Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 2021 - 19

WHAT IS THE POINT OF RETURNING
IF WE ARE SIMPLY RETURNING TO
THE SAME INEQUITABLE SPACE?
HOW EFFECTIVE ARE SAFETY
MEASURES IF THEY ARE BUILT
UPON PREVIOUSLY INGRAINED
DISCRIMINATION AND EXCLUSION
OF BIPOC INDIVIDUALS?
during COVID-19. Interviews are a
two-way street. If you don't like their
answers, it's okay not to want to work
there.
Mother Knows Best
(Only One Right Way) and Paternalism
The balance of power between the
stage managers and ASMs can be very
fragile-especially when working in
educational environments. While the
two roles inherently hold different responsibilities,
the title
of " assistant "
creates a dynamic where the stage manager
is seen as the boss or " better " than
the assistant stage manager. Because
the stage manager will be the primary
contact for the director, there are often
times (specifically during tech weeks)
when the assistant stage manager will
be assigned more tasks without consulting
them or with very late notice. This
assumption by the stage manager and
director that the assistant stage manager
will take on the responsibility without
asking their input broadens the power
dynamic in the stage management team
where one is more knowledgeable than
the other. These paternalistic practices
can, in the moment, be seen as the easy,
fast way to solve an issue. However,
as we have discussed, the need for urgency
can disenfranchise voices and
stifle the opinions of BIPOC in certain
situations. Perhaps the stage manager
assumes they are making a decision for
their peer that would make the backstage
flow easier, yet these leaps in judgment
actively exclude assistant stage
managers from being treated as equals
in their work.
Especially within an educational
environment, relationships among
the stage management team can be
strained if paternalism manifests. For
BIPOC students, the practice of being
talked over, assumptions regarding
their abilities, and other acts of paternalism
are normalized within this environment
and carry with them as they
move into professional spaces. This
cycle persists and continues to harm,
specifically, BIPOC members of stage
management teams.
Looking at the stage manager-director
relationship, directors will occasionally
take advantage of their power and
authority and make decisions for the
production without disclosing them to
the stage management team. When directors
take control of the production
in this way, it removes stage managers
from the lines of communication they
are supposed to be facilitating. Being
clear at the beginning of production
about the specific director and stage
manager expectations and communication
styles can erase these moments of
paternalism.
Gimme Gimme (Gimme)
Progress Is Bigger, More
Art is a beautiful thing, and what we
do as artists is also beautiful. But often,
we make sacrifices, compromising
our own beauty for the beauty of the
art. Everyone wants to get to opening
night and everyone wants the show to
happen, but at what cost? As stage managers,
we make these sacrifices for the
good of the team because we don't want
to be accused of not being a team player
and impeding the show's progress.
Sometimes, producers will take advantage
of the collaborative nature of
theatre, using it as a means to siphon
additional work hours out of stage
managers without compensation. This
becomes especially detrimental to stage
managers who do not have the benefit
of union protections. For example,
during Alexander's tenure as a nonunion
stage manager on A Little Night
Music, he and his assistant stage manager
didn't get a single day off in the two
weeks between the first rehearsal and
opening weekend.
Theatre is a business at the end
of the day. So it makes sense that one
of the priorities of a production is to
make money. Too often, though, things
that can be easily measured are more
highly valued than things that cannot.
Institutions and producers are not
actively thinking about the process,
just the product. " This show sold out
quickly, so we extended and added performances. "
Great! But how many of
those extension weeks were nine-show
weeks? How did that affect the morale
of the company? " Well, we paid them
overtime! " But overtime pay cannot replace
recovery, work-life balance, and
quality time.
Stage managers must be concerned
with the physical safety of the company,
of course, but also the psychological
safety and the instances that may not
seem like a direct threat. Chris Waters
worked on the world premiere of a
Broadway-bound musical in 2018 with
many of these issues. The creative team
was aggressively arguing every day; the
company would have to take 45-minute
breaks while they fought it out. The theatre
leadership would pop in from time
to time, but there was no genuine concern
about the trauma this was putting
the company through. One member of
the stage management team was seriously
injured during the design run,
and as soon as they were taken to the
hospital, the producer said, " let's take
five and continue. " Stage management
reported these issues over and over, and
the theatre leadership only saw that the
show was selling out, and there was a
SUMMER 2021 | THEATRE DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY | 19
Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 2021

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