Can LGBT professionals be “out and proud” in technical theatre?

[GeorginaLC]

July, August, September, October 2013

As part of my SM degree, I am doing aresearch project into LGBT¹ professionals in technical theatre – theattitudes towards them of others they work with and around, and their experiencesof being ‘out’ (open about being LGBT) and possiblyof not being out; and ‘proud’ ie unapologetic, unashamed and positive aboutbeing LGBT without stigma at work.

As there is not a lot of literature on the specificarea of LGBT technicians, I would like to interview people of a variety of productionteam roles (eg stage management, lighting, sound, production management, AV, flying, stage crew, technical management, costume) both cisgendered heterosexuals, and self-identified LGBT people

Please let me know whether you would be interested in being interviewed. Or ask around to see if any of your colleagues would be willing to sit down with me for an hour or so, either LGBT or straight professionals, to chat about being/working with LGBT people in the industry. Nothing in-depth or needing specialist knowledge, just experience working in professional theatre. If you or they are not in London in the next few months I’m happy to talk however is most convenient; Skype, a phone call, or I could even come visit (within Britain!).

I will be recording the interviews, and anonymity will be given if requested. Later on in the process, a questionnaire will be available for any more people interested who cannot make an interview.

Cheers,

Georgina

¹LGBT - umbrellaterm for non-heterosexual people and trans* peoplewhose gender identity and/or gender expression differs from the sex they wereassigned at birth.

 

 

[kerry davies]

Welcome to BR, Georgina. Try reading this topic which might prove useful.

 

In general nobody gives a second thought to gender orientation as long as the individual can do their job and doesn't eat all the biscuits. It is a non-issue.

 

I think you might get more response if you researched attitudes to unwashed coffee mugs. Much more relevant a topic to 99% of theatre staff than what someone does in their private life.

[Jivemaster]

There have been MANY industries in my long career of them all Theatre has probably the greatest tolerance of orientation.

 

Rule 1 -can you do the job

rule 2 -Are you good to work with

rule 3 -can you wash up after coffee.

 

NONE of which is relevant to orientation.

 

HOWEVER the "out and proud" bit can cause trouble if taken too far. I just don't want to know about the details of someone's private life if we have just met to do a day's work.

[paulears]

I agree. Couldn't care less. Most folk nowadays don't want to hear gory details about private stuff - no matter what status they have - something we just aren't interested in. To be honest, if you are studying Stage Management, I'd be more interested in a survey about working practices, downsizing of show sizes, crew numbers, multi-hatting, relighting duties etc etc than all this trendy rightsy stuff that has no importance at all.

[Mushypeas]

Again, I can't see much being said about attitudes to sexual orientation.

 

Unless you fabricate data showing a correlation between the number of filthy mugs I end up cleaning and the orientation of the lazy so and so that left them there.

 

I'm with the Jivemanmeister on his however point though, but that's not just on sexuality, generally on religious or political views as well.

 

I don't mind arguing about the best Floyd track but I can't stand serious debate while I'm rigging and what have you.

 

Luke

 

P.S Those 3 rules are now being engraved into a plaque for the perch. Would you like some royalties?

[Jivemaster]

One thing to remember about this industry is that probably 50% of the people work with strangers daily with there being a continuous supply of supply of more strangers. Sometime those strangers become friends, some sooner than others. BUT all the event manager (by whatever title) wants is a group of individuals who will get the job done.

[vinntec]

Hi Georgina

 

I'm an amateur at the serious end of technical theatre. And basically it is exactly the same with us even though we tend to know the same group(s) of people over a long time. Nobody cares what sexual orientation anyone is provided they don't bring it into the theatre with them (same applies to heterosexuals!). I also work in temporary teams for larger productions where strangers are brought together for one show, more like the professionals, and exactly the same applies. Only once did a gay person cause any friction as he "paraded" his latest partner - but this is very much the exception.

 

I can probably guess who might be gay or might not be, but basically don't care! Some I know about because they have told me. Just the same I don't want someone to talk about Bolton Wanderers or canoeing all day while we are trying to rig a show unless they want to be murdered before the day is out. Several times the partner of a member is also a member or a casual helper and no-one has any problem with this just the same as someone else's spouse/partner comes in to help. We are grateful for an extra pair of hands - in the case of LX might just be someone who can be trusted to gel a bar reliably while we get on with something else.

 

For some reason, in my part of amateur theatre nearly all the technical side is male (slowly changing) - and relatively elderly - and female members tend to come in to make tea/coffee for us when doing a big get-in at a hired theatre (where we might get the theatre at 10am with a blank stage and have full technical rehearsal at 7pm) - without them we probably wouldn't eat or drink all day due to time pressures. So the problem of not washing up is less of an issue and, as we own our theatre for normal productions in between, we are precious about it when we are there by ourselves.

 

So I am certain the sexual orientation is about as relevant as their religion - no one cares as long as it is left outside the theatre.

 

Peter

[ImagineerTom]

If there's one thing the Saville / Hall et al debacle has (unfortunately) proven beyond a shadow of a doubt it is that events / showbiz / media industry really doesn't give a damn about sexual preference or activities as long as you're able to do the job you were employed to do and continue to do it well just about anything else is by-the-by. I've encountered household names (with whiter than white public images) whose producers employ minders and medics to (literally) scrape them up off the floor and detox them each day so they can record TV shows that ultimately get millions of viewers; we've all met performers who are alcoholic ######, socially inept, creepy or just plane weird off-stage but who assume a persona on stage that audiences can't get enough of.

 

Showbiz is the most meritocratic industry going; as long as you can do the job you were employed to do then who you are, where you come from and what you do with the rest of your day is entirely irrelevant; especially when the people you work with (and thus who could judge you) have probably got a host of kinks and quirks of their own.

[Jivemaster]

Bluntly; If your best idea for a project is so peripherally relevant to a Stage Management degree will it really add to your understanding of the industry, should you really have found a topic that could be much more generally applied. By persisting with a topic which has taken three good posts here to devalue to zero, would you do better for your final mark to find a relevant and apposite topic.

 

IMO this choice of topic shows clearly that you haven't understood the industry in which you intend to be a manager.

[vinntec]

Georgina

 

Perhaps it is worth bearing in mind that theatre technicians do something which is potentially dangerous while at the same time working in teams of specialists where everyone has to trust everyone else. I do lighting, and there are a multitude of ways I could kill myself or other people - or other people could kill me. When I am loading or unloading a lighting bar, for example, someone else looks after the counterweighting. I have to obey without question their instructions on when I can load or unload and when the bar is locked or unlocked or parked - I also know that this person is not to be disturbed while they are doing their job as this is how the bar ends up being heavy or light or the wrong bar gets adjusted etc. In the same way, other people trust me not to do anything dangerous with the electrics, have everything properly secured with a secondary support, and not pointed at anything close to it. This doesn't mean that the SM (or resident tech) won't double check what I have done particularly from a safety point of view and I would be a fool to resent this. I have to work as part of a complex team in an environment, particularly during get-in and get-out, that has been compared to the deck of an aircraft carrier! I can't do what I want when I want, I have to agree it with the SM either in advance or in flight when something unexpected has come up.

 

So basically, from my point of view - as others have said already - what matters is how well do you do your job and can I trust you? If you are gay or straight or a member of a lodge in your spare time is a non-issue. And don't forget I'm an amateur doing it for fun!

 

Although there is lots of material about what the specialist roles in theatre are, there is relatively little which looks in depth at what actually happens at a get-in/get-out when all the pieces have to knit seamlessly together even if most of the crew have never met before. There are conventions we have to adhere to and an order we do things in (appropriate for the production) and expect everyone else to do so as well. It is when people don't do this that friction occurs (eg. MD has lowered the pit and filled it with instruments and musicians before the LX on the truss above it has been focused). These relationships might be a better subject for research towards a degree in stage management because once you have the SM title, the buck stops with you if anything goes wrong?

 

Peter

[johnny-t-goode]

I don't care what colour you are, what your background is or your sexual preference, whether you are male or female, how old you are or even if you have bad hygiene.

All I care about is the ability to communicate effectively within a team, and that safety is foremost in everyone's mind. Everyone going home accident free, and intact is all that matters.

[GeorginaLC]

Bluntly; If your best idea for a project is so peripherally relevant to a Stage Management degree will it really add to your understanding of the industry, should you really have found a topic that could be much more generally applied. By persisting with a topic which has taken three good posts here to devalue to zero, would you do better for your final mark to find a relevant and apposite topic.

 

IMO this choice of topic shows clearly that you haven't understood the industry in which you intend to be a manager.

 

I think the posts that you seem to think devalue my project are prime examples of one of the reasons why I'm interested in doing this project. The sweeping generalisations claiming that the entire technical part of the industry has absolutely no incidents of homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia show one of two things - either 1) it's true, technical theatre is a utopia for LGBT professionals, yippee, wonderful, or 2) there is a perception that it is a utopia which, if actually false, means there is a worrying blindness to problems.

 

I truly do hope you're all right, I really hope that 1) ends up being the conclusion of my project - but even if that happens, that does not mean the project wasn't worth something. If you read my post, I want to interview people. As a secondary outcome, that means I will be networking, which is an important part of getting somewhere in my career. Before that though, the wider purpose is that even if technical theatre is a utopia, we don't just live in the industry, we are members of society, so we are not excused from talking about a topic that is most definitely an issue in many other industries. I engage in conversation about the wider experiences of LGBT people, but am currently ignorant of what it's like for those in my own industry.

It also has personal purpose. My SM degree is not just any SM degree, it is my SM degree, the field of study essentially being my career in SM, and it is entirely relevant to my field of study to research whether or not being LGBT will affect my experience of stage management. Rather than asking one person what they think it will be like, using just one set of experiences (or three, as you seem to think is sufficient, but really isn't) I want to answer the question thoroughly, so I know what I'll be getting as I continue my career.

My choice of topic is an attempt to understand the industry from a certain perspective that my experience working and studying in it so far has not provided; it is also part of a bigger conversation about the state of attitudes in this country.

 

Thanks to everyone who's been replying; does anyone want to have a chat over the phone or Skype about this topic?

 

Cheers,

Georgina

[Seano]

In general nobody gives a second thought to gender orientation as long as the individual can do their job and doesn't eat all the biscuits. It is a non-issue.

 

In general, yes. But there are exceptions. One incidence is one too many, until *absolutely* nobody gives it a second thought it is not a non issue.

 

Of all the environments where you might least expect it, I have seen homophobic bullying in commercial musical theatre, it was ugly and it made a colleague's life pretty miserable for a while.

 

If there's one thing the Saville / Hall et al debacle has (unfortunately) proven beyond a shadow of a doubt it is that events / showbiz / media industry really doesn't give a damn about sexual preference or activities as long as you're able to do the job you were employed to do and continue to do it well just about anything else is by-the-by.

 

Conversely, if there's one thing that has proven it's the exact opposite. While the star presenter had carte blanche to be as pervy as he pleased, the capable professionals around them at the time (the female ones anyway) had a stark choice between tolerating abuse and jacking in their jobs.

[Just Some Bloke]

I'm entirely sure that there will be some people who will be annoying idiots who will have a go at someone for being LGBT. I'm equally sure there will be others who will treat non-whites the same way. I'm equally sure there will be others who will treat ginger people badly or blondes or any of the other reasons for idiots to be nasty that occur in everyday life. I think what everyone is saying, though, is that if you take an overarching view of theatre and events as a whole then these idiots are very very much the exception to the rule. I've been working for 15 years at a venue where there are LGBT members of staff with new users coming in every day/week and I have never come across a single instance in that time of them being treated any differently than anyone else.

 

My worry is that the people who answer your quetions and have your meetings will be more likely to be the ones who are the exceptions rather than the many who have no problems; because if you have no problems then it would be a short discussion generally not worth their time bothering. That could lead, of course, to incorrect conclusions. Hopefully this thread is helping to redress the balance!

[Ken Coker]

I think the OP is researching a perfectly reasonable question. I think this because:

 

1. The theatre/entertainment industry spends a great deal of society's money and society is entitled to see that our industry reflects the nature of society in its outlook and attitudes; and I assume here that we, as both entertainment workers and reasonably sane members of society, think prejudice and bigotry is a bad thing.

 

2. I'm not sure whether Stage Management should be a degree course - given my rather old fashioned idea that degrees should contain a fairly high academic content.(As it happens, I also feel the same way about degrees such as board operating.) Research topics such as this might help foster a proper academic approach to Stage Management which a degree course should reflect; one might, of course, then decide that one doesn't want an "academic" Stage Manager, but one that could set a box of matches. One could service this desire by having, perhaps, a Certificate in Stage Management ......which is precisely what we had before everyone started ###### around with the educational system. However, we are where we are, and I welcome any proper academic work.

 

I will go on to add that at PhD level, the notion of a "Queer" methodology is a perfectly acceptable one. Not one I personally chose, but there are plenty of texts written from that perspective. Indeed, a quick Google of "PhD Queer Theatre" throws up a London drama school where areas of teaching include: Gender and Sexuality; Post-War British Theatre; Postdramatic theatre; Queer Performance; Queer Theory and Studies ...so, someone thinks it's worth doing.

In conclusion, as far as I'm concerned people can be as out/in as they like. I'm a committed socialist and I have no qualms about biffing on about Marx's theory of the fetishism of commodities and its relationship to modern lighting t every possible opportunity, so I'm not going to worry about others nailing their colours to the mast. (No wonder I don't get much work...)I'm happy to speak to the OP about this should she wish, although I would prefer email as I intend to spend most of the next two weeks on a golf course in Whitby...and yes, none of the other members speak to me.

 

KC