May I ask a side question that has been confounding me lately?
What if you have someone who you can trust to be adequate and sometimes even brilliant, and who you can trust to step up and be there when he is needed... but who will not trust back? Someone who believes, and has even said, that he is the best member of the troupe and he regularly has to step in to save scenes that are, in his opinion, struggling -- even when everyone else thinks they're fine and he's actually all smug and pushy and shit?
I can deal with him on a scene-by-scene basis, and I can adjust on the fly to his prima donna ways and his need to be the star at all times, and I can even deal with the fact that he's just a jerkwad who genuinely believes that he's God's gift to improv... but it's the pattern of behavior that's becoming aggravating, and he's there all the time.
What do you do when a non-trusting cancer is invading your trust circle, if you don't have the authority to excise it?
I typically expect that we need some joking around, getting-to-know-you personal goofy time in every rehearsal process I take part in. Sometimes this drives the stage managers nuts, but I think it's critically important - just as important for going out for drinks with the cast before tech begins. Because it builds that trust. It tells everyone in the process that we're all just people putting on something together, and it makes them feel valued and important - because they are valued and important.
Ooh ooh ooh. I think I can Yes And this, so to speak.
In another place, Jill has made the reference to working with your scene partner by saying something like, "You are the Iron Chef, they are your secret ingredient." The implication is that it's your job to make them work awesomely. (If I'm not misinterpreting, anyway.)
But if you're the Iron Chef and you have a totally unknown ingredient, it's a good idea to educate yourself as quickly as possible on common uses of that ingredient, so you don't accidentally throw tuna salad into a banana split. Usually this can be done in a matter of moments. "Do you like singing games?" "Anything you're nervous about?" I like to ask our newbies and visitors things like this so they know I'll be looking out for their best interests too
( ... )
Oh, I agree. As a theatre director, it's easy for me to walk into the room with that trust, since I wouldn't have cast them if I didn't trust them. It's just not always possible to get others to enter the creative space with that same mindset. So it sometimes takes some tricks.
Sometimes, despite my expectations, an actor will simply never trust me. This sucks. It generally means that they will shut off from an honest listening/feedback process, which in turn breaks my trust in them. Try as I might, repairing that trust (in either direction: me-them, them-me) once it's been so completely broken is one of the hardest things in the world to do. And depending on the situation, it may simply not be possible. Then all you can do is work around the issue, rather than work on it. Which I like to think of as directing's less-fun sibling: troubleshooting.
But this is the really amazing thing -- regardless of your cast's innate abilities or level of experience, if they trust you they can do almost anything.
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So true.
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What if you have someone who you can trust to be adequate and sometimes even brilliant, and who you can trust to step up and be there when he is needed... but who will not trust back? Someone who believes, and has even said, that he is the best member of the troupe and he regularly has to step in to save scenes that are, in his opinion, struggling -- even when everyone else thinks they're fine and he's actually all smug and pushy and shit?
I can deal with him on a scene-by-scene basis, and I can adjust on the fly to his prima donna ways and his need to be the star at all times, and I can even deal with the fact that he's just a jerkwad who genuinely believes that he's God's gift to improv... but it's the pattern of behavior that's becoming aggravating, and he's there all the time.
What do you do when a non-trusting cancer is invading your trust circle, if you don't have the authority to excise it?
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After that all you can do is feel sorry for him that you have something he does not. And give him plenty of rope.
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I typically expect that we need some joking around, getting-to-know-you personal goofy time in every rehearsal process I take part in. Sometimes this drives the stage managers nuts, but I think it's critically important - just as important for going out for drinks with the cast before tech begins. Because it builds that trust. It tells everyone in the process that we're all just people putting on something together, and it makes them feel valued and important - because they are valued and important.
Reply
In another place, Jill has made the reference to working with your scene partner by saying something like, "You are the Iron Chef, they are your secret ingredient." The implication is that it's your job to make them work awesomely. (If I'm not misinterpreting, anyway.)
But if you're the Iron Chef and you have a totally unknown ingredient, it's a good idea to educate yourself as quickly as possible on common uses of that ingredient, so you don't accidentally throw tuna salad into a banana split. Usually this can be done in a matter of moments. "Do you like singing games?" "Anything you're nervous about?" I like to ask our newbies and visitors things like this so they know I'll be looking out for their best interests too ( ... )
Reply
Sometimes, despite my expectations, an actor will simply never trust me. This sucks. It generally means that they will shut off from an honest listening/feedback process, which in turn breaks my trust in them. Try as I might, repairing that trust (in either direction: me-them, them-me) once it's been so completely broken is one of the hardest things in the world to do. And depending on the situation, it may simply not be possible. Then all you can do is work around the issue, rather than work on it. Which I like to think of as directing's less-fun sibling: troubleshooting.
But this is the really amazing thing -- regardless of your cast's innate abilities or level of experience, if they trust you they can do almost anything.
Reply
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