Hi,

I have problem I hoping someone can help with. I dealing with not one but two backseat directors. They are both on the board and co- producing the show. We open in a week, and I am starting to get lots of suggestions about how certain scenes should be played. The e-mails have started, and the "Just one thing. . ."  talks are getting more freguent. I really don't care when they just talk to me. I can listen, nod and ignore them. What I am afraid is happening is when I don't take their suggestions they talk to the cast. One of the cast members mentioned something he wanted to try last night that sounded very familiar to what one the backseat directors suggested.

What I don't want to do is lose my temper. I am frighteningly close to it. Any suggestions as to what I can do short of yelling, "Keep your hands off my show!"

L.

Linda,

I have to agree with what Chris and Joe have said.  YOU need to assert yourself and take charge, but gently.  Scaring away actors or alienating yourself from the board won't help.

Let me say that I am all of the above -- actor, board member, and have also directed.  In CT, all those roles are necessary.  (We don't designate "producers" as such.)  The last show I did had 7 of our board members as cast members.  We did have some who tried to direct from backstage, but enough of us also balanced that out.  Because we hired a professional director from outside of the board, we don't have a whole lot of a problem with this -- we are paying him and intend to get our money's worth.  He also doesn't put up with much of this behavior, gently reminding offenders who the director is.

The bottom line is that you are the director and need to make it clear to everyone that you are the ONLY director.  Sure, we encourage actors to use their own initiative and imagination and take risks, even making suggestions for each other.  But ultimately, we want actors to do what the director has agreed to.

Best of luck with this.  Don't lose your sanity in the process!

Jeff

Thanks everyone,

I hope I took care of it last night, and I didn't yell. Thanks to this board I got a chance to vent a little before I took their heads off.

I told the cast last night that many people from their relatives to others involved with the show might be tempted to offer them advice. I used a analogy involving my sweet little mother: I told them about when I was playing an inmate in an insane asylum.  After opening night my mother told me I would be a lot prettier if I just combed my hair.  They all laughed. I reminded them that although she was correct about my hair, in the context of the show she was wrong. I told them to please ignore any advice, or if they had a real concerns to talk to me.

Keeping the other two in check may be a bit of an ongoing process. I was the president of this board for about 8 years, so I know these people very well. I am on a leave absense from the board right now, and this is my last show for a bit. I desperately need to recharge my batteries.  Anyway, I am asking them to trust me, and telling them I will always do what is best for the show.

Thanks for letting me vent.

Linda

I was in show with someone who was in a way back seat directing.   He would constantly ask me what I thought about doing this or that and simply would not listen to my suggetions that he make his thoughts and suggestions known to the director, not me another actor.

Fast forward two years later and and he auditions for me for a production of Proof as the the father Robert and wouldn't you know that he gives the best audition of any of the potential Roberts and just blows me away that I have almost no choice but to cast him.   However before I "award" the role to him I have a very frank discussion with him about back seat directing and how he has a reputation in the community for doing just that.  I tell him people won't talk to him about it, they just won't cast him if they have an alternate choice.  I let him know that if even one report of back seat directing comes back to me that he's out.  I don't even care if it's opening night.   He thanks me for being so open and frank.   Turns out he had no idea of what is reputation was and that in his mind, his back seat directing was simply seeking advice from people he respected.

Bottom line I happen to also cast one of the female roles who is also a board member and she along with my SM are essentially my back stage "eyes & ears" on him and I'm happy to report not one incident of back stage directing.  And he was great in the role and even came to me with few good ideas about his character.

The upshot of all this is of course that things like back seat directing need to be confronted immediately in very unambiguous and crystal clear terms.

B-M-D,

     Glad things worked out so well.  I'm four weeks from opening my own play.  Everybody (cast and crew)  knows that I am the director and that I have a certain vision of what I want the play to be. 

That being said, I welcomes ideas from cast and crew alike.  And some wonderful, insigthful ideas have come forth.  We've tried some things which didn't work and I've said 'let's just do it like we were before.'  Nobody has stepped over that 'backseat director' line. 

     One lovely lady (mentoring my ' crew newbies') has offered several good suggestions (usually just a minor blocking error on my part) which she always prefaces with "You can tell me to shut up but I noticed that . . ."

     There's a tremdous amount of respect among this cast and crew, not only for me as the driector and playwright but for each other,  When we are sitting together in a group, an outsider would have a hard time telling who was cast and who was crew.

I don't know.  But I've worked with some CT's where the actors form a 'click' that doesn't include any crew.  That's what I was thinking of.