safety-is-sexy-blog

[safety-is-sexy-blog]

Theatre is Inclusive.

My college and I were talking about how theatre is inclusive and not like other majors in the university system. We are like a family and spend a ton of time working toward a show that then runs for a week and then taken down. There’s a culture of acceptance and understanding that no one is the same and we can be who ever we want to be. 

We are doing RENT in a more conservative area and the turn out for the show has been wonderful but there have been some conflicts here and there. In this area people are more prone to be homophobic and/or transphobic. So when students are required to see the shows and haven’t read up on them sometimes there is push back. There is a silver lining to this: We had some students in the audience that during the show were shouting homophobic and transphobic remarks. Some other students called them out on it and also addressed the House Manager to see if she could take care of it. It’s good to see students using their voice to raise a concern about other students behavior. 

I hope that our show can affect more people to make them realize and understand that everyone leads a different life. You don’t have to agree with it but respect it. 

#respect #theatre

[safety-is-sexy-blog]

Story Time: Sometimes the call me Mom.

I have some male students who I work with and they sometimes call me mom. 

There is a strange culutre here at this university that some of the students call the facultiy members daddy which is straight up odd and unacetable. This culture is dying out because those who say that are graduating. 

When I first started here some of the students called me the 5th daddy which i shut down because that is just weird in my eyes but I don’t mind they calling me mom sometimes. It’s usaully along he lines of “BUT MOM!” or “MOM DO I HAVE TOO?” These come up when I give them a project that needs to get done but itsn’t the most fun. I don’t mind the mom title but I am trying to figure out if it lands in the same catigory as them calling other faculity daddy. 

Also it has now spread to the new freshmen and some of them are calling me mom but I did take the shop out for ice cream for being good so that might have had something to do with it. 

#BUT MOM

[safety-is-sexy-blog]

SM: There's a lighting cable that blocks a fire door from closing.

LD: I got permission from the TD to put it there.

SM: Well, it has to be moved because we're breaking fire regulation.

LD: Says who?

SM: Me.

[safety-is-sexy-blog]

Story Time: To "Young" to be in Charge.

So currently I am working at a State University as the Scene Shop Supervisor. Thing is I am 23 years old, which is about the same age as some of the Students I am working with. This is my second year and I love working here. There have been challenges working with Students who are around the same age I am. When I first started everyone thought I was older (25-27) which wasn't a big deal but it blew my mind on some peoples reaction to the fact that I was "so young". I am young compared to the "average" Shop Supervisor but that doesn't mean I don't know what I am doing. So with that, Things changed slightly. There are a few students who are older than me. This was challenging when they figured out my age. There was some push back because it seems now that I am younger then they expected I now don't know anything. I am a very blunt upfront person I will tell you how it is and I honestly just told the students that if they thought they could do my job they can do it for a day. No one wanted to once I gave them the list of responsibilities they had to do for that one day. Also I sat them down and just told them my story of how I got here and why I was so passionate about theatre, building and the teaching of scenic elements. (That is a story for another day.) Other then the challenges I actually had more people pop into my office when they realized I was around the same age as them. They started to come to me for graduation advice and career paths. I love to plan for the future and for future projects so helping students figure out what they are passionate about so they can go and find a job to fulfill that is wonderful. Everyday is a weird balance of friendship and teaching but that's why I love Theatre and the Scene Shop.

#theatre #scenery #tech

[safety-is-sexy-blog]

Our props workshop has a new (very useful) tin 😄

[safety-is-sexy-blog]

Safety Talk

We are putting up our first show of the season and have freshmen coming in to do hours. It's great seeing the fresh new faces but as the Supervisor every single time someone new comes in I teach Safety of tools and of the shop in general. I feel like I am giving the same talk over and over and over again. BUT Safety is really important!!!

#safety #Theatre #Tech #scenery