Siege - Day 14 (Another Monday)

Watching my new office mate leaping into Monday morning at (shudder) normal business hours reminds me of just how different theater schedules are.  Here are a few rules of thumb:


1)  Never call any theater person except a carpenter before noon.

Now, designers and tech folks generally get up and start work way earlier, but never assume that a director is ready to answer your questions before then.  On the other hand, it is not impossible that a director might call you - or have the stage manager text you anyway - after, say, 10:00 at night.  Or send a long, complex email at midnight.  Because they just finished rehearsal and their wide-awake brain is seething with ideas and questions for you.

2)  Know that you will work some evenings.

That's just when theater happens.  And even though the carpenters and painters tend to work daylight hours (when the stage isn't, you know, cluttered with actors), still there will be rehearsals you, as designer, must attend.  Certainly midnight emails you must attend to.

This can get a little sleep-deprivy when, as for an outdoor production, you must consult with carpenters in the cool of the morning, but also watch the rehearsal after dark (so lighting designers can work!) and take notes at the following production meeting.  Back home by 1:00 a.m. gets tiring!

In addition to the skew of your work hours to fit the hours of carpenters and actors, remember that many designers (maybe you too) have day jobs and just aren't able to do theater except during chinks in normal business hours.  (So if you nap to make up for the weird hours of that outdoor production, know that your nap will be interrupted at noon.)

3)  And weekends.

Set Load-In or Strike and certainly Tech all require so much time and so many different people that they must usually be scheduled on weekends.  Expect that.

4)  You're never truly off-duty.

If there's a problem, there's a call. (Or more likely a text.)  You will hear about it immediately and be expected to think on your feet in that awkward moment too.  Knowing that you could be interrupted can make it awkward to do other things... something to keep in mind as your show enters into its most fraught stages, heading toward Opening...

To non-theater people (especially morning people!) our weird hours and conditions of employment may seem horrible.  

But, eavesdropping on my work mate's Monday morning three-conference-calls-before-10:00am life...  Gee, I'm glad I don't have to think quite so hard, quite so early!