Landlubber

I'll be writing up on my Saturday with Michelle and Ken Schatz soon, but there is something personal I need to get out of the way before I can reindulge in the loveliness of theatre people.

The unpleasant side of young theatre people. And the unpleasant side of theatre teachers. And theatre in general.

Two emails today - TWO - regarding behaviour and absences and general college-ish things.

"This type of behavior and attitude is irresponsible and intolerable. I realize that you all have a lot going on, especially at this time of year. I get it, I've been there, and have a lot going on myself. I completely understand the level of stress you are under."

Yes, it's that time again - WORK ETHIC!

However, you need to do your work. You need to be prepared. You need to develop a work ethic that demonstrates that you are capable of being a PROFESSIONAL.

I've only been doing that since high school, because I was fortunate enough to have a director and friend who stressed a professional attitude above all else. And now, like then, people apparently would rather whine and squeak by on charm and talent. ((This relates to a discussion with Ken, actually, so this theme will continue when I'm less irritable))

I refuse to treat you like children, because you aren't children anymore. Please do yourselves a favor and start taking responsibility for your actions, and start taking your work seriously.

Good to know that I'm not the only one who has noticed this kind of thing. It pisses me off that we all have to receive the bitch-tastic emails that make me feel pathetic and amateur to be lumped in with people behaving like entitled children, but alas, I am among them. Among them am I.

The best part is, in spite of this email, it will probably take some of them a good few years to really understand it, if they ever figure it out at all.

Another email. People have been calling out of voice lessons last minute (I'm guilty of this, I am not ashamed to admit) and that's been an organizational nightmare and accompanists get paid and all sorts of logistical things that are being compromised because people are getting sick. In response to this, we receive the following:

Please take extra care, continue to dress as if it's still winter, push the fluids and the vitamin C, and REST, including getting enough sleep. It's worth noting that many actor/singers who do 8 shows/week rely on 9 hrs sleep/night for vocal rest and repair.

So my un-collegiate habits of trying to sleep 8+ hours a night and not party and not eat shit food have been validated. That's nice.

I appreciate that it's tough with the work load and that mid-terms bring additional pressure, but please bear in mind that the good habits you create for yourselves now will stand you in good stead for your professional careers. Anything that you can do to protect yourselves, manage your time and succeed in taking advantage of the remarkable skill, energy and commitment that your teachers bring to your lessons will ultimately be rewarded and appreciated.

So, while that is merely helpful and mildly reprimanding, we have now been presented with the Paradox of Good Studentship due to both of these emails. This paradox has been well known to me for some time, and I have yet to discover an effective solution.

We are requested, in each of our classes, to do a "minimum" amount of outside work. This is generally an hour for each class, but some request more. ALSO this week is midterms. My game plan is generally as follows:

Once I return from classes, it is between 5pm and 6pm, usually. To get 8-9 hours of sleep, as directed (and desired, in my case), that means I must be asleep by 10:30pm, which is usually what I aim for. The amount of work I am supposed to do, in that five and a half hour span, usually equates to much more than five and a half hours. And this isn't counting my academic course work, or when I need to eat, or if I'm particularly exhausted, or any extra workshop that eats into my free time.

So, I know what they expect, but they truly, TRULY have to understand that, in a school setting, in the death throes of winter, with our kind of work, and our course load, it is really fucking impossible to do everything. So we sacrifice here to meet par there. And then there are the lazy idiots making people like me look like we're just not trying when we're actually struggling and working our ass off.

NOW. With that said, I am off to work on my sight singing midterm, swap laundry, possibly do dishes, practice choreography for four pieces, possibly start an internship application, possibly start selecting scenes for our next project, possibly practice piano, possibly organize my voice lesson recordings into an accessible practice file, and possibly do my Theatre in Latin America homework.

And they have the gall to think I'm being effing lazy.