Zen and the Art of the Monologue by Sankey Jay;

Author:Sankey, Jay;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook, book
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Group
Published: 2011-09-17T16:00:00+00:00

What about stagehands and assistants?

And if we are lost, then we are lost together.

—Blue Rodeo

What are friends for? I bet you can dig up a friend or two who is interested enough in both you and the theater to be glad to help out. But choose your assistants very carefully. You are asking them to do nothing less than be intimately involved in your creative quest (even if you need them only to move two chairs and hit Play on the tape recorder). The last thing you want to do is have someone hanging around during rehearsals who turns out to be an opinionated, even negative, influence.

Here, then, are the four qualities I look for in an assistant or stagehand. First, positivity. Believe me, whether your first performance goes well or not, you are going to want to have as many “positive vibes” around you as possible. Second, responsibility. An assistant who is always late for rehearsals or cannot be completely counted on to take care of this or that is an absolute liability in the theater. Third, a secure ego. I have seen monologuists get into repeated arguments with an assistant. I believe it was at least partly because the assistant was (on some level) uncomfortable with being just that, an assistant. Onstage, your task is to try to woo your muse, to be an inspired performer. And your assistant’s job is to assist you in that matter. There is a pecking order, a kind of artistic chain of command, and if you get a sense that an individual may not have the underlying strength and humility to truly assist you, do not ask for his help.

The fourth and last quality I look for in a helper is creativity, in hopes that he will be able to make some great suggestions as the show develops during rehearsals. But notice that the other three qualities matter more, at least to me. Lord knows I can always use some fresh creative imput, but not from an assistant who is not at least as positive, responsive, and emotionally secure as he is creative.

Assistants can be hazardous in another way as well. In my experience there have been times, especially during rehearsals and just before actual performances, when I have been tempted to indulge in what I call “flights from self”—chatting or horsing around with an assistant when I really should have been focusing my thoughts and feelings. In such moments, I suspect I am actually trying to avoid myself, probably out of nerves. Part of me believes that a “break” from self-awareness is as valuable as a brief vacation, a stress release; when you later refocus, your energy is often renewed and you approach the task at hand with fresh eyes. On the other hand, there have been times where my fatigue or nerves got the best of me and I found myself seeking distraction to the detriment of the rehearsal or show.

Be aware of this possible unconsious temptation and keep in

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