BenKent2027

Thank you both! I’m also doing a Stage Management course at the moment, though not at university. and my tutor mentioned that one of the ASMs he taught is on the show. I was a bit embarrassed to be making mistakes in front of her, and my confidence was really knocked when she asked why I was struggling. It wasn’t extremely mean, but it still made me feel unwelcome. It might be my anxiety getting to me, or my imposter syndrome, but I worry she is going to mention this to my tutor and it will impact his image of me. Again, maybe I’m over reacting.

I’ve recently landed a Stage Crew job with my local theatre, having previously only worked on amateur/youth/small-scale productions. I did my first day today, working on a major UK tour. However, I’m feeling overwhelmed by the whole situation. There’s many technical terms I don’t understand, many systems that I’ve never had experience with before, and I’m struggling to keep up. I’m so scared of ruining the whole show, and it only opens in two days. I’m at the point where I regret even taking the job, even though everyone around me has been so understanding so far. Though I know that sentiment can only stretch so far. Any advice on adapting to such a large change? At least the other experienced stage crew are also nervous about all the technical demands, that makes me feel better.

Update: Just had a call from my employer. Due to COVID concerns at the venue, and many cancellations/angry emails/complaints, she has decided to close the panto. We are doing one last matinee on Friday, to ensure the cast’s family can see the show, and then that’s it. It sounds terrible, but I’m relieved it’s all over. I’ve been promised full payment and reimbursement of my travel too, which is good. This week has been a ###### show, but I’ve taught myself a lot about stage management over the last few weeks and I feel much more educated about the industry. I highly suspect the reason for the show folding is complaints to the venue itself, which of course makes them look bad, and the obvious impact all of this has had on the cast (we’ve kept the bad reviews/reactions from them, but they can’t hide from a silent audience and awful costumes/set). I’m ready to do this one last show, and never speak of the experience again. It might turn itself into a funny story one day though.

After reading everyone’s responses, and reflecting on this horrible experience, I’ve realised how naive I was three weeks ago but how much stronger I am now. I’ve experienced the worst of the worst, where everything that can go wrong went wrong, and thank god it’s just a small panto with incredibly small audiences with a Director no one knows. We don’t have programs either, unless they arrive by surprise on the las day, so at least no one knows our names or faces or will remember them. The more I look back the more stupid I look to myself. From my understanding this Director/Producer has got all this money from their wealthy family, who appear to have invested quite a bit in this ‘theatre company’ of hers. She doesn’t have a day job, and doesn’t seem to have ever had one. Now the show has actually started I realise this is just a big ego trip, which is why I’m worried now about being paid. This person hasn’t reacted well to bad responses, has awful people skills when talking to audience members (I’m genuinely worried she might snap at someone over the few days if this continues), and their backstage etiquette is terrible. They don’t read rehearsal reports, and they keep insisting it’s a good show. Some edits to the script were made today, which vastly improve things in my opinion, but I don’t think it will fix the awful backlash. Actors are also confused, and the director/producer always has their phone off so it’s impossible to contact them with questions. Even if I don’t get paid, I’ll just be happy to go home on Sunday and never return. After the show is over and I’ve received my payment, hopefully, should I sit this person down and tell them how much they ######ed up or should I just never talk to them again? I know they have plans for a panto next year too, and I couldn’t bear to put anyone else through something as bad as this.

Thank you dje. This is the first truly bad show I’ve worked on, and seeing everyone’s hard work go unappreciated is devastating. But I guess that’s another lesson of the industry I’ve now learned. Attendance is incredibly low anyway, so I do think it will be forgotten fairly quickly. Especially when it’s being staged in a small obscure village. I do feel sad, I’ve shed tears privately for the cast who are unaware of the horrendous feedback, but I’m determined to finish it.

After considering my options, I’ve decided to stay for the next few performances. Ive spoken to the actors, who are unaware of the horrifically bad audience reactions, and they’re all feeling lost but happy to be together. I’ve decided to just list the production and venue on my cv. I’ve also decided that if I’m ever in a Job interview and they ask me about it, I’ll just explain how it taught me a lot about crisis management 🤣

Thank you for your comments. As mentioned, this is my first paid role and I’m still learning a lot about Stage Management and the industry as a whole. I realise now how naive I was, but if I can take anything away from this experience it’s learning how to spot red flags, and the importance of a thorough production process. The company I’m working for claims to be professional, but in actually is a sub-par AmDram group run by one person. A person who, as it turns out, lacks a lot of basic knowledge about theatre. A few days ago I had to explain what I meant by Gobos and Flats. We have six performances left, but I’m dreading them. I’m staying for the actors though, as I don’t want to further upset an already disheartened cast. I know this person has been working on this show for a long time, yet most props and costumes were ordered last minute on Amazon. She also doesn’t want to listen to criticism from me. Just before the first show she took me into another room for a ‘talk’ telling me I was too stressed and was freaking the cast out too much. As if I was the root of all these problems. I told them to at least cancel the matinee and just do the evening performance, to at least allow for one run, but they insisted on it going ahead. Not even allowing for a 30 min delay to sort out costumes. I feel spread far too thin, being forced to work roles I didn’t sign up for either. After the last show I won’t be working with this company or person again, but I feel so much harder and stronger for doing so. I know I need to be more assertive and develop that confidence. Again, it’s a big comfort to know I already have a much more prestigious job coming up on the horizon. I’ll also continue to pursue other roles.

Hello everyone, this is my first post on this forum and I hope some other Stage Managers are able to offer me some advice. At the moment I’m working on a pantomime of Snow White, and to be honest it’s a complete ###### show. It’s based in a village here in Surrey, and we are performing 10 shows this week. The role is paid, but it’s the first show for this theatre company. The person I’m working for is the producer, director, writer, set designer, builder, and everything rolled into one. This is also her first show after uni. The script is already messy and disjointed, plus filled with several weird and dark moments, but in the rehearsal room we had fun and I genuinely thought it was good. However, we’ve now started performances and it’s clear that everyone hates it. We’ve received several complaints about its quality and content, and have had to issue refunds. We’ve also had people get in touch asking for refunds for performances they haven’t attended yet, since they’ve heard how bad it is. Every show I sit in the back and all I hear is awkward silence. Lots of walk outs after the interval too. We didn’t get to move into our venue until the morning before the matinee, having had no Tech Run or anything. Ten minutes before the show me and the cast were scrambling around trying to figure out which costume belonged to who (as they hadn’t seen or tried them on before) and trying to figure out some form of lighting and sound cues. The set was also still drying, and due to tech issues we had to leave house lights up. We’re now three shows in and I’m having to improvise most of the lighting (which I’m also having to control). It’s only me and the sound technician backstage, but we are also having to run the bar, box office, and everything else. We have three days now before the next show for rewrites, but I think things are too broken to fully fix. The costumes are awful, the set looks messy, and due to the budget and sheer amount of them a lot of the props are tacky At this point I just feel like sobbing. The show was initially pitched to me as an ambitious project, but the guy I’m working for left everything last minute and the whole production just looks ######. I can’t even say it’s amateur level, and it’s £20 a ticket. Cast are having to assemble their own costumes as nothing fits properly, and morale is low amoungst everyone but our employer who keeps acting like none of this is an issue. I know I’ll get a good reference, as I’ve been told numerous times by him already, but I just feel awful for everyone. I already have a job lined up after this in New York, but could this affect my future career? The village is small and not many people are coming anyway, plus I don’t think we’re getting programs, but I don’t want this to be a stain on my name. Do people recover from stuff like this? Will I work again?