One aspect of my theatre life that I do not frequently share about (at least, not the extent that I do my directing and stage managing endeavours) is my role as Executive Producer with KWLT. In our bylaws, the description of the Executive Producer role on the Board of Directors is: “The Executive Producer shall be responsible for liaising between each production and the Board and coordinating workshops and classes offered to the general public.” (http://kwlt.org)

Yeah. One sentence. Two things. How does one fill a whole year of that? What do I even DO? Why is my role important?

The description does not entirely line up with how I execute my role. (We’re actually thinking of changing that section in the bylaws to be more accurate.) I envision my role as less of a “liaison” and more of a “resource” and “guide.” It is my mandate to be available to answer questions, find resources, offer support, and listen. I am personally invested in the success of each show we put on, and will work with them to guide them towards that success.

But then, that raises the question: what does success mean? A show can be financially successful, artistically successful, technically successful…a show can be successful (or not) in any number of ways. This being community theatre, I like to focus on the people (the community). If the people in the show are not happy, I don’t care how much money the show made or whether it was a brilliant piece of art. If the people in the show are not happy, they are not engaged, and if we don’t have an engaged community, what are we even doing as a community theatre? Naturally, it’s impossible for everybody to always be happy. Theatre tends to be very emotionally demanding, whether you are an actor needing to emote on stage or a stage manager needing to manage and coordinate groups of people. Good production team leaders stand out to me when they can recognize and mitigate the emotional toll, and know how to handle the conflicts that can arise from it.

In my continuing effort to help shows be successful, I touch base with production teams on a regular basis, and lead a “debrief” session with them after a show is over to find out what went right, what went wrong, and what future productions can learn from them. (Soon, I’ll also be extending this feedback opportunity to actors.) These meetings are always fascinating insights into the theatrical process and the people involved. I look for themes over all the different debriefs in order to figure out what changes could improve the overall process; for example, very common asks include technical manuals for our lighting and sound systems and finding alternate rehearsal space that is not at the University of Waterloo (who very generously allow us to use their classrooms for our rehearsals free of charge). This large and important part of my job comes simply down to talking to production teams. A lot. To the point where I hope they get sick of my emails asking how things are going.

My biggest goal is always to help our shows be as successful as possible. In case anyone is curious about my other goals for the theatre, you can check out my goals for 2016-2017 in this Google doc. I welcome any comments or questions about these goals; please send them to me via email rather than commenting here (I do not frequently check my comments section!) You can reach me any time at ep@kwlt.org.