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Helpful Hints For Drama

  • Scale
    When I go to a stage play in Stratford or Detroit or Toronto, I marvel at what can be done to create an artificial world on the stage. When I return to my small, bare stage with mismatched lighting, Salvation Army costumes, and rickety sets, reality sets in. Small productions, whether they are school-based or community-based, can’t compete with professional productions. Keep in mind, though, that doesn’t mean they can’t succeed. Different goals. Different standards. Different ticket prices.

  • Workshop
    Start every production with a drama workshop where anyone interested in acting a part must attend. It may be the only time the director gets to tell the assembled group things about acting, expectations, and the show. Group instruction puts everyone on fairly equal footing as far as tryouts go, and new members get a feel for what it takes to be a part of the group. It also helps them be more realistic about which parts to try out for. Use experienced actors as models and get everyone involved so you get a sense of who is comfortable on stage and who will need extra attention.

  • Crew
    Getting/keeping a dedicated, knowledgeable crew is an ongoing problem. Start early, visiting places where possibilities lurk and letting the people there get to know you.

    Weeding out those who aren’t committed is essential or you’ll end up on show night with one harassed individual trying to do sound, lights, and special effects (worst case: that individual is you). Some really good crew members get to like drama so much they want to "graduate" to acting, which is great for the cast but for you, not so much.

    Encourage the crew members you have to recruit others. They may know who has an interest in sound equipment or who is dying to be backstage. A meeting with the crew early on is a good idea so you can brainstorm together. As they become acclimated to the show, they’ll take on more responsibility, leaving you with less to worry about.

    Many groups let the actors do as much of the scene-shifting as possible. It’s easy for them to pick up a set piece as they leave the stage at the end of a scene. Establish "traffic patterns" so the people leaving don’t get in the way of those bringing things on. There should be a place backstage where each set piece should go when it’s not on stage.

    The best way to keep a good crew is to appreciate them. Let them know they are as much a part of the show as the actors.

  • Backstage
    Speaking of backstage, it’s a mess, and it has to be. Things that help:

    • a rule that actors must be somewhere else unless due for an entrance very soon.
    • an area for each actor to keep costumes, props, etc. We’ve done bags/boxes with their names, signs on the back wall, and just vague understandings that "this is my space". It depends on the show and the amount of stuff required.
    • a person backstage who does nothing but pick up, arrange, and straighten
    • the clean-up crew comes in the day after the last performance to do laundry, put things away, and tear down sets. Hint: the longer you wait to start clean-up, the less likely you’ll have help!


  • Student / Assistant Director
    It took me years to discover the value of this position, but I’d never be without one now. Besides being valuable experience for the student, it’s a great help to you. The best ones know what you’ll need before you ask and have already started on it. Even the mediocre ones take a lot of the work off your shoulders, making copies, getting the word out on changes, and handling practice while you speak to the crew or work with a single student. I’ve never had a bad one; choose a person you know well who has experience with the process and there shouldn’t be a problem.

  • Practice Requirements
    Everyone should understand that actors who don’t come to practice will be replaced. Everybody wants a part at try-outs time, but not everybody wants to keep that commitment as time goes on. My rule is three missed practices without an excuse means replacement. It’s difficult, of course, because what’s a good excuse, and how do you replace an actor in the last week? Still, if you have the rule in place you can use it when your gut tells you it isn’t working out. If you have to bend the rule when you feel the actor will come through in the end, well, no one but you and that person know what the excuse might have been for that third absence.

  • Helpful Staff
    If you haven’t started yet, begin cultivating people who can make your life easier: custodians, secretaries, teachers, etc. You will have to call on them for help, and it’s much harder if you’ve ignored them until your moment of need. Ask what you can do to make their job easier and explain why you do things the way you do.

    Example: our matinees are performed in the cafeteria, which caused the kitchen staff turmoil on that one day as they tried to get their work done while we set up for the play. It didn’t seem like a big deal to me, but I saw that it was to them. When I offered to send a few cast members to help clean the cafeteria after lunch, it made a world of difference in their attitude, and it only cost us about fifteen minutes of time.

    It’s my policy to send thank you’s (and baked goods) to the janitors after a play in addition to thanking them in the program. It doesn’t hurt to recognize the extra effort they give and the chaos they tolerate during that last week.

  • Mom's Group
    An active support group is a lifesaver. My Moms’ Group became just a Group after a few years: some moms but mostly just people who like helping with plays. They’re very dedicated, spending hours backstage making the trees look realistic or showing up on dress rehearsal night with gorgeous costumes. Talk to everyone you know about what you need, you never know where it will come from. I mentioned in church once that my sets weren’t very stable and I got a "crew" of retired men who built versatile, sturdy sets that we still use years later.

  • Drama Etiquette
    Inexperienced actors often don’t know what’s acceptable, so it pays to tell them from the start. Some of my pet peeves are eased by the following rules:

    • No running around the audience area in costume before the show.
    • No peeping through the curtain to see who’s out there.
    • No watching from the back. Dress rehearsal’s when the cast sees the show.
    • After the last performance EVERYTHING that belongs to drama stays backstage (big pile!) and EVERYTHING that belongs to actors goes home with them.
    • No upstaging other actors. Some people think that in a comedy, their purpose on stage is to "be funny". Explaining before the fact about upstaging saves the director the painful task of trying to change that behavior during the performance.

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