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.