No longer rescue

For my first seven years of theatre practice, any problem I saw in my rehearsals or shows, I figured was my fault -- that I was still a rookie director, and didn't know my craft yet, and it was my responsibility to a) fix the local problem, and b) learn my craft better to prevent such problems in the future.

After living at the Odin Teatret, I still see the same things. It still occurs to me as the first option to check whether I am doing something wrong or sub-optimal. And, regardless of the answer, I check to see if there's anything I can do to fix it. But I am better able, now, to differentiate which things are my responsibility. I look with cool eyes, not hot ones.

Michele McCarthy, of McCarthy Technologies, says there is one role that always appears in teams. The other roles may or may not appear, but the Scapegoat -- the person whom the whole team "decides" is "the problem" -- always emerges. The solution, we discovered years ago, was not to pay attention to the Scapegoat. Instead of rewarding the worst performer with all the attention, reward your BEST performer with all the attention.

I have done this in acting classes for years. The people who are committed and going deep get a lot of my time. The ones who are wavery, get less and less. I find it is not so different with this play.

There are many levels on which I no longer rescue.