The Problems with the Canberra Theatre Scene* #3

Before I get this one started, I feel I should clear the air about a few things.
Firstly, someone on Facebook felt the need to say they thought I was only thinking about the Canberra AMATEUR Theatre Scene... This is an accurate assumption, for two reasons:
1. The amateur scene is the one in which all of the production companies I mentioned exist. Well done.
2. The "professional" scene in Canberra is so ridiculously minimal that it barely warrants consideration.
Perhaps I should adjust the titles of these posts to reflect this focus, but then I figure that I didn't have anyone complain to me that my article has nothing to do with a subsection of an act of a show currently performing on the Canberra Theatre stage, so not everybody thinks "Canberra Theatre Scene" is too vague.
Secondly, I don't claim to be objective. It's impossible for anybody to be objective. Especially in theatre (AMATEUR theatre for nit-pickers). My opinions are mine. If I say that I think a company is full of butt-pimpled hippopotami, I've said it. You're welcome to disagree with me, and tell me why I'm wrong. If you raise a good argument, or a perspective I hadn't considered, I will change my mind and probably remove the comment. If, however, you decide to go militant on my comment thread as if I've just insulted the very principles by which you govern your existence, I will merely poke the fire, and probably make my claim louder.
Seriously, that one person on my first post acted as if I'd eaten a steak cooked by my naked slave-girl in front of a vegan feminist. And yet I kept the comment gone (I'd removed it after Jim had civilly put forward an explanation of why I was wrong), and warned both the commentor and whoever it was who tore strips off them. I probably won't be as open to your rants in future.
Ranting at me will get you nowhere. I'm going to liken it to a literalist Evangelist barging into Questacon and shouting at everyone for worshiping false idols and believing in sorcery. You're entitled to your opinion, but if you're in someone else's space, you act civilly and respectfully. You do not start acting like a drunk and tasered chimpanzee, frantically tossing feces around.

Anyway, we'd just finished #4...
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6. Expecting Professional Commitment
Amateurs love to look professional, and professionals hate to look amateur. Hence the drive from some production teams and companies to expect/demand the commitment that professionals would give. I get that. You want an awesome show. So do your cast/crew.
But almost everyone in your cast has a full-time job, unless you're casting teenagers, at which point they're at school. So you can't expect five-night weeks of rehearsal, plus weekends. Before I get forty tantrums, I know that not every company does this, and many companies are quite relaxed with their schedules. I'm just saying that those companies who DO demand this, need to step back and remember that pushing your cast that little too much works against you. Not only does it physically and mentally exhaust them, it takes them away from their loved ones that extra bit (creating frustrating amounts of tension... No dirty jokes, please) and they (and their families/partners/cats) resent you for it. They may not say it, they may not show it, but they do. They resent you and your stupid show that you're not even paying them for. They hold YOU personally responsible for taking their hobby and passion and turning it into something that adds stress to the rest of their lives.
Bonus points go to people who aggressively voice frustration that their casts can't give availability for a media call when they don't know what time it will be, let alone the date, and whether or not any media will actually show up. And then make them feel awful when they have to go back to work, and you've been faffing about for so long that you're out of time.
Basically, my thought is that you have to be happy with the time your cast/crew can give you. If you want full-time commitment, pay them a full-time salary.


7. Too Many Cooks Spoil The Broth
This one is, I know full well, a common rant about most companies. Again, there are some companies that this doesn't apply to, but there are many more to whom it does, so I'm writing it.
Imagine you're an actor. You're in the wings, preparing to go onstage for your first dress rehearsal on the stage. You walk onto the stage floor, to the props table to grab the important book/telescope/bottle/whatever that you have to carry onstage. Upon reaching the props table you notice that it is missing. Which is bizarre, as you put it on the props table, and checked it last time you came offstage... You begin looking around frantically, before a crew member asks what you're doing, before explaining that a different crew member placed it on the props table on the other side of the stage, despite the labeled and outlined space for it on this one.
Regardless, you sprint around and get your prop, and rush back to your entrance wing. Just as you're about to take that step, you feel a tugging on the back of your jumper. Thinking it's just someone trying to share something funny, you offer a quick, nonchalant nod and focus again on the stage. You lift your foot and your weight suddenly goes backwards as one of the costume-sewing assistants continues to pluck those little bits of lint off of your sweater. You shake her off, stumble onstage two seconds late, and hear a loud and frustrating groan from the auditorium. Don't worry, it wasn't the director. It was the company president, who's sat in on today's run to point out every flaw in the production directly into the director's ear.
This is all, of course, hypothetical, but the point is that at a certain point, there is no need for everyone in the company to interfere in a production. And I'm not just talking about the cast. The amount of actors I've seen telling the techies how to do their jobs, or the box office staff, or the other actors, or the costume ladies. Everybody steps on everybody else's toes.
I know that this doesn't happen in every show, for every production. And it certainly (usually) doesn't happen to the exaggerated degree I've just demonstrated. My point is that if you want people to do a good job, show them that you believe they will. Otherwise they'll just stop trying.

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Again, not everything in this post applies to every company. Just most for most. I'm also avoiding naming any companies this time, lest people get precious again.  Feel free to name them in comments though. As long as we stay "civil", I'm happy to let you do whatever you'd like.