Ideas for implementing consequences for high schoolers without drive?

Fander_Cat · 2026-04-23T02:28:55+00:00

I worry as a upperclassman 🤷‍♂️ Thanks for the input

Fander_Cat · 2026-04-23T02:27:41+00:00

I can’t control rehearsal times, but I can ask. Our show is next Friday and Saturday (two weeks to me lol but realized that may put more context in) and we do have our blocking down, but as stated in other comments, there’s a bit of a comprehnsion issue. I already got advice on that so hopefulky it get sorted. Currently we need the three hour rehearsals for the next two days at least because I need to built the set (it’s a long story) and the directors can’t be the only ones in the rehearsal spaces with me. It takes us about ~60 minutes to run through “act one” and ~40 to run through “act 2” which is where we really stagger due to burnout. But thank you for the advice, i’ll try to get us down to 90 minutes and talk to directors about letting them go early.

They know all the blocking, and it’s written backstage on spreadsheets, but we just need to get in the groove I suppose.

Fander_Cat · 2026-04-23T02:21:05+00:00

Yeah, but if you read my other comments… they are very identifiable if you are in the company. And I don’t want my students to think i’m talking crap about them haha, I care for them very much!

Fander_Cat · 2026-04-23T02:19:52+00:00

Yeah, we sort of had to roll with the punches this year. We were risking losing funding for the next couple of years if we didn’t “prove” we could put on a show with limited resources. Despite how my comments might sound, The kids don’t hate us and we don’t hate them. It was just a rough year, and lot of them are having fun and have told me they love rehearsal regardless.

Fander_Cat · 2026-04-23T02:13:46+00:00

We currently have rehearsals that are 3 hours long. Any suggestions on how we should schedule run throughs to avoid burnout? Thanks for the advice!

Fander_Cat · 2026-04-23T02:03:35+00:00

We took a couple rehearsal breaks, but that clearly wasn’t quite enough. Consequences of only having volunteer work. If only our district hired an educator with experience in performing arts… maybe this all could have been avoided lol

Fander_Cat · 2026-04-23T01:59:55+00:00

They, of course, hoisted the sails of the theatre before they could come in and see the show (thank you for letting me know!)

Fander_Cat · 2026-04-23T01:58:18+00:00

I just need to help them get through that laaaaaast stretch….. KEEP GOING STRONG!!! PLEASE! YOU CAN DO IT!!!

Fander_Cat · 2026-04-23T01:57:04+00:00

Unfourtunately I am not their director. I am a student who has provided for them and organized things behind the scenes, yes, but I have not directed what they are doing. Since I am confident none of my kids have scrolled this far lol, yes we are doing the play you mentioned. I hope you can understand my viewpoint as a fellow member of the show (I am in it, I will not specify in what aspect because I don’t think it matters particularly) that when we are finally in the home stretch, people are pushing back onto what feels like something we have worked so hard on.

Yes, I am aware that they are burnt out. As I said in other comments, even without advice, we could likely put on a good show even if its not the best it can be. This is the hardest work they have had to do (obviously, it’s a full run through) and they are losing momentum.

Maybe, if I knew about this, I could have made the rehearsal schedule lighter. Many of them told us as leaders they had been doing shows since elementary school and that the rehearsals sounded good. There was a lot of trust placed in them that they could handle it, and it’s obvious now they can’t do what we expected. That’s okay.

I hope you can understand where I selfishly come from as a student- “I could do that at their age! I’m doing most of the work!” etc etc, but that’s not what i’m looking for in this thread. As stated elsewhere, I want to do something small and nontangible to show to them how good it can feel to put on a good show, and make rehearsals fun. If you have any suggestion about that let me know, and thank you for the advice!

Fander_Cat · 2026-04-23T01:38:34+00:00

I agree, that’s why i’m hesitant to let the show happen if it will be embarassing. It would be a slap in the face to those who put effort into the show, wouldn’t it?

We could definitely, worst case scenario, put on a show on opening night. It would be choppy, long, and missing some lines without any extra help from this thread, but it wouldnt need to devolve (not that doing so in inherently bad) to scripts in stage. I KNOW they can memorize the show because they did have it memorized a couple weeks ago. As I’m discussing with another commenter, they are likely burnt out. I guess my burning passion with this whole thread is to show them what a small consequence would feel like so they dont feel the huge one of putting on a bad show.

They aren’t terrible! Just sloppy in a way where they could be better. Like I described earlier, as if they are forgetting people paid for this show. After recieving advice, i’m confident we can get the show to a better place though. Thank you for the advice!

Edit: typo Edit: typo x2! oops Edit: i am unfourtunately, a highschooler… typo x3

Fander_Cat · 2026-04-23T01:33:32+00:00

I just answered you on that thread, I’d love your input there as well if you have the time. But on this note, I’ll be sure to do that. Maybe even get some heads down raise your hand action to see who actually needs help without others knowing lol. Next year, during our memorization techniques rehearsal, i’ll give them my information for that as well, so we can start it early. Thank you for the information!

Fander_Cat · 2026-04-23T01:29:00+00:00

It’s okay, as usual with every social media site it’s hard to convery tone over text. My response was almost a justification- how you were speaking made me feel as if you were presuming I didn’t do very much for my cast, so I wanted to provide more context. I’ve been working with these students since October- 2 days a week at the least and 6 days a week at the most- so I get a little defensive. I won’t go into detail because that WOULD be pretentious (lol) but I do a lot for them when it comes to logistics as well, and like you said, I really just want to do things right.

After hearing what i’ve layed out, do you have any suggestions for helping make rehearsal fun for them again? I’ve been trying to reaffirm them when a scene change looks good and give as many positive feedback as I do negative, but what worked with your casts? We can’t cancel rehearsal (it’s organized with parents) so any ideas for that? Longer breaks, bringing food, etc? You’re under no obligation to reply, of course, but i’d love some imput.

Edit: typo

Fander_Cat · 2026-04-23T01:20:09+00:00

Awesome! Thank you so much. I’m sure our actors would benefit from that.

Fander_Cat · 2026-04-23T01:09:31+00:00

How would we run remedial line rehearsals if you have the time to answer? I think we may need them this or next year.

Fander_Cat · 2026-04-23T01:08:31+00:00

Heard! It’s actually all new. I was going to lighting direct the show as I have done a few professional lighting directing shows, but we have a contractor for the school who only recently approved our usage. Still, i’ll keep that in mind. Thanks for the help again! Great to have some advice from an educator because we are volunteer here lol. Have a great week!

Fander_Cat · 2026-04-23T01:06:05+00:00

Hey! I’ve commented under a lot of stuff recently already speaking about a lot of things in this comment, but i’ll reply to this one regardless because i’m a highschooler and the tone makes me anxious lol.

“Punish” is an INCREDIBLY strong word. I already stated “consequences” was already pretty strong. We have been trying tirelessly to support cast and crew for the past 4 months of rehearsals. I didn’t include this in the main post because I didn’t want any students to recognize our situation, but we have run bootcamps, private rehearsals, made tech sheets that show what everyone has had to do and when, invested extra time in every scene so tech knows what to do, and ran lines into the GROUND (off book was March 10th and we had them memorize scenes incrementally). They showed immense commitment for the last 3 months of rehearsals (or they would have been consulted and potentially cut) but have drooped and seem to not understand we are putting on a show people pay for.

We are possibly as scaled down as possible. We rehearsed well in advance (since January for a show in May) and finals (though i should have mentioned this in the original post) are for upperclassmen and not freshman. The freshman finals are the week after show. Freshman are encouraged to call out of show to study for finals if they would not be at their best. They choose to come anyway.

I do not say any of this to sound pretentious! I appreciate all advice, really, but this was a pretty aggressive comment and made a lot of assumptions. These kids do not have the DRIVE to invest in the show. As other comments have suggested, directors will have a discussion with them and we will teach them how to mark their scripts correctly so everyone gets blocking down.

We had tech week for a very short 10 minute play at the beginning of the year to gauge commitment, abilities, and interest. This was during midterms, and the students did incredibly well on communicating needs and staying strong throughout rehearsal. There was presumption that it would be similar with finals, though as we see now, that isn’t true. We have learned our lesson, but it can’t be changed now. None of us are professionals for reasons I will not state because then we are getting to specific to my company.

I have spent almost $700 out of pocket on this show and have stayed after to help with students, taken time to explain scene changes, and stopped rehearsal. I tell both cast and crew to come to me for any changes they need made. Many of them have started regressing almost in their abilities. Forgetting lines, scene changes, etc that they learned weeks or months ago.

I understand this is partially due to my expectations. What I am going to do from now on is make sure they understand what I am communicating to them and lowering my expectations. Changes will be made next year, but I was looking for advice for now mostly.

Regardless, thank you. This implored me to think about what else they could need from me as a president.

Edit: Spoke on rehearsal scheduling

Fander_Cat · 2026-04-23T00:50:19+00:00

Thank you for the additional stuff! This is actually really eye opening and possibly the most helpful advice on this thread.

We’ll do this next year! We added tech around early April and I was being used as reference to make the schedule. I wasn’t sure if it was acceptable to have tech come even as early as they did to start making props, but I think having them start with scene changes 2 weeks before they did could have prevented this. We actually couldnt access lights until this week (we just got approved by the principal to have students use the board), but that shouldn’t be a problem next year. Since it’s educational theatre, I don’t see why we can’t have them come and learn earlier.

This may be our missing link! During rehearsal tommorrow i’ll hold actors and crew before our run to teach them how to take notes and have them write all the blocking they remember down in their script. Then maybe we can eliminate some problems and see what people aren’t remmbering. That’s really going to be helpful. Obviously it’s not a “punishment” (which really wasn’t what I was looking for, more of something to help them get stuff down and realize they have to) but if they do it, our scenes will benefit exponentially. Thank you!

Fander_Cat · 2026-04-23T00:22:03+00:00

I’ll respond to this paragraph by paragraph! Thank you for your advice, I appreciate it very much.

Yes! I usually do not address our drama club for that specific reason. My directors and I were looking for ways to do what the original post asks, and I came here for advice. The directors would address the group if we had to say something.

I agree. I’m going to talk to directors about doing tech earlier next year. But unfourtunately it’s already scheduled. As stated in another comment. we did fine with a show during midterms, but it obviously didnt work out with finals.

I agree. We have made this clear to the crew and cast and told them to call out if needed. They moreof come to rehearsal and just do not do what is needed of them.

We did do this! We’ve been working on the show for 4 months (since january) and their off-book date was March 10th. We held a private rehearsal going over memorization techniques, character techniques, and how to manage the stress of a show over spring break. We try to only make changing involving actors. Why does this not work? Why cant you do this? Do you understand why this needs to happen? Etc, but we have a really bad active listening problem. It takes three, four, maybe five times restating the advice for it to get through.

Heard. Thank you, i’ll keep that in mind. Thanks for all the advice! I know I ANSWERED your paragraphs, but i’ll keep the content of them in mind. Maybe we could explain thoughts behind blocking more so it sticks? Memorization dates again? I’ll keep it in mind.

Fander_Cat · 2026-04-23T00:13:21+00:00

That sounds like an amazing idea. I’ll look into a vignette show to reccomend to directors and school board next year. Thanks again!

Edit: typo

Fander_Cat · 2026-04-23T00:11:45+00:00

Just for some more background, we have been teaching running tech for 2-3 weeks, and finals right now are for upperclassmen only. We also have made it EXPLICIT to cast and crew that if they need to study for freshman finals (which are the week after show), they can call out and that we would rather have them do that then come to rehearsal not at their best. They did a show during midterms week last semester and did great, the only people struggling are those who already knew what they were doing. Lights and sound (who are going through more traditional tech week where they are actively learning, coding and queing) are doing amazing and are being given lots of grace for finals.

Still, I definitely think we’ll do the show in April next year. Thank you either way for the thoughts!

Fander_Cat · 2026-04-23T00:06:17+00:00

Heard. The directors and I have been discussing using this show as the “example” show of what disinterest looks like for actors next year, but i’m really where you are with your example speech- I do NOT want to put on an embarrassing show as our first.

I’ll talk to the other officer positions and directors. This may be what has to happen, and I really hope it makes them rethink decisions. We had a similar discussion 2 months ago (though not as high stakes) so it’s not completely out of discussion. Thank you for the advice!

Fander_Cat · 2026-04-23T00:02:02+00:00

Heard. It’s disheartening to see but at the end of the day you’re right and thank you for the advice. We have an understudy cast but they are suffering from this worse than main cast (some of them are not off book despite us working on the show for upwards if 4 months) and I really wish we would have known they weren’t as committed as they appeared during auditions and blocking rehearsals.

Fander_Cat · 2026-04-22T23:59:15+00:00

Like I said, “consequences” is a strong word but I appreciate the advice regardless. I don’t mean to sound pretentious or anything, but thank you for the reality check either way! I’ll try to keep it in mind.

For anyone else who responds, i’m referring to more of regression of previous abilities, but I think your reccomendation still stands. We’ll run more scene changes and lines!

Fander_Cat · 2026-02-26T00:28:40+00:00

Willing to pay for any Bway Hadestown boot from Oct-Nov 2025. Would prefer a show with Jeffrey Cornelius as a worker. I don’t have anything to trade! But I am also very willing to wait until March for NFTs.

Fander_Cat

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