So You Want to Put on a Show - Getting the Performers Together (I Mean Really Together)

Over pullip years I have learned a lot about people who perform as amateurs. They are a varied bunch, some so talented it takes your breath away, some completely incapable of doing anything unless instructed clearly what Doom Patrol want - and then so talented it is shocking. I have worked with performers who simply feel that their job is to deliver a performance and that everything else will be taken care of by someone else. On the other hand there are some performers who just adore being involved 1956 Topps baseball cards every part of the process. You will find them making costumes, putting up the set, supporting others in learning lines, posting flyers through doors - anything that is part of the overall process.

It can be a real challenge simply to get the performers organised. One way - and probably the most important - is to let them know when rehearsals will happen, throughout the preparation period, where, at what time and for how long. You are working with people who have lives, and sometimes there will be times when a rehearsal has to be missed, an emergency at work, a long-scheduled holiday, half term holidays. But unless you let them know, early in the process when they are needed they will not know and they will be all over the place! The time by which lines should be known is also essential. They also need to be aware of exactly when the show goes on, and the demands upon them in the week running up to the show.

I have been part of productions where a very important member of the cast has known, since before they took on their part, that they would be away on holiday two weeks before the production 'goes live'. This is just not on. It makes it terribly difficult for Director and Cast alike, and leads to grumbling backstage and headaches and confusion onstage. Illness is one thing, but in amateur groups you never have enough performers for understudies to be available. It is such a problem to call someone in last minute if a performer drops out, that really, everything should be done to avoid it. Disasters happen, and they can be circumvented, but not easily. A well-rehearsed cast will manage and be able to help someone stepping in at the last moment, but not if they have become accustomed to rehearsing around absentees for the whole run of rehearsals.

So, a clear rehearsal schedule is a must. Letting the cast know that they not only will be allowed to help with the set up for the show, but are positively encouraged to share the task is also really useful. I seriously think that some people do backstage because they like a good moan about them doing it all and the performers just being egotists who cannot do anything without an audience, but if they are deprived of a good moan it won't do them any harm and everyone who takes part in the set up gets a greater sense of ownership of the finished product. (And a clearer view of all that goes on to bring something together - some people decide to learn to direct shows because what they see in the set up period fires their imagination).

It must be made clear to the performers what is expected of them on performance nights. Unless there is a real disaster, they really need to be at the theatre in plenty of time to dress and do their makeup, with the director secure in the knowledge that everyone is ready. A warm up should be planned for each night that brings people together and lets them, well, warm up. (If you are singing this is essential and most MDs will want to do this - but just a few vocal exercises are really useful if you are not singing. And a little physical warm up is done by the professionals so how much more might it be useful to amateurs?).

There must be some rules about what happens backstage. Alcohol is not a great adjunct to remembering lines, and really doesn't help loosen you up! Smoking backstage isn't on, as we all know now, the laws being what they are. Smokers probably need to get some of that nicotine gum for the week of the performance. And it should go without saying, but if it does someone doesn't realise it, that people should be using a good deodorant, not be doused in perfume, and have cleaned their teeth recently. It is so hard to single out someone and say, well, 'You smell' but a carefully crafted letter to all performers takes care of all but the most disastrous of cases. (Have you ever had to kiss a relative stranger several times each night for a week and found that they don't seem to own a toothbrush? I have. It's no fun.)

Running around talking at the top of your voice during the performance is also not ideal, but unless you let people know, someone will think it's OK. And waltzing unannounced into the women's dressing room may be exciting for one of the male cast, but may not be the most acceptable behaviour. Yes, we're all show-offs to some extent, but most of us like to think we can get changed in private - or at least without members of the opposite sex running in and catching us half-naked.

If children and young people are involved in the show they will need someone to look after them, and boys and girls will need a separate dressing room. Some theatres require a formally registered chaperone, others will accept a parent, but most require that the adult be 'police checked'. Young people, by the nature of them, need more attention backstage - they get tired and silly, and then noisy, in a situation that is really highly charged and exciting.

Finally, you will have to decide whether it is OK for performers to be 'in the wings' watching the performance when they are not in that bit. For some performers there is no interest at all in what others are doing and they are perfectly happy to sit in the dressing room and gossip, waiting for the Continuity person to alert them to their next entry. For others (I admit it - I am one) not to see what the others are doing is painful. I ask the Stage Manager if I may watch, out of sight, usually get permission, and join the one or two others who cannot bear to miss a moment. Of course, if I have costume changes to make I do it first - but, for me, the wonder of what is happening onstage is unmissable. I have never been told that I may not watch, quietly and unseen, from the wings. I do not quite know what would happen if the whole cast wanted this. Well, yes, I do, we would all have to stay in the dressing rooms - but it doesn't happen. There are always people who need not to be involved in that way.

So, let everyone know the rules and they will play by them. Less moaning will be generated and everyone will have more fun. The production will run smoothly and the occasional unavoidable hitch will not prove to be a disaster. I have seen performances where, due to illness, an actor had to read lines on stage. Though different, these were not failures. I once saw an opera where the main actor, whose voice had disappeared, performed but mimed to an actor off stage using a score. It was odd, but it worked. We can overcome all kinds of unforeseen problem if we are really well organised. It really pays!

I am Dianna Moylan, in my mid-sixties, an ex-teacher who has been involved for many years in local amateur dramatics, I have directed, designed and made costumes, taught the songs and performed in many musicals and plays. I live in a small house which is rapidly becoming swamped with doll house stuff which I build, renovate, sell and hoard. My site, http://www.diannadollhouses.co.uk is newly launched. I also sell on eBay. In addition to loving making dolls' houses I enjoy writing a lot and welcome this opportunity to have a say.