MAR
6

The Show Must Go On...  With or Without You

By Christina Hamlett 

Former actress/director Christina Hamlett is the author of 42 books and 175 plays.  For Pioneer, she and her writing partner Jamie Dare have penned three “Seusspeare” comedies as well as a contemporary script titled “Fandemonium.”  She is also a professional ghostwriter and a script consultant for stage and screen.  http://www.authorhamlett.com. 

One of the questions I’m often asked by directors (especially those in high school drama departments) is what to do if a show is already in rehearsal and a newbie actor just isn’t pulling his or her weight.  No one ever likes to “fire” a non-performing cast member, but they certainly don’t want to jeopardize the whole production.

Here are some tips to navigate these nail-biting showbiz waters and to bring out the best in all of your performers while impressing upon them the importance of teamwork.

What’s the Problem?

Is it a question of self-confidence or external distractions (lack of sleep, homework stress, family problems) that’s keeping your actors from getting off-book and fully into character?  That answer can only be determined by a one-on-one sit-down.  While you’re not in a position to play psychoanalyst, you do need to impress upon your young actors that everyone has to be fully on board in order for the show to work.  Give them a graceful out if they admit they’re just not ready.  If they want to stay in, give them a deadline to improve — and stick with it.

All in This Together

While it may be too late for your current show, a preventative measure for future productions is requiring actors cast in some of the smaller roles to learn the dialogue and blocking of the leads in the event they have to step in.  The lines of two servants, for instance, might easily be delivered by one actor if you need to bump one of them up to a larger role.  Likewise, a player who only appears in one scene could serve as an understudy.  (Your assistant director should also be prepared to do this.)  Encourage your actors to learn their fellow cast members’ lines and not just memorize their own.  Besides, there’s more value in this than just being ready to stand in for somebody.  If they know what someone is supposed to say next, it will be easier to lend assistance in the event of flubs.  To help your actors learn others’ lines, have them record the first table-read and listen to it as an aid.

Warm Up with Improv

Before a rehearsal, warm up with improvisational exercises in which the actors’ characters are put in situations such as getting lost, asking someone on a date, demanding an apology, etc.  The more they can get under the skin and into the voice of the people they’re portraying, the less likely they are to fall out of character during performance.  Further, incorporate improv into rehearsal so everyone gets accustomed to winging their way through a scene until they can successfully get back on track.

Hide the Prompts

If an actor continually trips up in the same scene and asks for “line,” determine whether there are surfaces such as tables, staircases and pictures, or physical objects such as books and hand mirrors, where lines can be taped and glanced at in an emergency.  (Believe it or not, this is even done on Broadway.)

Exit Strategy

If worse comes to worst and you ultimately have to let an actor go, do so privately so as to minimize their embarrassment.  Do not lay blame.  Do not belittle whatever attempts they made to learn the part.  Do not compare them to their fellow actors (and especially not their replacement), unless it’s in the gentle context of what they might learn to hone their craft in a future production.  There may be tears.  There may be anger.  But once you’ve made your decision, you can’t walk it back.

Not Ready for Prime Time

Last but not least, if the production doesn’t look to be salvageable a week from opening night (i.e., multiple actors who still aren’t ready), you have no reasonable choice but to postpone the production or, in some cases, cancel it.  While there will be disappointments, your actors would rather be in a show that reflects their hard work and talents than one which creates a stressful, painful struggle that could’ve been avoided with better planning and “tough love” decisions.