Collaborative storytelling: the stage manager's creative contribution

Theatre is innately human. Performative storytelling can be found across most, if not all, cultures. Evidence of ancestral dances, rituals, and recordings allow centuries-old tales to echo into the modern day. Our longing for connection and understanding binds us together as a species, and our pursuit of legacy has been a driving force in development of methods and technologies to better record and share our stories.

For me, the story is the driving force for the work that I do. The story is powerful; it can grant a voice to the voiceless, broaden perspectives, and teach us. Dramatizing our stories not only presents the human experience, but it is, in and of itself, a practice in the human experience. Practicing theatre relies on the collaboration of many and an attempt at building community. The success of any production is dependent on the gathering of many different people with varying skillsets who can come together with a shared goal.

I am a stage manager. On the surface, the job presents an administrative mask. We distribute important information to the team, run meetings, maintain schedules, ensure policies are adhered to, call the cues for the show, and archive the process. In a community of obvious artists, stage managers can seem out of place. Our creative process is not as evident as our counterparts, and one must think outside the box of the traditional definition of art to see how we fit the mold. However, stage managers are artists. Calling a show is a performance, and without our own sense of creativity and dedication to the vision, a show would not be successful. The stage manager’s adaptability and wealth of knowledge allows them to problem-solve. Our organizational abilities allow us to shift from detail-oriented work to broad, “big picture” focus. Stage managers are constantly juggling multiple facets of the production, and to ignore the artistry in that act is a disservice to the work it takes to do so without disrupting the process.