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So I am officially back in the rehearsal room directing a play. I haven’t worked since February. Here are the things I wish I knew about going back to work months ago:
1. You will be tired.
After months of sitting home, doing relentless damage control and admin around cancellations, money, funding applications, and having a daily scream into your pillow, going back to work won’t be easy.
After months of sitting home, doing relentless damage control and admin around cancellations, money, funding applications, and having a daily scream into your pillow, going back to work won’t be easy.
I was always aware of how the isolation and the suspension in uncertainty was affecting me, creating brain fog, bad appetite, poor sleep, but I was hoping that once I get a routine going again, I’ll snap right back into it. I did not. This period was and still is mentally taxing.
..and directing requires stamina, headspace, and mental muscles that need exercise and upkeep. Ease yourself back into work as much as possible. Take frequent breaks, do your prep thoroughly but as spread out as time allows. Your brain is your business. Keep it safe and healthy.
2. Lay down the rules - and stick to them
This pandemic is still on. It’s your responsibility to be clear with the people who hired you and the team you are running that safety is important. Read government guidelines. Research other theatres. Talk to the house that hired you..
This pandemic is still on. It’s your responsibility to be clear with the people who hired you and the team you are running that safety is important. Read government guidelines. Research other theatres. Talk to the house that hired you..
..and ask for their most recent safety measures. On the first day of rehearsals (or before) talk to your cast and agree, together, on what would work best for you (be that hand sanitizers, masks, rehearsing outside, spiking areas for social distancing). Create a way of working..
..and then stick to it. It might feel odd when you leave rehearsals and you see bars full of people or go to the dentist who is wearing full PPE. Every business will have their own way of doing things. This is your rehearsal room. Some actors might feel chill about it, others...
...might be incredibly anxious. You can only assure that the cast is safe if the most vulnerable and scared is safe. Lay down the rules, stick to them. Be strict.
4. Be present.
There could be a new wave any minute, and your rehearsals or performances might get interrupted. Again. It hurt the first time- so be prepared for it this time around. Make every rehearsal count. Be present in the work you are making,and allow yourself to enjoy it
There could be a new wave any minute, and your rehearsals or performances might get interrupted. Again. It hurt the first time- so be prepared for it this time around. Make every rehearsal count. Be present in the work you are making,and allow yourself to enjoy it
If restrictions are reintroduced, do not feel defeated. Make sure you are paid for the work you did. Make sure of it before signing your contract. Consider a covid clause. Look out for yourself.
(Also make sure you number your tweets properly...
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4. Think about your audience
More than ever, you have to be mindful of how the work will be seen. Your country might have rules that are rapidly changing concerning crowds and gatherings. Be clever. Come up with an audience arrangement that can work even if restrictions return.
More than ever, you have to be mindful of how the work will be seen. Your country might have rules that are rapidly changing concerning crowds and gatherings. Be clever. Come up with an audience arrangement that can work even if restrictions return.
Think about perspectives, sight lines, how the audience will see and hear your work. Be technically precise. Have them in your mind constantly, from day one to opening and beyond. Don’t rely on a clever solution for distancing - go beyond that.
If even one audience member can’t see tour show from their hamster bubble (lol), you haven’t done your homework.
5. Think about your audience - with empathy
“Audiences will want to be entertained after all this” I never believed this. Your audience spent months at home deep in their comfort zones. Theatre is the opposite of that - it gathers strangers together and...
“Audiences will want to be entertained after all this” I never believed this. Your audience spent months at home deep in their comfort zones. Theatre is the opposite of that - it gathers strangers together and...
...show sides of the world we might not be able to access otherwise. Netflix can entertain. Theatre can transport and transform. Besides, even if you are doing the most beige, laugh-out-loud Moliere right now, covid will still be there. People might show up in masks, sitting...
..far from their family members. You can’t avoid it. Can’t get around it. So utilise it. Be bold. Remember that going to the theatre will be a radical act. It will involve a level of risk-taking. People will come and might mingle with strangers for the first time.
Don’t underestimate that. Be empathetic. Listen to the story you are telling in your piece. See it through the lenses of what’s going on now. Don’t be tone deaf.
6. Be brave
For many of us this will be one of the hardest periods of our professional lives. No wonder we use “unprecedented” so much. This is scary. And hard. But also completely new. Be aware of your position. The responsibilities you have. And above all, remember...
For many of us this will be one of the hardest periods of our professional lives. No wonder we use “unprecedented” so much. This is scary. And hard. But also completely new. Be aware of your position. The responsibilities you have. And above all, remember...
..that no matter where you are in your career, this is a time when everyone is battling the same beast. When else can you say you are working your brain on the same problem all the big name directors are?
Even if you’re starting out, you might come up with an idea that can revolutionise theatre-going. And that’s no hyperbole. We’re on an even playing field. We’re all trying to reintroduce theatre in a save but inventive way. Don’t play it safe. Don’t do a show about Zoom (please)
Think outside the box. And once you’re outside, think further. Look across media, across art forms. Educate yourself on tech. Tech will be pivotal in the coming years. VR, sound, video, streaming, you name it. Learn. Get ahead of the game.
7. Write it down
I didn’t keep a journal of this period and I regret it. Start now if you haven’t. Write down your thoughts. Look at the way your thinking is changing. Check in with your actors and ask them about their experience while rehearsing.
I didn’t keep a journal of this period and I regret it. Start now if you haven’t. Write down your thoughts. Look at the way your thinking is changing. Check in with your actors and ask them about their experience while rehearsing.
Don’t be scared to talk about corona. Don’t get offended if people think you are overthinking it. You are not. Keep working on ways of social distancing, of innovation. List your ideas. Theatres will want them. Theatres already want them. And you will have to work fast.
Faster than ever before. And it will be hard. But you are a director. So start preparing now.
Break a leg.
Break a leg.
