Anonymous

“And there was one night where it was a few minutes to the time we supposed to be released for the day but the director insisted that we run the scene that was just teched before leave. There clearly wasn’t enough time to do this and everyone was dead tired but our stage manager did not stop it. This scene required a transition into another scene where a multi-hundred pound living room set had to be hung maybe 40-50 feet in the air. Now because everyone was rushing to get this done since we were clearly the out of time for that day’s 10/12, the set piece was not hung properly and almost dropped on a cast member who thankfully had moved out of the way in time.”

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AnonymousAnonymous

“A 10/12 or whatever the tech rehearsal length is easily and normally a 14-16 hour day, and it takes a physical and emotional toll. I’ve had off and on tingling on one of my feet for a few months for being on my feet so much over several weeks of putting in a show. I have a permanent knot in my neck now, and during a few weeks of one tech I could not fully turn my head.”

AnonymousAnonymous

“As a disabled person, I feel like I constantly just have to “suck it up” and deal with my
chronic pain which is always exacerbated by long tech days…I take care of myself (which being scared of having to call out without having someone who knows my track definitely makes me do)…the long days make having a flare up more likely and almost impossible to recover from if I’m not able to get a full nights sleep. I’m only 22 and I imagine this all will only get worse as I age.”

AnonymousAnonymous

“We should strive for solutions where no one on the show is asked to work more than a 10/12 on any given day. One path might be to have more tech notes days (e.g. 1 full day of tech notes for every 2-3 days of rehearsal). On the tech notes days, actors would go back to rehearsal room for acting/blocking notes. Another path is to hire more folx and do split shifts. Another might be hourly pay for everyone.”