Text guides

Stage and performance

Keep rehearsals and performances organized around the actual script, set and venue. Make cues and responsibilities easy to verify.

12 practical tasks. Each guide includes a sample request and a way to check the answer.

Build a rehearsal schedule from scene requirementsStart from the scenes. For each one, record who it requires, the space it needs and how long it takes. Then place scenes where those people are free, so no one is called to a block without a role in it.
Track props across scenes and rehearsalsFor every object, the sheet answers three questions: which scenes use it, where it starts, and who moves it next. Build it from the script and running order, then check each scene change for a named person handing off each prop.
Make a cue sheet from an approved running orderBuild the sheet only from an approved running order, since cues written against an unsettled order need rework. Give each cue a number, an observable trigger, one action and one operator, then confirm each cue with the person who runs it.
Build a set list that fits the allotted timeAdd the rehearsed song lengths, transitions, instrument changes and announcements to estimate the full set. Compare that total with the slot you have been given. Identify what could be shortened or removed, then rehearse the revised order to check that it fits.
Turn rehearsal notes into specific follow-up workRaw notes mix what was seen with what should change. Separate the two, then turn each real change into a task with an owner and a check at the next rehearsal. A note with no next step stays an observation.
Prepare technical questions for a venueWrite down what your group needs before reading the venue's information, then compare the two. Record only what the venue has confirmed. Turn each gap into a specific question for a named contact and track whether it has been answered.
Write a call note performers can followA call note tells each person or group when to arrive, where to go and what to bring or do first. Write it only from confirmed times, give each group its own line and name one contact. Mark anything undecided as pending.
Make a running order for a small performanceA running order lists every item in sequence with its length, start cue, the stage change before it and who handles that change. Build it from the acts as you know them, add up the durations and check whether anyone or anything is needed in two places.
Draft program notes from verified contributor informationProgram notes describe the work and credit people in wording each contributor has approved. Gather the title, an approved description and every credit with its source first. If a biography or role has no source, leave it out or ask the person directly.
Prepare for an audition using its actual instructionsExtract the requirements from the audition notice, including material, duration, format and submission details. Build your own rehearsal tasks around them, keeping those suggestions separate from official instructions. Ask the organizers about unclear requirements instead of borrowing a rule from a previous audition.
Plan a small recording session around a shot or track listList each shot or track as a segment, then attach who is needed, what must be set up, what you expect to have afterward and how long it may take. Add the allowances up against the time you have, then trim or reorder before the day.
Run a useful debrief after a performanceA useful debrief ties each point to a moment that can be named. For every item, record what happened, what shows it, what effect it had, one change to try and who owns it. Keep taste and operational problems in separate lists.

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