Time Part VI Rehearsal Time

Rehearsal Time. When did the standard time for rehearsal in America become three and a half weeks? Money concerns have made us focus on creating better production in less time without any giant leap in skills to create the delicate ephemera that is Theatre. In Europe, where most Theatre is subsidized by the government, rehearsals on average last seven weeks and can sometimes stretch to six months or even years. That's not feasible here, but we should have as much time as we need to produce something.


The balance needs to be struck between Time to develop a script, a role, a design, and a show; and the Exquiste Pressure that Anne Bogart speaks of. Actors want as much time as they need and no more. Designers want as much time as they need and no more. Lord knows Technical Directors and their crew want as much time as they need. But, probably some more.

The old saying goes: " You can have Quick, Cheap, or Good. You can have any two but you can't have all three." Then let's propose taking quick out of the mix. Give them the time to build, take the time to rehearse. If designers are with you at rehearsals and you are in the space, then tech doesn't become a week, it becomes part of the process.

Time Part V Time in the Space

Time in the Theatre Space has been cut down more and more in this country, mainly due to monetary concerns. Even when a company has a permanent home and doesn't rent out space, getting on stage still comes late in the process. Why?

If designers are with you in rehearsal, why not use the stage for the benefit of all? Is the set being built on stage? Is there another show already on stage? Sometimes, but not always, and those times the actors want to be on stage. Time in the space saves time later when for some reason we crunch everything into a couple of days.

Just think for a moment of how many rehearsal spaces you have had to use, sometimes on the same show. How many times have you had to make an assimilation of what the set looks like, an idea of how long that cross will be, try and ignore the actor who has to walk through the scene to get back to their seat because their exit put them against a wall? Then discover how different everything is in the space with only days to go.

How can you play with Spatial Relationship, Topography, or Archetecture when they change depending on where you are rehearsing, and then performing? Space informs an actor's role. Time in the space solidifies that role.

Obviously if you are renting the Theatre Space, money is first and foremost in the mind. You simply can not afford to get in there and play. That's why finding a home is so important to Companies. Let's start thinking about what we want, so we can work toward that ideal not settling with what is in front of us.

Time Part IV Designer's Time

If time with the actor has been hijacked, time with the designer has been given away. For some reason the design world has been relegated to a position of being a minor helper to an an overall production instead of an integral force in it. The designers work is mostly done alone in a world that thrives on colloaboration and community. Most actors don't even meet a designer until that awful period we have assigned for all the missing pieces of a production to be crammed together in a working order, Tech. Or as most people aptly call it, Hell Week.

Why aren't designers at every rehearsal? Or even most? Or even some? They are just as important and sometimes they are more so than anyone else. Every actor wants to know what they are wearing here, what are the lights doing there, Can I stand on this, will I be heard over this, Can I drop this without it breaking, etc. etc. If the designer is at rehearsal not only can they answer the question, but they can also be inspired by the ideas in the room. We are all on the same team going for the same result, why not all play together too.

Now obviously there will be little for a lighting or costume designer to do technically in a rehearsal, as opposed to the sound designer or set designer, but seeing something repeatedly can cut down on time later and it also adds another voice to the room. We want an ensemble of Artists, not just an ensemble of actors.

Here's to a better future.

Time Part III Scheduled Time

Stay on task. This is where the Stage Manager is the productions best friend. Rehearsals and meetings shouldn't feel stodgy and business-like, however when rehearsals turn into parties and questions lead on to multiple stories in meetings, something else is being pushed aside and time is lost.

If rehearsal is scheduled to start at say, 6 P.M. then it needs to start at 6 P.M. Not 6:05 or 6:15. That means that the Director, the Stage Manager, the Actors, and anyone else involved with a rehearsal is there before time is called and everyhting is ready to START at 6 P.M.

When time comes to end, it ends. Not a second after. If you even think there is maybe a possibility that perhaps you could go over, stop what you are doing and announce it. Let the company decide if they agree that the extra time is needed. If they don't agree that they want to spend more time on it, so be it. Learn from this and manage your time better. If they do agree, by no means let the extra time exceed 15 minutes. Finish the Scene, finish the thought, just get to a finishing place and call it a night.

There are a lot of rules by Actors Equity that I think are antiquated, anti-creative, and only perpetuate the problems that we are trying to solve. However, the thing that they get dead on right is use of time. They are mostly common sense and definately in the best interest of the actor. For example, you can't change a rehearsal with less than 12 hours notice, or you have to have a day off.

Try to view time as a challenge not a hinderance. But you say "I can't possibly rehearse a play when I can only use my actors for four hous a day, and can't change my mind." You can with a longer rehearsal period. Time of Rehearsals, Tech, and Performance can all be created by doing away with the three week American Theatre standard process of playmaking. More on this later

Time- Part II. Actor's time

Every actor knows the frustration of being called to rehearsal and not being used. The actor's life is already a waiting game. Waiting for an Audition, waiting for a Callback, Waiting for the next show, Waiting to rehease, Waiting for Tech, Waiting for the role to be yours, Waiting in the wings, Waiting, Waiting, Waiting. Why ask them to wait even more if they aren't going to be used.

The Actor's time is important not only to them but to a productions health as well. They may remain silent about it, but every time they are not used to their creative abilities actor's will start to feel less than their worth. If an actor is called, that actor needs to be used. When you realize you may not get to them, don't be disengenuous, let them know. When you absolutely know you will not get to them, let them go. Now there are times when actors are only in the last page or two of a scene, and unfortunately it has become common to spend more times on beginnings and run out of time on endings. That does not make the actor any less important. Stagger the call. If they do not come on until later, do not call them until later. If it is an ensemble piece where everyone is called, make sure that eveyone has equal imput. Standing around is a waste of time. Time is money. Time is Precious.

Another way you can solve this problem is to be realistic about what you can and can not do. Our motto is " Start by doing what is necessary, then do what is possible, and soon you will be doing the impossible." By keeping to that we can cover our bases and still be making forward progress.

Actor's like to work. They enjoy process and performance. What they do not like is to stop and start, stop and start. If you as a director have an idea for an actor, or if what they are doing is the exact opposite of what you are looking for, give them time to find their way in to it. If you never allow them to develop an arc, because they have never run a scene without stopping, they will start to shrink away from those amazing ideas that make a role shine. If they are doing something fabulous, don't stop them to tell them it was fabulous, let them continue to shine.

At some point they will be begging to Run the show. Recognize this need and stop tinkering. You can tinker afterwards, but they need to run it now. If you wait until the week before tech (or God forbid, in so many cases, if you wait until Tech) you have left yourself very little time to solve the problems of transitions, costume changes, Entrances and exits, and emotional arcs. A run through will open everyone's eyes to these problems and solutions. It is not bad to give as many run throughs as possible. Some people believe it cuts down on the spontaneity of performance to do multiple run throughs. If your actors can not be spontaneous, you have other issues to worry about besides Time.

Notes should not last an hour! Period. I have been in rehearsals where directors have gone on for more than two hours with no end in sight until someone spoke up. It should not have to be in the actor's hands to speak up about their wasted time. Give important notes now, sleep on the rest and if they still have the same merit give them tomorrow. I will go into notes further at a later date, but as to time for notes: Don't leave to little-Don't take to much. 15 minutes should do it. If you need much more than that either you are talking to much and you aren't being clear, or your actor's don't understand the show. I tend to believe that it is the former, not the latter.

Follow the Golden rule with actor's: Treat them as you would want to be treated. Respect your Actor's time, and they will do wonders for you.

Keep up the hope