Arts Professional Story: Kevin Heckman, Producing Artistic Director of Stage Left Theater

Kevin Heckman

Running a theatre ensemble can be a contentious, aggravating and, ultimately, fruitful experience for all concerned if the right combination of personalities and talents come together. A lot depends on the sort of work the ensemble is interested in pursuing. What's the role of the ensemble going to be? Are they going to actually generate the work? Are they simply a pool of creatives that will be used in the shows? At Stage Left we have something in between. We do a lot of new play development here, so the ensemble does work on the generation of new work, but the plays themselves are generally more traditional, in that there's a single playwright, a director, a standard rehearsal period and so forth.

One of the problems we faced here when we began focusing more and more on new work and new work generation became a growing part of our programming was that not all ensemble members were really interested in working on new plays. Those individuals began to feel left out of the creative process and some of them ended up leaving the ensemble. Are the individual's goals in theatre compatible with those of the organization? That is a very important criterion for putting together an ensemble. Everyone has to have roughly the same goals. Most ensembles are volunteers affiliated with the theatre and, as such, they're expected to take up certain kinds of work for the organization, such as load-ins, box office, working fundraisers and so forth. In return, they get the satisfaction of working with a group of like-minded artists and the creative rewards of performing/designing/directing/ writing for the theatre.

If an actor, for instance, is really only in the ensemble for the casting opportunities and doesn't care much about the overall mission of the organization, then when there are no roles available they will become dissatisfied. That can lead to negative energy around an organization or even the departure of some ensemble members. Will the individual be competing with an existing ensemble member for a limited number of roles/staffing positions?

It's important that, in the running of the organization, the ensemble's needs be kept in mind. Creative opportunities need to be created for the ensemble so that artists are receiving as well as giving. This should also be kept in mind when selecting new members. Will two actors be up for the same roles? How many lighting designers do you have work for? It's important, then, that all potential ensemble members be aware and sign off on (figuratively or literally) the artistic and organizational goals of the theatre.

Part of that equation falls to the question of a staffing and casting policy. Is the individual clear about the casting/staffing policy of the theatre and, therefore, understands the give and take of being an ensemble member? This needs to be decided in advance and made clear from the beginning. If ensemble members are guaranteed roles, how are they apportioned? If not, what mechanisms exist to be sure they get considered? How will you deal with casting by outside directors who aren't necessarily beholden to your ensemble?

The same questions should be considered for designers, although in my experience these tend to be bigger issues for actors, as there are more of them and opportunities are more restricted based on type. A lot of these considerations apply more to a traditional theatre with a pool of creatives, rather than a theatre that exclusively creates ensemble generated work. Bringing the same group of actors and designers to bear on a variety of shows can lead to some fantastically deep collaborations and be extremely rewarding to everyone involved. With good communication between all artists, pitfalls can be avoided. It just requires some patience and some planning. Kevin





Heckman (Producing Artistic Director " Stage Left Theatre): has worked around Chicago as an actor, director, lighting designer and teacher with such companies as Shakespeare Repertory (Chicago Shakespeare Company), Apple Tree Theatre and Bailiwick Repertory, as well as Stage Left. He has taught acting at North Shore Academy in Highland Park, a school for at-risk youth, and is a contributing writer for PerformInk newspaper. A 1992 graduate of Wesleyan University, Heckman received degrees in theatre and mathematics. He also studied acting at Circle in the Square in New York. Heckman has served as managing or artistic director at Stage Left since August, 2000.