Gotta have faith.

I have spoken to a number of actors who tell me they won't let the director know when they've been blocked to perform a move or action that hurts them physically or scares them.  They don't want to rock the boat. They don't want to be labelled as difficult.

As a long time theatre person, I know that getting a bad reputation (deserved or no) can be a killer for an actor. You just stop being cast and nobody tells you why. Just brutal. A nightmare. Same thing goes for just about every position, however. The community can, with no notice nor chance to change one's behaviour, quietly close ranks and stop letting an individual do anything. I've seen this happen to highly effective people, highly talented people. I've seen it happen in professional and community level theatre. Ostracism is rampant. Course, I don't think ostracism is wise but that's a topic for another post.

Long and short, though:  If this happens to you, you're out in the cold. Often with no recourse. Which is why I understand the fear of standing up for yourself. You don't want to get a reputation.

But the very same actors who don't let you know they are hurting, will argue with you for half an hour before accepting a bit of blocking that they don't understand. That's okay. But personal safety? You don't want to be a problem?

When it comes to safety, we should never muck around. And you have to have faith that you're working with adults who care.

Don't be afraid to come forward. Theatre is dangerous. And, if the move or action hurts, imagine how it's going to feel after you do it a hundred times? N'up, let me know right away. That information, truly, helps me in my opinion and, if you're not working for someone like me, if you're working for a bunch of jerks who couldn't give a shit about your safety, let 'em ostracize you. You may live longer.


Jacqui Burke is a freelance director, writer, and theatrical teacher living in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  She is currently prepping and leading her Shakespeare is Boffo! theatre arts camps for active kids, directing directing Lend Me A Tenor for Scarborough Theatre Guild , directing The Wild Life (a Kidsplay production), prepping for Shakespeare is Boffo! 2013, Summer Camps, and prepping for and all female version of Taming of the Shrew for Jaybird Productions going up in the fall of this year. She is, also, serializing The Pretender, her first novel, online at http://thepretender-amarcienoelnovel.blogspot.ca/.  


Jacqui Burke
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