THE THEATRE TECHNICIAN

THE THEATRE TECHNICIAN


I had a very long conversation on Friday night which highlighted what I think is one of the underlying problems within our theatre industry: The status of the technician.


It seems as if there is a feeling amongst young theatre technicians that they are the most important part of any production, that without them, there can be no production.


I have news for them, bad news. Think about it for a second, what do audiences go and see? Performances. By definition, that means they are going to see performers. Guess what? Performers are the most important part of any performance.


Take away the sets, lighting, sound, props, costumes, make-up, etc, and what do we have left? The performers performing - exactly what the audience came to see.


Now let's take the performers out of the equation. What is left? Lovely lighting on sets, well planned sound effects, props with no one to handle them, a pile of costumes...you get my drift? It will be completely pointless unless done as a self indulgent exercise, but by no stretch of the imagination can it be called a performance.


Now, don't misunderstand me, I am not for one second saying that we do not need the technicians. I started my professional life as a technician and I hope to die a techie. I never wanted to be a performer, still don't, I have always only wanted to be a techie!


Maybe I was just lucky, but I learnt very early on that as a technician, I will always only play a supporting role, but I can play a role in any production. I know that as a technician, I can contribute to a very good production and maybe help it become an excellent one.


Today's young technicians complain that they don't get respect from the performers. Bad news, again. Nobody "gets" respect, you have to earn it. An arrogant attitude and a superior feeling does not earn respect.


Where does this attitude come from? I suspect that it largely comes from the educational system wherein our technicians are supposed to learn their craft. They no longer work on productions from the first rehearsal through to closing night - too often they arrive at the theatre a week before opening with no preparation (often without scripts). How can we expect them to become a part of the production when they don't even know who is in the cast?


Theatre is the ultimate in collaboration and in my experience, the most successful productions are collaborations between all aspects, performers and technicians.


I seriously advocate a return to the tried and tested system that still works in professional theaters - the technicians must become part of the collaborate effort from the start.