Hell Week

​Hell week for the Diary of Anne Frank was definitely a challenge, especially with being a stage manager. When we had started out the week, I still hadn’t had any of my light cues written down. Luckily I had sort of memorized the light positions and could stumble my way through the transitions. I’m not saying that any of the actors were entitled, but I definitely think they’re unaware of all of the work that gets put into the show that’s not on stage. When we had to do a cue-to-cue run-through of the show to establish and formally write down all of the lighting and sound cues, the actors weren’t really used to it and were trying really hard not to show their boredom or any annoyance. There were sometimes when we didn’t have a certain prop or cue and we’d be two days from opening and I wasn’t sure how we were going to make it or fix it but somehow it all came together in the end. There was even a moment in the play where a very important prop was left off stage (Peter’s coat with his Jewish star on it) and our actors were able to completely glide over the moment like it was no big deal. When I was planning on not acting this semester and stage managing instead, I thought it was going to be easier because I wasn’t dealing with memorization, but I now have much more respect for stage managers because the work is an entirely different kind.