Fringe 2005 - True Tales of Tech Terror

...or at the very least, Tech Embarrassment.

The tech people on the Fringe are great. But they can't read your mind. So if you're doing a Fringe show, you need to let them know what you need.

Rule #1 - Turn in the paperwork

If you want anything special, the time to let them know is now. Hopefully you turned in all the paperwork early. They may not be able to accomodate special requests, but there's a greater chance of it working out if you let them know now. The last minute is beyond too late. If it's that important to you, you should know now and plan accordingly. And have a contingency plan or two (or three) in place, in case you can't get what you think you need.

Rule #2 - Show Up for your Tech Time

Sounds simple, huh? I kid you not, when I arrived for one of the techs I was a part of at last year's Fringe, there wasn't anything going on. I figured the group ahead of us must have gotten done early. No. The tech person said they never showed up. They were still in the Fringe. They just hadn't bothered to show up. The tech person basically waited around for three hours until the next group was due. Not only is that disrespectful, it's stupid. There's really no excuse. You know well it advance about tech times and places. Adjust your schedule. Otherwise your tech is also your opening performance. You deserve what you get in that case.

Rule #3 - Be Prepared

Now ordinarily that'd be Rule #2, but if you don't show up, being prepared doesn't do you much good, now does it? Your show is brief and relatively low-tech, being a Fringe show. But don't expect to be able to wing it. There isn't enough time. No matter how much time you think you have, if you blink, you miss it. Know where the cues are going to be. Know the space (that means go on the Fringe-authorized tours of the spaces - DO NOT try to sneak into the spaces or contact the owners on your own, that's the kind of thing that makes people not want to be part of the Fringe. Go through approved channels. You may think you're the one exception. Trust me, you're not.) If you're ready to go, the unexpected things that come up won't be cause for alarm. If you're not ready, even the basics may not get covered. Be prepared, so you can be calm and everyone can get through tech time with as little offstage drama as possible. So, you know, *read the handbook* - it answers more questions than you even have.

Rule #4 - Learn The Names of your Tech People

It's common courtesy. Fringe tech people do theater for the same reason most of us do theater, because we love it and we believe in it. Could we all be making more money doing something else? Sure. So why are we doing the Fringe? Because we want to. Because we get something out of it. One of the things we get is community. If you forget someone's name, do what I (frequently) do, apologize and say something along the lines of, "I'm sorry, my brain is a sieve today, I'm not retaining anything, please give me your name again." Do not, as some people have done, continue to refer to them as "Hey you" or, my personal favorite "Hey, light girl." Honestly, people. These are the people who hold the fate of your show in your hands. They're running it. You're not. They are your new best friend. Learn their names.

(Just for amusement - Rule #5 - It's Spike, not Spic)

I'm not kidding, this actually happened. I admire people for trying to pick up the lingo but... When you put little pieces of tape down on the stage floor so you know where to set the furniture and such, that's called spiking. When you say "spic" instead, people wonder whether you're being some peculiar sort of bigot and want people to place illegal aliens at strategic points on the stage floor for the actors to walk around.

But seriously, folks, Rules 1 through 4, they'll make your lives so much easier. Happy Fringe-ing.

(For more of my writing - plays, past blog entries and more - visit www.matthewaeverett.com)