A New Era of Stage Management

The world has changed. A global pandemic, the rise of Black Lives Matter and social justice movements, and the intensifying climate crisis have altered how we live and work. This includes the theatrical industry. These changes, however, have been happening while theaters have been closed. It’s been an opportunity for us to reflect and look critically at our own industry. As live performance returns, it is crucial that theatre makers address how these issues affect our process of theatre making. We are re-opening in a new era, it’s not the world of 2019, this is 2021.

As a stage manager, I’m intensely interested in the role of the stage manager and how a new era of stage management can address the huge changes of health & safety, social justice, and sustainability. Stage Managers are in a unique position to have an impact on all these aspects and incorporate social justice, inclusivity, health, safety, wellness, and sustainability into the production process. As the stewards of a theatrical production, stage managers have always been a significant part of creating and maintaining a safe and comfortable working environment, facilitating communication between numerous collaborators, and seamlessly running and maintaining the show. As Lawrence Stern wrote in his book. “The person who has responsibility for making the entire production run smoothly, on stage and backstage… is the stage manager.”¹ Tony Honoree Peter Lawrence describes the job this way: “The complete welfare of the backstage [company] and daily interaction with all the elements of a production are the jobs of the American stage manager.”² Together, these definitions demonstrate the great responsibilities stage managers have to both the production and the people involved in making it.

As we return to rehearsals and performances, stage managers will again lead companies of actors and stage hands. The production process needs to be equitable, respectful, safe, & sustainable; reflective of all we’ve been through and learned in 2020. What should stage managers expect to be tasked with? What should we expect of ourselves? What do we expect of our employers? These are questions that the stage management community has been grappling with to prepare properly for our return.

We can look at this new era of stage management by addressing the role of the stage manager in three arenas: Health & Safety, Race & Equity, and Sustainability.

HEALTH & SAFETY

Stage managers take care of many of the daily bumps, bruises, aches, and pains company members experience, including ensuring basic first aid is on hand. Covid has shined a harsh spotlight on health and safety and it would seem natural that the stage manager would be the person to turn to for Covid related issues. However, Covid management requires much more than the basic first aid CPR training that many stage managers have. Instead of taking on many new Covid specific duties, stage managers overwhelmingly support the creation of a specialized Covid Safety Supervisor.

In an informal poll on the Year of the Stage Manager (YSM) facebook page (with 8000+ members), 79% felt it was “an unreasonable addition to my job as a stage manager…” or that the responsibility was “better suited for a compliance officer…” ³ Stage managers often take on additional duties, but the additional duties around Covid (testing, PPE, social distancing) should be the duties of a dedicated person outside of stage management.

Stage manager Amy Witherby said, “I got my Covid Compliance Officer training and one of the things stressed is that the CCO should ONLY be doing their Covid-related work, it should not be combined with another position. There is PLENTY for the CCO to be doing and they need to focus on that. And vice versa for the SM” ³ Unions that represent stage managers agree. As Leslie Sears wrote on the same YSM thread, “both AEA and AGMA have said SMs are not to be responsible for COVID health and safety checks.” ³ The stage hands union, IATSE, does not represent stage managers, but also sees the necessity for a distinct position, separate from the stage manager. “The newly released 27-page [IATSE safety measures] document reviewed by medical experts calls for… the establishment of an autonomous COVID-19 Compliance Officer.” ⁴

This position shares many wonderful qualities with stage managers: organized, efficient, empathetic, diplomatic, and calm. It’s no wonder that veteran Broadway stage managers and early career stage managers alike have taken courses, received certificates, and been hired to work as Covid Safety Supervisors (sometimes called CCOs). However, there is too much for a CCO and SM to do in their own roles. Combining them will only compromise both positions. Our process is served best when stage managers can be stage managers. Working with a Covid Safety Supervisor ensures company safety, and allows the stage manager to focus on their duties to manage the production process.

As we return, it is imperative that employers hire a separate Covid Health & Safety Supervisor and for stage managers, union and non-union alike, to support this need. Stage managers will always keep a look out for health and safety; but in this new era, stage managers need to be clear and confident that they collaborate with a Covid Supervisor, so they can stage manage effectively. As USITT states in their reopening guidelines: “The Health and Safety Coordinator (HSC) will work with stage management and producers to adhere, implement, and oversee the production’s overall health and safety plans. The HSC is not a stage manager, and does not perform any stage management tasks.” ⁵

If a stage manager is tasked with Covid Health & Safety duties, it puts them in a very difficult position with the creative team they are supporting and both jobs will suffer. The separation of duties, will provide the best adherence to safety protocols and allow stage managers to do their best job managing the production process.

Covid, however, isn’t the only health concern that stage managers will be addressing in the new era. Awareness and understanding of mental health issues have been moving towards center stage as well. The challenges of the pandemic and shutdown have highlighted the need for our industry to address mental health.  Two concerns that have focused on the mental health of theatre workers are the 10 out of 12 rehearsal days and the 6 day work week.

We’ve seen a rise in the movement to end the practice of 10 out of 12s (ten hours of rehearsal in a twelve hour span), which are incredibly draining on a company, both mentally and physically. The website, nomore10outof12s.com describes them this way. “A 10 out of 12 day is not just a twelve hour day for most theater workers. For designers, technicians, stage managers and other theatre workers, it can easily be a 16 hour day or longer.” ⁷ In addition, a growing chorus is advocating to move towards a 5 day work week, instead of the typical theatre 6 day work week to alleviate mental health, safety, and quality of life issues.

Chaira Klien, artistic producing director of Baltimore Center Stage said, “When we release ourselves from the 10/12-the-show-must-go-on mentality, we gain the opportunity to build new people-centered processes and a more equitable future.” ⁶ And Shea King from Columbia Basin College adds, “I can say with confidence that it has reinvigorated my spirit. The tech process is just as energetic and enjoyable as the 5 day rehearsal weeks due to the healthy conditions and efforts to respect everyone’s time.” ⁶

As makers and managers of the schedule, stage managers are in a position to propose changes from the old ways of scheduling and towards better practices. Options like those mentioned above support mental health and safety and focus, not on the number of hours rehearsed, but the quality of the time spent in rehearsals. By demonstrating to directors and producers the value to both the production and the people, stage managers can advocate for these positive changes.

Another aspect of company mental health that involves stage managers are the use of sick days. Sick days have typically always been used for physical ailments, so how a stage manager responds if someone calls out, citing the need for a “mental health day” instead of a typical “sick day,” can greatly affect a company. A compassionate response will go a long way to maintain the positive and safe work environment we value.

The next challenge may be the most difficult for stage managers, caring for our own mental health. Maintaining work/life balance is something many stage managers struggle with often giving our time and energy at the expense of our own. In May of 2020, the Broadway Stage Management Symposium featured a panel of stage managers and social workers focused on the mental health of stage managers. In August, USITT featured a panel with the organization Behind the Scenes highlighting the mental health resources they have available. “Even without the uncertainties of life in a pandemic, the unique environment and stresses of working in the entertainment industry are extremely challenging. It’s critical to make sure you, and those you care about, stay healthy; mentally and emotionally as well as physically.” ⁷   The challenges over the last year have highlighted mental health issues our industry has been struggling with. It is such an important topic, a senior stage management student at University of Arizona is doing her thesis on the subject.³

In this new era, we have to address both personal and company health and safety in more creative and compassionate ways. Rethinking the old process and bringing in new people to help.

RACE & EQUITY

In the days following the murder of George Floyd, we experienced a new social awakening. We See You White American Theatre ⁸ published a powerful, critical, insightful, and thought-provoking treatise enumerating the many ways systemic racism has infected the theatre and detailing how our industry needs to change.

To be an effective leader in rehearsal and performance, it has become clear that new learnings and understandings must be part of a stage managers skill set. Only with new tools can we combat the systemic racism that is embedded in our culture. During the shutdown, many members of the stage management community have taken on the responsibility of educating themselves.

The Year of the Stage Manager Facebook group became a meeting place for stage managers to lean into these conversations, learn in public, and rebuild our process in order to do better. YSM founder, Amanda Spooner said in American Theatre Magazine, “I think what stage managers should be doing right now, as much as they can, is learning  exactly how white supremacy culture functions in the performing arts… What am I doing to dismantle white supremacy culture? You can’t dismantle it unless you know it, unless you see it. When stage managers go back, and their role is as a middle manager, you can pretend that because you’re not legally a supervisor, you can wash your hands of it. But you’re lying to yourself, because you’re clearly an authority in the room. You’re clearly functioning as someone who is guiding a project and guiding priorities and keeping clear goals.” ⁹

One way to begin this process of learning was with reading and discussion groups of the books “White Fragility” by Robin DeAngelo & “How to be an Anti-Racist” by Ibram X. Kendi. These discussions lead to smaller informal chats where stage managers could share their understandings of cultural differences, the impact of micro-aggressions, their own privilege, and how white supremacy has been built into many of the systems we have accepted.

Ira Mont said, stage management is “fundamentally…taking care of the human beings working on a show,” ⁹ then we need to develop a much better understanding of how what we say and what we do affect BIPOC company members and perpetuate a culture of white supremacy. Readings and discussions and self-education are a necessary step for stage managers to realign our actions with the values of equity, equality, diversity, and inclusion.

Some stage managers have written about the systemic issues in our industry.  The insightful article “Hold, Please,” written by six BIPOC stage managers ¹⁰ states the vital importance for stage managers to critically access their process. “For stage managers in particular… we must be mindful of the ways we facilitate our rehearsal and performance processes. Choosing not to practice continual self-reflection and adjustment perpetuates harm to ourselves, everyone around us, and particularly Black, Indigenous, and people of color.” ¹⁰ The article gives specific examples of how concepts like: Urgency, Perfectionism, Objectivity, Power-Hoarding and more contribute to white supremacy culture.

Leading stage management educators, Narda E. Alcorn of Yale, and Lisa Porter of UC San Diego, collaborated on an article to help stage managers “emerge from this lengthy COVID-19 pause prepared to navigate a new production landscape.” ¹¹ Some of their detailed strategies for stage managers include:

• “Intentionally incorporating anti-racist language can prioritize the deconstruction of systems of oppression.” ¹⁵
• “Establish boundaries when racist language is part of the content of a play, clearly stating how that language will be used by different members of the company. This strategy is especially important for stage managers who will prompt or stand-in for a particular character.” ¹⁵
• “Speak up as an ally and stage manager, taking on the responsibility of disrupting and interrupting racist aggression towards non-White colleagues who have been harmed.” ¹⁵
• “Recommend that the director and creative team open conversations about race… For example, opening conversations about costumes, hair, and makeup are especially important since, even within a multiracial cast, the default might be to white skin color and hair texture.” ¹⁵
• “Question microaggressions that are typically normalized in the production process, like a White colleague commenting that a Black actor speaks Shakespeare well…” ¹⁵

By critically looking at our practice, we discover “there are so many places we, as stage managers, can be culpable in perpetuating white supremacy… “:¹¹

The 2021 Broadway Stage Management Symposium brought together some of these authors and and other stage managers to discuss Anti-Racist Stage Management, the work they are engaged in the importance of reflecting and evaluating our own processes. Stage managers will be on the front lines when issues arise and need to take personal responsibility to learn to see and discuss race issues, foresee and address concerns. This is critical to creating the safe and equitable spaces we want our theatre to be.

The Stage Managers’ Association (SMA) released a statement in June of 2020 that states: “We at the Stage Managers’ Association stand with those who are committed to fighting oppression, racism, and hate. We can do better. We must do better. We call upon all stage managers to pledge to respect everyone in the room and everyone at the table. To read, to listen and to learn so that we can understand individually how to help make the rehearsal room and the performance stage a place for joyful creation, with mutual respect and collaboration for all people working together in the artistic process.” ¹²

Access and diversity in stage management is also part of the new era of stage management. Stage managers are actively creating avenues to bring more stage managers of color into the tight-knit networks that have a huge impact on a stage manager’s career. Broadway & Beyond: Access for Stage Managers of Color has created networking events and an online database of stage managers of color. Cody Renard Richard and Broadway Advocacy Coalition created a scholarship program for BIPOC theatre makers ¹³. The SMA launched a social media program to highlight 101 Black Stage Managers that comes with free membership in the professional association. the Broadway Stage Management Symposium (with the support of BIPOC stage managers) created scholarships for stage managers of color to attend the professional development and networking conference for free.¹⁴

Stage managers preparing to emerge from the shutdown with tools to be better leaders, allies, and advocates for this new age. This also applies to gender identity.

Gender identity is another area where the leadership of the stage manager is important. Incorporating respectful use of pronouns allows a stage manager to set a tone of inclusion. A colleague once told me about the book: A Quick and Easy Guide to They/Them Pronouns and how they would keep the book on their stage management table. Company members would be curious and ask about it. This educates company member and sets an important example. Leadership helps bring a better understanding of diversity, in all its manifestations, to our industry. The theatre should be a welcome and safe place for all and stage managers set this tone with their actions.

In the new era of stage management, stage managers can become important allies and advocates by engaging in self-education, welcoming challenging discussions, listening, learning, and creating an equitable and safe space for the creation of theatre.

CLIMATE CRISIS

Even before the pandemic and shutdown, the climate crisis was an important issue. The introduction to Congress of the Green New Deal spotlighted the great challenges and opportunities our country has. In the theatre, we’ve been moving slowly towards greener practices, however, the intensity to implement new sustainable ways to work has been invigorated during the shutdown and the time we’ve had to reflect and envision our post-pandemic return to work.

The Broadway Green Alliance has been around for decades and made many strides to help our industry work in a more sustainable way. During the shutdown, BGA director Molly Braverman along with many other theatre makers, have created a new program for theatre artists and stage managers: Green Re-Opening Toolkit.

“As we consider how to reopen our theatres and return to work, we have the opportunity to further integrate sustainable solutions into our protocols. Prioritizing health and safety does not need to come at the expense of the environment. In fact, the COVID-19 crisis shines a spotlight on the inextricable link between the health and safety of our people and our planet.” ¹⁵

During the shutdown, BGA produced a webinar, “It’s Possible: Sustainable Stage Management,” ¹⁶ that featured stage managers discussing greener practices that can make a significant impact in our world and our lives. For example, stage managers traditionally use a lot of paper: in/out sheets, daily and weekly printed schedules, monthly calendars, daily report, etc… All this paper could be eliminated with programs like: Virtual Callboard, Propared, ShowBuilder, Cue to Cue, Stage Doc, Theatron, and more. There are technologies that can help stage managers and production managers be more efficient and greener at the same time.

The Broadway Stage Management Symposium has featured these companies and more in the webinar series SM Tech Friday ¹⁷ to help use our down time to learn new technologies. Green practices also took center stage at three different sessions at USITT this year: The Sustainable Production Toolkit, Climate Crisis and Theatre, and Sustainable Solutions for Reopening Theatre. The BGA was also featured at the 2021 Broadway Stage Management Symposium.

Stage managers are embracing sustainable practices and demonstrating to producers and employers that green practices can be economical as well as environmental. You can learn more about the Green Re-Opening Tooklit here and join the growing movement to bring greener practices into the new era of stage management.

CONCLUSION

The role of the stage manager includes tracking and noting the many changes that occur throughout the production process. During our industry’s shut down, stage managers have still been managing change, but of different type. The world is different than when we went into the shutdown in March of 2020. This new world requires new tools and stage managers can lead the way into a new era.

The new era involves stage managers address in Covid health and safety, systemic racism, and the climate crisis in our industry. Stage managers can advocate for Covid Safety Supervisors and a fresh look at our schedules, as well as better understanding towards company and our own mental health. Stage managers can re-evaluate their practice, remove racist language and harmful practices from use, educate ourselves on how white supremacy culture may be embedded in our practices, listen and lean into difficult conversations, and incorporate more stage managers of color into their networks. Stage managers can also incorporate greener practices and use more efficient technologies to reduce carbon footprints, waste, and harm on the environment.

In the Art of Leadership, author Donald Walters says on the first page, “Genuine leadership is of only one type: supportive.  It leads people: It doesn’t drive them. It involves them: It doesn’t coerce them. It never loses sight of the most important principle governing any project involving human beings: namely, that people are more important than things.” ¹⁸

Stage managers know this well and the new era of stage management is based on this universal theme. Stage managers will continue to care for people, but now with eyes and ears more open, with more knowledge, and better tools to address the challenges the pandemic has revealed.

References

1. Lawrence Stern, Stage Management (Allyn and Bacon, 2002), pg. 4

2. Peter Lawrence, Production Stage Management for Broadway (Quite Specific Media Ltd.), pg xi

3. Year of the Stage Manager facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/709114496283521/permalink/988426641685637

4. Ryan McPhee, IATSE Releases Safety Meansures for Eventual Theatre Reopenings… (Playbill.com), July 22, 2020, https://www.playbill.com/article/iatse-releases-safety-measures-for-eventual-theatre-reopenings-including-implementation-of-compliance-officers-eliminating-stage-dooring

5. https://www.usitt.org/sites/default/files/2021-01/COVID-19%20Reopening%20Guidelines_%20Position%20of%20Health%20and%20Safety%20Coordinator%20.pdf

6. https://nomore10outof12s.com/solutions/

7. https://secure.usitt.org/NC__Event?id=a0l0b00000ES695AAD&fbclid=IwAR0mp3C6JIALsdyPLdnYyeRBqcZ-IiwNNzrjSld4lP-zshPszf2usTzaSMk

8. https://www.weseeyouwat.com/

9. Jerald Raymond Pierce, Managing the Stage, and Managing Expectations, (American Theatre) Sept. 29 https://www.americantheatre.org/2020/09/29/managing-the-stage-and-managing-expectations/

10. Miguel Flores, R. Christopher Maxwell, John Meredith, Alex Murphy, Quinn O’Connor, Phyllis Smith, and Chris Waters, Hold, Please, (Howlround),  https://howlround.com/hold-please

11. Narda E. Alcorn and Lisa Porter, We Commit to Anti-Racist Stage Management Education, (Howlround) https://howlround.com/we-commit-anti-racist-stage-management-education

12. https://www.stagemanagers.org/wp-content/press/Stage-Managers-Association-Full-Statement.pdf

13. https://www.codyrenard.com/scholarship

14. https://www.broadwayworld.com/industry/article/Broadway-Stage-Management-Symposium-Announces-Charlie-Blackwell-Scholarships-for-BIPOC-Stage-Managers-20201218

15. https://www.broadwaygreen.com/greener-reopening-toolkit

16. https://www.broadwaygreen.com/greenquarantine

17. https://www.broadwaysymposium.com/sm-tech-fridays

18. J. Donald Walters, The Art of Leadership, (MJF Books), 1987, pg. 11

Also by Broadway Stage Management Symposium: