“Director _________”

I want to preface this essay with this statement: I am, in fact, a theatre kid… but that doesn’t make me biased in any way towards the argument I will be making. I’ve seen many other essays of this topic from other fellow actors- in and out of my school -and I hope my take will be a bit more… collected. Most “favoritism essays” are written post-cast list and are created in a flurry of emotions (which I can understand, believe me, I’ve been there). However, this essay will be written months after any sort of cast list has been listed. All my arguments will be based on past experiences that I now look at through a sort of looking glass.

Early Theatre

I’ve been participating in theatre from a young age, since I was nine in fact, and I’ve had my share of casting problems. To be fair, I didn’t really think it was favoritism at the time. However, hindsight is twenty twenty and now I look back on it and realize the director’s sister always had a part, the same three girls played leads, and the oldest boy was always featured. I remember every cast I was in because it always featured the same five or six people. (I will change their names in this example for the sake of privacy). “Annie”: Veronica played Annie, Janie played Tessie, and James played Daddy Warbucks. “Willy Wonka”: Veronica played Veruca Salt, Janie played Violet Beauregarde, Dean (brand new to our theatre department) played Charlie Buckets, and James played Wonka. “Oliver”: Janie and Veronica played sisters Nancy and Bet, Dean played Oliver, and James played Mr. Brumble. I don’t know about you but I’m seeing a pattern here.

I stopped working with this director for a few years (the entirety of my middle school career in fact) but eventually found myself back in an audition room with him. And nothing had changed. To be fair, Veronica, Janie, Dean, and James were gone but there were people stepping in to take their place. Now older, I picked up on the pattern and noted three different categories of “director treatment” based on how directors cast and blocked their shows.

Director Love

Another way to label favoritism is “director love.” In fact, director love basically defines favoritism. I find the people who fall into this category are usually students of the director and /or someone the director knows on a personal level. Someone the director trusts. This trust is what gives them the edge that cuts everyone.

Actors who fall into this category are easily spotted and usually hated by other cast members. When they walk into an audition room, everyone knows who will get the part. No question. It doesn’t matter if they can hit the notes or do the dance steps- they’re playing the part. The dislike they receive is understandable. Someone is getting recognition for something even though they probably didn’t do much work to achieve it.

Director Neglect

This is the category most fall into. Director neglect can be summed up as ignored talent. It could also be an underclassman if this is a high school production. These are the people who dislike the Favorites. Director neglect is easily noticeable. It can be seen in the ensemble. Some members of the ensemble tend to stick out as more vocally powerful, the ones making bigger acting choices, the ones with sharper dance moves.

The problem favoritism creates is it turns newer people away from theatre. If someone loves the arts but is always shot down just so someone else can have the slot time and time again, eventually it will get to them. I’ve had more than my share of Director neglect. It hurts. It’s hard to work hard and watch someone else be recognized. It’s hard to be pushed back into the shadows.

Director Hate

This is the harshest part of a director’s favoritism. It’s also seen the least. There are some cast members that the director just treats like crap. I’ve only seen this occur once or twice. Like Director neglect, this person may work hard and never be seen, the only difference is if this person makes one tiny mistake or is around when a mistake is made, they get the full force of the Director’s rage. They’ve done the finale dance perfectly every night… then they trip up one night and the Director yells at them to do better. “Why can’t you be more like (insert favorite’s name here)? They know what they’re doing! They always get it right!” Hated actors are never doing enough. Hated actors are never good enough.

Reasoning

I propose a sort of reasoning for this favoritism. Playing devil’s advocate if you will. I believe the reason directors favor some actors over others and constantly give them the roles is because they fear stepping out of their comfort zone. If the director has found something that works, why change it? AKA- “if the system ain’t broke don’t fix it.”

In terms of Director neglect, it is the byproduct of Director love. Since the director is so infatuated with their “trustworthy cast members” they overlook potential. Does that make it right? No. In fact I find it rather narrow minded but that’s just the opinion of someone who has never directed a show in her life.

Director hate… has no justification. Some people just aren’t liked. However this doesn’t justify poor treatment. Director hate cannot be reasoned away and it is the lowest and worst part of favoritism in theatre.

Issue

Now the problem with these categories, despite their reasoning, is its overall effect on the production. Favoritism does nothing but hurt the production. By placing the same people in the top slots over and over, the cast gets no variety. Casting is always the same. Recurring audiences will get bored. Everyone falls into ruts, recycling acting choices and no longer bothering to branch out. Those who aren’t favored get discouraged and cast size shrinks. Others grow bitter and tensions in the cast rise.

Not to mention, those who have talent are wasted. It is understandable if a director wants a few strong actors in the ensemble to boost the vocals and such, but if there are people in the ensemble who are as strong as, if not stronger than, the person playing the lead for the umpteenth time, why are they in the background? Why not have the stronger person in the spotlight? A good production could be made even greater with the right people at the front. An amazing production could become phenomenal if favoritism was tossed aside instead of the actors.