Directors, Stop Making Community Theatre Miserable

by Chris Peterson

I love community theatre, but I swear some directors make it much harder to love than it needs to be.

And I’m not talking about directors who expect a lot. I actually think community theatre directors should expect a lot. People should know their lines. They should come prepared. Rehearsals should start on time. There should be standards.

What I’m talking about are the directors who start acting like everyone in the room works for them.

They don’t.

Most of the people in community theatre are coming to rehearsal after already working a full day somewhere else. They have families, school, jobs, and they are still choosing to give several nights a week to a show.

That should probably factor into how you treat them.

I’ve seen directors talk down to actors over small mistakes, get weirdly territorial with designers, ignore stage managers, and then blame them when things go sideways. I’ve seen people turn notes into public humiliation because apparently, saying, “Can we try that again?” wasn’t dramatic enough.

None of that makes the show better.

And before anyone gets mad, yes, actors can be difficult, too. Of course they can. That comes with the territory.

But if you’re directing, you’re still responsible for the room you create.

If every disagreement somehow becomes a challenge to your authority, maybe everyone else isn’t the problem.

The best community theatre directors I know can be demanding without making the room miserable. They know what they want, but they also know when to listen. They push people, but they don’t seem to get off on making them uncomfortable.

Nobody is saying community theatre has to be some giant group hug where everyone gets a gold star for showing up. The work can be hard. It should be hard sometimes.

But this is also supposed to be something people want to come back to.

If you’ve created a rehearsal room where everyone is walking on eggshells because you need to feel like the most important person in it, I don’t care how clever your concept is. You’re missing the entire point of community theatre.