History of Stage Managment

[Unistudentderby]

I imagine this question comes up quite a lot. Where did it start and how did the stage management roles develop over the years. What I would like is if anyone could point me in the direction of where I may find out this information as many stage managment books are more like guides and how to do than the history behind it.

many thanks to any one with any information they can provide,

Regards Sarah

[Just Some Bloke]

Hi Sarah and welcome to the Blue Room. ;)

 

If you look at the Training and Qualifications forum FAQ you'll find the following:

 

Will you do my homework for me?

 

No. But if you are looking for a range of industry/user opinions then we may be happy to help.

 

We will require you, however, to show that you have thought about the question first. This can be done, for example, in one of three ways:

 

1) "This is the question and these are the views of people whose books/articles I've read. What do you think?"

2) "This is the question and these are my thoughts. What do you think?"

3) "I've set up a questionnaire and wondered if you would mind completing it. Here's the link."

 

Is this, by any chance, a question from your tutor requiring a certain number of words in answer?

 

You'll probably find people will be loathe to answer it for you for obvious reasons, however, to point you in the right direction, you'll find plenty of books on the history of drama and surely as long as there's been drama there must have been stage management? Maybe it wasn't called that originally, but someone set up the performance space and swept it before the first actors declaimed upon it.

[DavidLee]

If you look at the Training and Qualifications forum FAQ you'll find the following:

 

Will you do my homework for me? SNIP

Is this, by any chance, a question from your tutor requiring a certain number of words in answer?

I think that this reaction was perhaps somewhat unfair!

 

Sarah didn't ask anyone to provide her with the answers - what she actually said was:

 

What I would like is if anyone could point me in the direction of where I may find out this information as many stage managment books are more like guides and how to do than the history behind it.

IMHO, asking for recommendations for suitable reference material is worlds away from expecting someone else to do your homework - we do it all the time in scientific research!

 

David

[Just Some Bloke]

IMHO, asking for recommendations for suitable reference material is worlds away from expecting someone else to do your homework - we do it all the time in scientific research!

 

Fair point, David. I was just trying to head off any comments of a similar type. You'll notice that I did take a stab at answering the question, too. ;)

 

Apologies if my comments came over as unfair.

[Unistudentderby]

I do believe your reply was unfair and I believe that it is a shame that a student can not approach a topic for discussion without people assuming I expect them to give me the answers. Perhaps the question should have worded differently but without asking the question how am I to find the answers?. All I require is information as to where I may find the answer to my question.

[djw1981]

It may also be worth contacting some of the professional associations for Stage Management (http://www.stagemanagementassociation.co.uk/ etc) assuming you haven;t already tried the obvious places! The Globe I think have some info on theatre in the middle ages and may be able to help you - I think their education Officer would be who you would want. try also writing to any lecturers in Stage management at other 'technical' or theatre courses. As I said before, you didn't post what you had done so far, so its a but hard to suggest without possibly duplicating the work you have done already.

 

As a Uni student of 7 years, I can assure you that half teh fun of research is in the chase and finding completely irrelevant things which nontheless amuse you and fiill in too much of your research time!

[Unistudentderby]

Thank you for your reply I have contacted the SM association and I am in the process of contacting lectures from SM and technical courses. My reason for wanting to know the history of stage management is research for a research project on whether education as in further education specialists courses are important in the stage management industry. Which is proving very challenging as to answer my research question I need to understand why we have a stage management team and how it came about. Also having completed a SM course myself there was very little history. But again thank you, you have given me a place to start.

Sarah

[paulears]

Sarah - don't worry too much about the reaction you got. We have large numbers of students on the forum, ranging from sub 16 year olds still at school to 'mature students' working on their doctorates! Unfortunately, large numbers do come on and basically ask a question that is so obviously what their teachers/lecturers have posed. Very often it isn't clear if they need (like you) 'pointers' to the info, or the answers that can be presented as their own work.

 

Hopefully you can forgive us for thinking the worst - to be honest, the best info for your purposes will be provided if you ask specific questions. "how did stage management roles develop over the years?" - this sounds like an essay question, so I suspect I'd have replied in a similar manner to the others. If you picked a role out, and gave us your interpretation, and we commented, that would be more 'Blue-Room', and generate useful stuff.

 

Using me as an example, I thought about answering it, but although I think I know what you want me to say, I'm not certain - so could waste my time.

 

That's the problem with these kind of posts.

 

Best of luck.

Paul

[w/robe]

you'll find plenty of books on the history of drama and surely as long as there's been drama there must have been stage management? Maybe it wasn't called that originally, but someone set up the performance space and swept it before the first actors declaimed upon it.

 

I just had a quick look through some of my Theatre History books as some of them are certainly out of print and I thought they may be useful. Not one of them lists Stage Management/Manager in the index though I did find a reference to a props list c1400 but this was not a setting list which would indicate a Ye Olde ASM.

 

If you are looking in to the relatively recent history ie since it has been possible to receive formalised training, then you are probably better interviewing Stage Managers rather than trying to research using books and the internet.

[Unistudentderby]

I am in the process of interviewing SM, and have looked through several history of drama books, but as you can imagine they focus on the drama rather than the management side. There must be something written in either a book, journal, diaries where some one some where was either given or took the role of a stage manager and who decided on the job roles.

Please if anyone could help pointing me in a direction (please bear in mind this is research for a research project) as it's becoming frustrating with the lack of information available.

[Ken Coker]

Hey, steady, I'm an immature student working on my doctorate....

 

As Paul and Yvonne will no doubt have told you, for this area of research you will need to look at primary sources rather than the secondary sources of stage management "manuals". They will no doubt have guided you to the Theatre Archive Project run by the BL, Sheffield University and the AHRC.

 

Have a search through the BL index too; there are 3907 references to Stage Management within it - you are also eligible for a BL readers card. You should also be able to use the inter-library loan system, so you should search other university libraries too - there should be Reference Manager, or something, on the UoD PCs....though I can't remember if that really is the case; one of the ADT subject advisers should be able to help you.

 

Obviously, as an ex-SLLET lecturer, I am now allowed to talk to Theatre Arts students.............

 

 

KC

[Kate.Frost]

Hi there

 

I tried to do something similar for my dissertation a few years ago. It was very hard getting hold of information but the following sources are in my bibliography:

 

Stage Management and Theatrecraft- A Stage Manager’s Handbook,

By Hendrik Baker, published by Routledge.

 

The King’s Theatre 1704-1867- London’s First Italian Opera House,

By Daniel Nailbach, published by The Society for Theatre Research.

 

Opera: A History in Documents

Edited by Piero Weiss, published by Oxford University Press

 

Student and Singer

By Charles Santley, Published by Arnold in 1893

 

The Phantom of the Opera

By Gaston Leroux, first published by Grosset & Dunlap in 1911

 

The New Grove Handbooks in Music: History of Opera

Edited by Stanley Sadie, published by The Macmillan Press Ltd.

 

www.str.org.uk

www.coventgarden.uk.com

www.bl.uk/treasures/shakespeare/companies.html

www.elizabethan-era.org/james_burbage.org

http://web.ukonlie.co.uk/michaelmoor/richard_burbage.htm

www.peopleplayuk.org.uk

 

Good luck!

Kate