Why actors think tech rehearsals are boring
This post is coming at you as part of a brief respite (read: day off) of rehearsals from the NAC English Theatre Company’s production of A Christmas Carol, which opens this Friday. We are currently, um, mired in technical rehearsals… which can be painstakingly-detailed, intense and exhausting. And, really — that’s being polite.
So — what the heck is “tech”?
Roughly-put, “technical rehearsals” are the period when a play moves from the rehearsal hall to the stage, as part of preparation for opening night. The emphasis on acting is slightly decreased while everything else is added to the production: set, lighting, sound, costumes, special effects, and so on. The exact nature of any technical rehearsal period is shaped by a number of factors, from the complexity of the production to the preferred working method for the production team. Some plays are very simply-designed: very powerful theatre can be created with no set at all, or with one lighting state. Some plays (especially Fringe plays) can tech in a few hours; some plays (large, long-running Broadway-style shows) can tech for weeks.
For the last few working days, the actors have been in tech for A Christmas Carol. I’m specifying “actors” because our tech actually started a long time before we actors got involved, with the stage manager and production team working to prepare the theatre for the arrival of the needy-types (again, the actors). Although I haven’t checked with our stage management to see what they’ve done for Carol, I would be surprised if they hadn’t already done a “paper tech” — talking through every moment of the show to make sure all the cues are in the right places, and nothing is missing — and a “dry tech” — running through all of the technical cues on stage, without actors present, to make sure the basic setup is right.
The map for all of this work is something called the prompt book — literally, the bible for any production. This is a heavily-marked-up and exhaustively-annotated version of the same script that actors use. It’s far, far, far more than an acting script, though: it contains information on where every actor is on stage at every moment of the play; what they’re wearing, what props they’re carrying, where they enter and where they exit. Our cast features a company of twenty-one actors, so this alone is a massive feat of documentation. The prompt book also contains diagrams showing where all of the set pieces are, including all the bits that move (such as furniture… but we also have to track things like when doors and windows are opened and closed). It contains a list of every lighting cue and sound cue and special effect used in the show, and dictates where and when each of those cues must be executed. The prompt book knows all; the stage manager, who painstakingly builds the prompt book from scratch and uses it to run the show, sees all and controls all.
For A Christmas Carol, tech rehearsals with the actors have taken the form of a detailed, careful walk-through of the show from moment to moment, working and re-working every intersection of people and technology. I’m estimating a bit, but I’d say we will spend at least 40 rehearsal hours picking through the details of a production that will eventually run at a length of 100 minutes. Details include all of the following, in addition to things I’m sure I’m forgetting…
- We have to adjust to being on the stage: just being in a different space affects us, of course, but now that we can see the seats in the theatre in front of us, we can see where there may be problems with sight-lines. Additionally, we’re on a thrust stage (such as at Stratford), which carries its own challenges in terms of being visible and alive to everyone in the audience.
- We have to adjust to being lit: stage lighting can be very particular, in that being just a few inches out of position can mean the difference between being seen and being invisible. In this production, where light and darkness are almost characters themselves, this is particularly critical.
- We have to adjust to sound cues: scenes may be underscored or accentuated with sound, and often sounds have to be matched with onstage action.
- We have to figure out “traffic patterns” backstage: where props and furniture need to be placed so actors can find them when they need them; how to move on stage in the pitch darkness when six pieces of furniture and a rug are being moved down stairs and through doorways in seconds; where quick costume changes can happen so that they are effective and safe; which pathways need to be clear so that people can safely and quickly get from one part of the theatre to another.
- Our production also features lit candles and chandeliers and stairs and a trap door and ladders, and all of these things must be treated carefully so there is minimal risk of injury or accident.
A Christmas Carol is highly technical show thanks to its gorgeous design and direction (I don’t get paid to say this. Honest. Peter Hinton’s brain and vision are formidable and his style of theatre is the kind of theatre I love to be part of; Eo Sharp’s design skills are awe-inspiring, and I fell hopelessly in love with her work this past Spring when she designed the production of The Changeling that I did). The play moves along at a very fast clip, with frequent set changes that exploit elegant tricks of stage magic. These changes require precision and focus and in many cases have to be rehearsed several times to work out; as an extreme example, one sequence that will run about a minute on stage was the subject of almost three hours’ rehearsal.
For actors, tech rehearsals can be tedious: an actor waits interminably on stage to go through a scene change, thinking that nothing is happening, when in fact the stage manager is communicating over headset to an army of crew members and designers who are putting elements in place to help make the actor look and sound good. Sometimes I get through less than a line of text before I’m asked to stop; I wait a few minutes while things are tweaked, wait another moment while things are reset, and then am asked to take it back again. Sometimes what will eventually be an “offstage break” of a few minutes in the final production stretches to hours in tech… but actors have to be on “standby” at all times because they could be called upon at any moment. Tech rehearsals test the patience and focus of everyone as much as they expose and help correct issues. Anyone can relate to the exhaustion that comes from waiting for things to happen.
Today is our “day off” from the theatre; tomorrow we’ll jump right back into the 12-hour-a-day schedule. We’ll wrap up a few loose ends with tech, and run the whole show twice. On Tuesday night we’ll invite a pay-what-you-can audience to our dress rehearsal, and additional rehearsal time during the week will be used to correct and tweak any issues that arise. We then have two nights of “preview” performances, and we officially open on Friday, December 11. And that, dear reader, is what tech is all about, and why most actors, when asked how rehearsal is going during a tech period, will force a smile and say “great!”: tech is rough, and totally worth the effort.
Tags: Kris Joseph, NAC, Theatre
