Why Directors Hate Actors

OK, let's be honest, directors don't all hate actors, at least not all the time. But, hey, headlines are headlines. At some point in therehearsal process, however, there comes along, often a single, rehearsal where the actors completely drive the director nuts. I know, because I've been on both sides of the fence. Mr. Troup and my wife did it to me in the first production The Everyman Rep ever put on, Robert Mann's The Vespa. The cast did it to me again in Gaslight. It's that rehearsal where the cast can't stop laughing. At every single line, facial tic, or piece of toilet humour. Everything makes them dissolve into fits of giggles. Sometimes it's just one line that they can't get past. It's an essential process, and one that creates a bond between a cast that translates into great performances rather than just good ones. But, boy, is it irritating for directors.

It usually provokes lineslike: "Alright, if you're not prepared to work, then we all might just as well go home." Or: "Look, I'm not here to waste my time watching a bunch of four-year olds messing around on stage." Or: " Oh, my God, I've never seen anything so unprofessional." Comments like these just make the actors laugh more.

Our director for God of Carnage, Christina Burz, of whom more later, doesn't get here until tomorrow, and we already had our "You people are just wasting my time" rehearsal. But, in order that she shouldn't miss out on this valuable experience, and because in this show I am just an irritating actor, I shared the experience with her by phone. Not as irritating, but close enough.

Then she shared one of her prior: "This is just so childish" moments. But you'll have to wait for that one.