provide everything, including what the other person doesn’t know about
but should. That’s basically customer service. (By the way, no, sales
is not customer service, although it’s been called that for decades, at
least. Pitching somebody something they don’t actually need, or even
want, until they cough up money isn’t “service” by any stretch of the
imagination. It’s domination.) You’re paying attention to what the other
person wants or needs and trying to get it for them. If you’re both
doing that, you’ve got a relationship developing. That can go a long
way to the both of you getting things done now and later. Compassion is
involved here, empathy, that sort of thing. It can be very productive.
It’s mostly a matter of paying attention and, frankly, giving a shit.
Like I said, it doesn’t have to be that hard.
IN RENTAL VENUES, ESPECIALLY, I find
production personnel to be the happiest when they’re working a show
that is well organized, appropriately scaled to the facility and staff,
prompt but easygoing — in short, professional. The relationship is
developed here, in those planning emails and phone calls, during the
load-in and rehearsal. By the time we all get to the first performance
call-time, venue personnel should be both prepared and relaxed. Who
doesn’t do well when they’re enjoying the work? If your show is the
least stressful thing they have to do this month, the venue staff will
want you back. Next time, it’ll be even easier for everybody.
Oh, sure, there might be some tech or
manager or admin who just can’t be bothered to do their job, thus making
others’ work harder than it needs to be. Ideally, that person doesn’t
last with the organization long, or, at least, gets cut out of some of
the jobs. Commonly, trouble like this can start at the top. If so,
unfortunately, a good, professional tech staff can’t very well tell the
artistic director to stay the hell out of the way. That’s an internal
problem, and I’m coming in from outside that troubled world to work my
own relationships. As a client, I expect professional treatment. As a
collegue, I give just that. The negligent, the abusive, the
unprofessional I do my best to avoid. No good relationships are
available there, nope. Waste of my time.
Live performance productions can be very,
very complex, yet big groups of people with disparate skills and
motivations get ‘em up and running all the time. I’ve worked on teeny
tiny productions that were painfully difficult to put together because
there was at least one key person who refused to develop civil
relationships with anybody else. Any size production gets done because people
pay attention to one another and cooperate. Kinda like… Real Life.
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| Shattered Globe Theatre, Chicago |
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