Читать книгу First Aid for the Artist's Soul - Christina Barandun - Страница 16

Both in-house and outside, the theatre is often called the last stronghold of dictatorship in Germany.⁶ Rigid hierarchical structures that developed over centuries continue to define the theatre system, and the trend for having a constant rotation of directors doesn’t help matters much.

While a change of director is certainly justified and may be a good thing for a city and its theatre, it is often too fast and too jarring a change (when the entire artistic direction and a large part of the ensemble are replaced, for instance). Such rapid transformations necessitate radical change on the structure of the entire organisation, and unless this confronted by a full organisational development process, it will be met often (and understandably) with vehement opposition from the theatre’s longterm employees.⁷

It takes decades and a good knowledge of viable organisational forms to affect these kind of transformations in a theatre’s structure. As well as this, any real, institutional change has to be based on trust, and trust takes time. With the frequent changing of directors, time is in short supply, so in order to get anything done the only option is pushing one’s own ideas through dictatorial power-mongering. In the already-tense atmosphere of the theatre, there is little here to reassure staff that there will be any attempt at a long-term alignment of the company.

Relationships within the workforce are hardly any healthier. A tricky labour market means that there is huge competition between the ensemble. While soloists see themselves as lone warriors, members of the chorus believe themselves to be merely a face in the crowd, feeling underappreciated and unchallenged – unaware that they themselves are envied elsewhere for their safe and secure jobs. The usual group dynamics occur within these ensembles – smouldering conflicts left unresolved are passed on to the next generation; insecurity of older members around their seniority over new recruits – that have a huge affect on the working climate.

Another problem for all theatres is that of communication – both within a department, and with other areas of theatre operation. Staff are not be kept up to date, instructions need to be repeated time and again. Many artists are simply unaware of the technical processes that go on elsewhere, and blithely request changes without a clue as to how much time and effort they will take.

The administrative staff deal with employment contracts and many other concerns vital to the artists, but their ‘normal’ working hours, regular tea breaks and bureaucratic focus means that they are seen by the artists themselves as glorified civil servants.

All this inherent discord surely aggravates stress.

So, what needs to be changed? And more importantly: How can we change it?