Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board: Burn Out

Author

Message

JoeMc
Celebrity

Joined: 3/13/06
Location: Australia
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 832

Posted: 7/03/06 at 1:25pm

I know I?m probably the most guilty, of denying others the opportunity to work in theatre, because I tend to step in & do it!
Instead of doing just one job I end up Directing, Designing, construction & operating, either because I can?t find anyone or I?m too slack to worry/bother looking for anyone to do it.
While I think community theatre tends to flog the willing the horse, until it is cream crackered. Or do we start believing, that no one can do our job the same &/or defranchise anyone who may want to have a go!
Maybe we hang on too long for our own good - not really helping theatre!
The biggest reusable resource in community theatre is people!

[western] Gondawandaland
"Hear the light & see the sound!
TOI TOI CHOOKAS
{may you always play to a full house!}

IP Logged

Sueshoo
Player
Player

Joined: 4/29/05
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 27

Posted: 7/08/06 at 7:20pm

I spent 5 years straight doing it all - directing, marketing, board member, props, stage manager...well you get the picture. And then one day I said to myself (ok it did not happen in a day more like over a very long tiring year).

"Whoa!, this is NOT a fulltime job - you are a volunteer and this is supposed to be fun! So you can continue to burn yourself out and become resentful or you can just take a break!"

So I quit the board, which was the hardest thing because I am not a quitter. I completed all obligations for the season close, tied up loose ends and left. This past season I completed the last obligation of doing props for a production. And have cheerfully volunteered myself for a few nights of box office.

And when they say "come on back, you know you miss this" , I smile and say "I miss the people but not the work." For now this is my decision who knows what will happen in the future. But I have learned that when you stop having fun - it's time to stop.

K8tt, I wish you the best in your decision, it is not an easy one, but it is one that only you can make.

Susan

Susan
Life is not a Dress Rehearsal

IP Logged

jayzehr
Celebrity

Joined: 8/11/05
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 537

Posted: 7/09/06 at 5:52pm

So, how do you go about recruiting new people? I guess that's the 64 thousand dollar question.

IP Logged

k8tt
Star
Star

Joined: 4/05/05
Location: Canada
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 73

Posted: 7/09/06 at 6:05pm

Thank you, Susan,

Sounds like you did the same thing I am doing now. *G* I have two weeks before auditions to decide if I'll help out for the next play. I don't think I can resign as Pres. of the Board until year-end.

Might help if I got cast in one of the next two plays and let someone else handle backstage, marketing, box office, etc.

We are having a Board Retreat in a couple of weeks to try and come up with ways to recruit new people. But, geez, we can't even get our own members to put on costumes and entertain the crowds at a street fair next month! Maybe everyone is burned out. LOL

IP Logged

red diva
Celebrity

Joined: 5/15/06
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 199

Posted: 5/31/07 at 11:17am

Originally posted by Kathy S

In our theatre and I'm sure at others, there are people who care only to be on stage and not do their share of behind the scenes stuff. We have tried in our theatre to request that cast members spend at least 16 hours on some other part of the production -- set building, costuming, painting, etc. It really helps when we have a cast that takes the request to heart.

Old topic, I know, but I just happened upon it.

I've just got to vent.....I've worked in all areas of theatre: tech, directing, acting, choreographing, so I think I have a fair idea of the time element involved in each. I have found that the areas that take the most time are directing and acting. Your idea is an interesting one, Kathy S, but when are the actors supposed to find the time to work on some other area of the production? In our theatre at least, when someone is in a play they have committed themselves to 5 nights a week, 2-3 hours a night (or more in some cases), 7 weeks for a book show from auditions to closing, 10 weeks for a musical......in addition to finding the time to memorize lines, do character work, etc., holding down a full-time job and having a family.

I'm losing patience with hearing that actors have the "cushy" job. Besides the time element involved, actors are the ones that put their butts on the stage to succeed or fail. If the play is a dog, they are the ones out there taking the heat. Yes, they are also the ones that "get the applause"...I won't deny that, but I think they have paid for the privilege with the time they have invested and the risks that they take just walking onto that stage.

It's funny, but I've never heard the complaint that tech people "don't do their share of " onstage work!! And don't tell me that "I don't have any acting ability" or "I'd be too scared to". There are lots of walk-on, cameo, and supporting roles that could be filled by novice actors.

I have found just as much satisfaction in creating a well-dressed set, an innovative set design, a beautiful costume, or finding a period-appropriate

prop as I have in creating a character on stage. The thanks of the director are as fulfilling to me as a techie as applause is to me as an actor. And in many cases it's much more sincere than the audience giving you the obligatory standing ovation for any performance, good or bad.

"I've worked long and hard to earn the right to be called Diva!"

IP Logged

MartyW
Celebrity

Joined: 2/02/04
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 555

Posted: 5/31/07 at 11:46am

Red.... How many of these have you responded too... This is not the first thread of its kind.. nor the last.. The burn out portion of the thread has many avenues to explore beyond the "under appreciated tech" aspect... I think the important thing here is not to try and convince those that feel that way that they are wrong, but to make them feel appreciated... For without them, the work all falls back on those who are left behind..

It really dosn't take much to make others feel important or appreciated if you think about it, isn't it a small price to pay????

Just an ole, actor, director, producer, designer, builder, lighter, foley, board member, committee working guys opinion.... but know matter where you are on the pole, its nice to hear thanks occationally....

Marty W

"Till next we trod the boards.."

IP Logged

red diva
Celebrity

Joined: 5/15/06
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 199

Posted: 5/31/07 at 1:28pm

MartyW: Knew this one would smoke you out of the woodwork.

The point I was mainly concerned with was that of asking actors to put in 16 hours of work on other areas per show. The point I was trying to make was that they don't have that time to spare without taking away from what they are trying to do on the stage. The point I was trying to make was that this is another way you burn out your people!

I am with you entirely on the "thank you" thing. I too have been on the receiving end of not being thanked for things that I have done at the theatre. The point that I was trying to make is that that little "thank you" should mean as much to you as the applause does to the actors.

If it sounded like the point that I was trying to make is that the techies should just get over it, read my posting again. The point I was trying to make was that actors are sometimes as underappreciated and overworked as techies feel they are. ALL of our theatre participants need the "thank yous". Read it again....that's the point I'm trying to make.

As for "Red, how many of these have you responded to?".... you're responding to this one, aren't you? As you have to many of the others that I have also responded to.

And, Marty, you should know me better than to think that I don't understand the value of a "thank you".

Signed, just another ole actor, director, designer, lighter, sound operator, board member and 3 time president , committee member, costume designer and builder, props master......who happens to agree with you about the thank you issue. That wasn't the point of my posting, though it's an important one too. (This probably sounds grouchier that I meant it to, but as I mentioned in another posting, I am sleep deprived at the moment and my normally bright, tactful, and positive way of putting things

seems to have departed me for the moment. It also could be that I am subbing in a classroom of evil children in which the thermostat is registering 90 degrees.)

Love ya, really.

"I've worked long and hard to earn the right to be called Diva!"

IP Logged

MartyW
Celebrity

Joined: 2/02/04
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 555

Posted: 5/31/07 at 1:51pm

Ever notice that I only reply to this type thread AFTER you do... .lol

Marty W

"Till next we trod the boards.."

IP Logged

pdavis69
Celebrity

Joined: 3/26/06
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 437

Posted: 5/31/07 at 5:52pm

I agree Red, the little thank you should means as much as the applause for the actors, however the thank yous are few and far between.

Patrick L. Davis
Fort Findlay Playhouse

IP Logged

Kathy S
Celebrity

Joined: 8/21/04
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 303

Posted: 6/01/07 at 2:23am

It sounds like you think picked on actors. I'm sorry, RedDiva, I didn't mean to do that. The cast commits to a huge amount of time outside of rehearsals to prepare for rehearsals. Let me further clarify this request for 16 hours of production work. It IS a REQUEST, not a REQUIREMENT. It can be in ANY AREA of production of their choice (distributing posters, pulling costumes, painting sets, carrying in a lunch for a work day). Or they can offer their family members to help which is sometimes the case. We don't keep track of anybody's hours and it does not count against them in any way if they cannot do it. (Sometimes we have a young child in the cast who would not be able to satisfy the request. Often parents are happy to help out.) It works for us.

IP Logged

Other Topics
Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board :Producing Theater :Other Topics

Topic: Burn Out( Topic Closed)
	<< Prev Page of 3 Next >>