Time is of the Essence

I’m a theatre guy. I work mostly with words and pictures. I know enough about math to get by, but my answer to most things arithmetic is “close enough”. However, over the years of working in almost every level of educational theatre possible, I have done some calculations and come to a startling discovery: Kids spend more time in rehearsal than in performance.

Maybe this isn’t earth shattering, but it is interesting when you begin the journey from idea to script to stage. I have decided that, even though math is not my bailiwick, I will use it to prioritize my efforts. Namely, I will make rehearsals more important that the performance. Everything I do will not be geared toward what the audience will see, but what the actors will learn.

When directing high school musicals, we spend three months rehearsing after school, and we perform for an audience six times. Two hours a day for five days a week, for four weeks a month, for three months equals 120 hours. (I didn’t even add extra time for tech week madness.) Six performances, with call time added (heck I’ll even throw in strike and cast parties,) and you are looking at maybe 30 hours. The question I have asked is not, “Which of these two are more important?” it is, “Which of these two will have the greatest effect on my student actors?” And that, in my philosophy, is the crux of all choices in educational theatre.

This time differential has changed how I direct. Instead of aiming for the finish line of “Opening Night,” I focus on a bigger picture in a smaller frame. I focus on the outcome of today’s rehearsal. At the end of each night, I ask myself, “What did my actors learn today?”* The quickest answer is, “They learned their music, their blocking, their choreo,” but the second answer is more important. Maybe a shy chorus member learned to trust his own ideas. Maybe another learned to trust someone else’s suggestions. Maybe a diva learned that she is not the most important person in the room, even if she has the biggest part. Maybe someone else learned that he is very important, even though he has the smallest part. I hope they all learned that people and places do exist that are safe and supportive. Maybe they learned how to be a person like that.

There are so many of these tangible-but-difficult-to-assess outcomes in educational theatre. There aren’t any tests to prove you have done anything worthwhile. I daresay that many students won’t even give you credit for teaching them these things. The product of all this education may very well not be visible until they are long graduated. There isn’t much to do about that except trust that it is still a worthwhile goal and enjoy the show.

*-No, I don’t do this every night. Some nights, I stumble home and crawl into bed, wondering how I will find enough energy to do this tomorrow. This is especially true during tech week. On most nights, though, I have the luxury of this type of introspection.