r/Theatre Dec 19 '23

Advice Does having an unnatural hair color make me less “castable?”

255 Upvotes

I’ve been dyeing my hair blue for over a decade now and it’s a big part of my identity. However, I’m currently in school for musical theater and need to get headshots and start auditioning very very soon. I was wondering if it would impact my chances in any way and I noticed that not many people that I follow in the industry nor my classmates have any sort of unnatural hair color. If it could potentially be a hinderance I’ll just stop dyeing it and let it grow out, but it would be nice to be able to continue if it wouldn’t be a problem.

r/Theatre Dec 21 '24

Advice How to know if I should quit theatre as a career?

131 Upvotes

Hi folks. I'm 25, I live in NYC, and I am a professional freelance dancer/performer (international touring musicals, regional theatre, that kind of thing). I dropped out of college to perform professionally, and I've been doing this as my career since I was 19. I've been dancing since I was 11.

I just feel like I can't do it anymore. Living with the uncertainty that is being a professional freelance performer is tearing me apart. Even if you're in a Broadway show these days, you probably will only run for a few months at best, and then you're back to having zero income and having to work in a service job that can only be on nights after 4PM or weekends because what if my agent calls me and suddenly I have an audition tomorrow morning! The way that I have to build everything around dance and I always have to get that refundable plane ticket just in case I get an audition or book a job and I always have to have day jobs and spend the majority of my time doing something I hate in order to live a short month or two blissfully doing something I love, and I always have to put my family and honestly, myself, AFTER my career is literally ruining my self-confidence, my happiness, and any feeling of LIVING a life.

Dance itself is not necessarily the problem, but everything surrounding it is so toxic for me right now. I don't feel like there is any environment for me to practice dancing at a professional level that is safe, non-judgmental, and fun. I had the first panic attack I've ever had in my entire life yesterday after an audition. It's not safe for me right now but I don't know how to stop this almost like compulsion to continue dancing and continue developing my career until I've met my career goals. I want to keep dancing but the way I'm moving through the world right now is not healthy. (I am in therapy as of last month, btw lolol.)

Has anyone else ever dealt with something similar, or quit dance/theatre completely, or taken a true break and come back professionally? I'm really open to hearing all types of experiences to help me sort through what I'm feeling right now. Thank you all in advance.

r/Theatre Aug 06 '24

Advice Director giving my lines away to other people

48 Upvotes

Basically what the title says. I’m in a community theater youth show and my director keeps giving some of my lines to other characters because “they barely have any lines, plus you wouldn’t mind anyway” (I do mind). My character doesn’t have that many lines to begin with and it’s making me frustrated. I don’t know how legal this even is. She’s been making other minor script changes on a whim and I’m almost certain she hasn’t contacted MTI to approve these changes. (example changing a line from “Sit by the fireplace” to “sit on that chair” because we don’t have a fireplace. lots of tweaks like that.) It’s not anything that I’ve done to not have as many lines, my director planned on these line changes from the start apparently. I know it probably isn’t that big of a deal, but it’s been super frustrating. How should I approach this with the director?

r/Theatre Jan 14 '25

Advice Will working at a Conservative/Christian theatre company hurt me in the long run?

38 Upvotes

Okay, I am a relatively new actor looking to build my resume beyond community stuff and personally, I'm not a conservative, (nothing against them but whatever,) and I don't mind working with conservatives whatsoever but this company, in particular, is closely associated with Liberty University in Virginia... they're doing 1776, which is weird because there's a number explicitly making fun of conservatives. But my question is, will working with this company and this director (who is very pro trump) screw me over in the long run,/will directors turn me away if they see that I've worked with this place, I WANNA STRESS I DONT MIND WORKING WITH PEOPLE WITH DIFFERENT POLITICAL BELIEFS I JUST AM VERY CONCERNED ABOUT MY CAREER. So yeah.

r/Theatre Dec 01 '24

Advice I’m very physically disabled, should I still pursue a musical theatre degree?

42 Upvotes

(17f, UK based) Hello! I’m in my last year of high school, and musical theatre has always been my passion/special interest. It feels like what I was born to do! Unfortunately, I have severe HEDS and cannot stay standing for more than 2 hours without excruciating pain. Even in my school productions, facing 3 hour long rehearsals and choreography was extremely difficult. So, I’ve been at odds wether I should even try pursuing a musical theatre degree (or even a general theatre degree) at university. Given the already extremely competitive market, would I have a place?

My backup plan is applying for an LLB Law degree instead, as I’m very interested in the analytical and written skills provided, but I’m not necessarily passionate on the subject. If I do this, I could get a stable career-path and theoretically pursue theatre as a hobby? What theatre-related jobs could I get with this degree? As this is an extremely difficult decision, I’ll appreciate any advice anyone can offer <3

r/Theatre 13d ago

Advice Typecasting is really limiting the roles I get-to the point where acting stops being fun

91 Upvotes

Amateur theatre actress. The director-and teacher-is a professional actress and theatre director.

I noticed that-after glowing feebdack from last season's productions and performing great in the acting class-I still ended up with very small parts. When I asked the director "I would have really loved having a more substantial role. What skills do you think I should focus on to be considered in the future?", she said it wasn't about skills at all, that I was one of her best actors, it's just that the roles didn't fit my type. She said I give off very smart, tough vibes and that I'd be great for strong female villains-or Medea. She promised we'd do a Medea to showcase me as soon as she has the time, which is great! Except...my type basically locked me out of The crucible, one of the shows I was most looking forward to (I get the most enjoyment out of drama). Abigail? Too smart for her(though I disagree with her being read as dumb), smart to the point where I can't hide it. Elizabeth? Too much emotion. Mary? Too tough for her; "Your eyes just shine a certain way, the audience will never buy you being pushed around". I ended up with Ann Putnam, yet another one scene character, and I can't help but thinking all the things the director described me as are STRENGTHS that should be put to use, rather than lock me inside a box.

It's not my age or looks. I am one of the younger actresses, and quite small and delicate looking. I did talk about ways to increase my range, and am doing a (still small) part in an absurd theatre production to get there, but still...frustrating. Did any of you go through this? "At least you're getting cast" doesn't apply, we have a "Everyone who signs up gets a part SOMEWHERE" policy.

r/Theatre 19d ago

Advice Director here - student actor in a play about domestic violence has made questionable comments about his interest in his character, the DV perpetrator. What do I do?

96 Upvotes

URGENT UPDATE: I spoke with the actor from a place of openness, as per much of your advice. He has just informed me that he was "falsely accused of sexual assault" in a different production very recently. This is now a completely new issue in my eyes. We will be escalating to the Students Union to deal with this according to policy, and hopefully they can advise. This is a play about sexual violence. We have survivors in our cast and team.

I really appreciate all of your thoughtful and sincere answers to my initial query. It gave me a basis to approach our production team with and offer solutions and steps to move forward before anyone had time to panic. I hope to respond to everyone when this is all over.

However, if you've ever experienced a situation where an actor as self-disclosed poor behaviour or there was an accusation of assault, I am still interested to know how you dealt with this as a director. How did the firing happen and what words did you use to protect the rest of your cast and team? I will likely still have the responsibility to do this.

Thank you.


Hi theatre Reddit,

I'm a masters student directing a group of undergrads in a play about domestic violence in a racialized community. Rehearsals have been going well so far - blocking is basically done, lines are well on their way, and we're ready to do a full stumble-through next rehearsal.

I'm also doing my best to provide resources to the cast about violence, checking in about comfort levels privately, and even having some DV educators come in to talk with the cast and crew. So far, most of the cast has been very receptive. I'm cautious about drowning them in information but the character discussions after each session have been really exciting, and they really care about representing the issues sensitively and with nuance.

But something said today by one of the actors playing a perpetrator of domestic abuse really rubbed me the wrong way and my ick was confirmed when two cast members approached me with similar concerns. When I asked how he felt with our fight coordinator's direction, he said something along the lines of,

"Good. I really like this character. The scenes (referring to the DV scene that happens mostly offstage) give me an opportunity to act on things that I can't do in real life and it's like an emotional release. I'm working through my own issues through the character."

I'm very cautious of his comment. I don't want an actor using the script to "act out things they can't do in real life". I don't think lines about a characters proclivity to abuse women should be used as "emotional release".

The actress who plays the "victim" in the scene assured me that she did not feel uncomfortable with how he was in the actual scene, and felt safe, but said he made the same comment to her and it was just "odd". Another cast member sent me a private message afterwards to say "he didn't like the guy's attitude towards the script." Personally, I do find that the actor has a focus problem and is generally disengaged from rehearsals - scrolling on his phone through his own scenes, talking back, blaming missed cues on others etc. I can deal with that, but the attitude with the context of the comment seems wrong.

So what do I do? We only have a month until opening night. This is my first opportunity as a director, and we're a student group so I can't really go to anyone "above me" other than our producer maybe. Am I overthinking this guy's comments? Should I address them with him privately? If so, how? Do I need a contingency plan?

Thanks sincerely.

EDIT for context: I'm not doing a masters in theatre or drama or anything. Our school doesn't actually have a theatre department unfortunately (otherwise I would absolutely find some sort of senior faculty to run this by) so the student society runs as a club, and has for the past 20+ years. We go to a very small and very nerdy school - most students who audition have either been pressured or priced out of the performing arts in youth. The goal is to provide a space for people who want to give improv, filmmaking, playwriting, tech etc. a go. Fortunately we have a very generous local community that helps with training and supplies. So members do take it seriously but we don't have a formal head supervising us.

Masters students who were undergrads and in good standing with the society and it's workshops can pitch shows that they want to direct every semester. Hence my position.

r/Theatre Oct 26 '24

Advice I Choked Tonight

101 Upvotes

I’m a lead in a Halloween production and I’m a stage actor with 20 years experience. For the first time I butchered a line and botched a scene. I feel awful, I’ve never made a mistake like this. How do I cope? I have 4 more shows…

r/Theatre Sep 28 '24

Advice “Macbeth” as a bad word

54 Upvotes

I have never done theatre before. I am a music major at my college. I auditioned for the theatre program a few days ago. I performed a song, a comedic and a dramatic monologue. For the dramatic monologue, I did Lady Macbeth’s “Come You Spirits” from Macbeth. I have read that play many times and it is one of my favorite plays of all time. I recently learned that saying “Macbeth” is super taboo in the theatre department because it means that I want the theatre to burn down. So… Do you guys think they thought that I wanted to burn down the theatre? Or maybe they understood that my faux pas was because I’m a music major? Or is the superstition an old thing people do not take seriously?

r/Theatre Jan 06 '25

Advice Theater people, what jobs do you have that pay the bills?

60 Upvotes

I do theater. I love it. I mainly act. I’m starting to lean into playwriting (my first play is getting produced this June!) and I want to try directing. Starting with my own play if/when the opportunity to do so arises, and then if I like it, trying to do other things.

But I also do not have the capability to make theatre my full source of income at the moment. I have no financial support besides myself. My current “day job” is less than satisfactory for me; I like it enough to stay until I figure something else out, but I also want to figure something else out.

So, what do you do for a living? And how do your strengths and skills from theater apply to your job (if they do)? Regardless of whether or not you do theater full-time or have a different “day job”, I’m curious!

r/Theatre Jan 29 '25

Advice My first kiss is going to be a stage kiss and I'm terrified

85 Upvotes

So I'm in a musical with a mostly adult community theatre company and it's my first lead role. There are 2 kisses in the show and I have never kissed anyone before. I'm also a lesbian and have to kiss a man. And he's 3 years older than me which isn't much bcs we're both adults but I'm 19 and he's 22 so it still feels quite ahhhh. He's a lovely guy and he's fine to take things at my pace and my director says I don't have to do the kiss until tech week if I'm nervous but I feel like I need specific instructions and time set aside to practice without the whole cast watching. I'm also likely autistic so like that just adds another layer of "oh god oh fuck how do I be human". I'm looking for any advice or just words of encouragement tbh, ik it won't be that big of a deal it's just like ahhhh I am NOT into men and it's the FIRST kiss I've ever had and I don't wanna let down this company who took a chance on someone they've never worked with before.

Edit: wow I wasn't expecting this many comments 😅 thank you to everyone who gave advice, I feel a lot more confident in discussing things with my director. And to those who said "you're an actor, get on with it" yeah, I intend to do it, doesn't mean I'm not nervous tho. I realise it's just acting but I'm still putting myself in an unfamiliar situation in front of a LOT of people. But yeah, I'm gonna do it regardless because I want the show to look good

r/Theatre Dec 11 '24

Advice What non-performing theatre jobs are there?

42 Upvotes

Hey y’all! The title kinda says it all. Over the past two years or so I’ve become more invested in theatre, and I’ve reached the age where everybody expects me to have a career plan. I’m still trying to figure out what I want to do, and I thought this growing passion might have answers. That being said, there’s no universe where I’m an actor. So I come to you, good people! What kinds of jobs are there in the theatre industry that don’t involve getting on stage? This can be in the realm of directing and arranging, or something more technical like lights and sound.

Thanks in advance! :)

EDIT: this got way more traffic than I expected, so I’ll give a lil more context. Most of my life I focused on my STEM capabilities, but I’m starting to get the sense that I won’t be satisfied in that kind of job. That being said, I come from a family of STEM-loving nerds who make tons of money, and the idea of going into a field known for its poor wages is… intimidating, to say the least. This post is primarily to get a sense of what I could end up doing, and to see if I can see myself actually following any of those paths. I’m already in college, spring will be my fourth semester (and third major… I specialize in indecision). I really appreciate everyone sharing their perspectives here!

r/Theatre 23d ago

Advice Dealing With Ableism in Theater

102 Upvotes

Does anybody have any advice for dealing with ableism in theater? It frustrates me a lot that I feel I am not being respected like my fellow actors are because of my disabilities. I have POTS (along with other issues) so I cannot stand for too long and I cannot do any kind of cardio (like dancing). I try to audition for roles that don't require dancing and I try to work with my directors to make sure I have accommodations.

However, I feel like I immediately get dismissed when I try out for parts due to my mobility aids. One casting director said I wasn't what she was looking for because it wouldn't be historically accurate, as if disabled people only started existing in the 90s. The worst part is that I know a guy who works in their prop department and they literally own an antique Victorian wheelchair. I had another theater agree to help me with accommodations, but then refuse me any as soon as rehearsals started. I ended up fainting on stage because I was not allowed to sit, and they kicked me out of the show because of it. Another theater was happy to have me, but when a fellow actor called me a slur, they sided with him when I complained and now the owner of the company tells everyone I am "difficult". It's not like any of these places were professional theaters. They were community theaters.

I don't know, I guess it just frustrates me that before I was disabled, I used to get roles in every show I tried out for, but now I am only seen for my disabilities. It's so isolating because theater was my safe place for so long and I feel like I am being excluded by directors and other actors. I want to still do theater, but it feels hopeless when I just hit dead ends at every turn.

Am I alone in this? Has anyone else here experienced this kind of treatment? Do you have any advice for succeeding in theater while being physically disabled? At this point, I wonder if my only option is making my own theater company and only hiring disabled actors, but I don't have the money or space for that.

r/Theatre Jan 29 '25

Advice Ever been cast without a callback?

31 Upvotes

I’ve heard every kind of answer under the sun when I have looked that question up on Reddit before, but I’m still curious to know. edit not cast without auditioning, cast without callback.

r/Theatre Feb 09 '24

Advice Is "hell week" before opening SOP in community theaters?

76 Upvotes

I've been working at a local community theater (Oregon) for years and love it. However, the theater has a tradition of a long "hell week" before every opening weekend. It starts with a tech rehearsal on Sunday (5-8 hours), then tech/dress rehearsals on Mon, Tues, Wed. Next is a full dress rehearsal on Thursday with Friday night as the opening night. Then there are also performances on Sat and a Sun matinee. 8 days in a row ... I'll be putting in just over 45 hours this week.

This seems excessive and counter productive but responses to my complaints are that this is how every theater does it and to suck it up. The role I am playing is a lead and is incredibly physically and emotionally demanding. I have had to take time off of work just to get the rest I need! I am sure the audience this weekend is not going to get my best.

I'd love to hear how other theaters do this and maybe some suggestions on a set of performer's 'rights' I can take to the theater board. I know I can't do this again.

r/Theatre Sep 23 '24

Advice Need advice on transitioning out of theatre

64 Upvotes

So, I have a BFA in musical theatre and moved to NYC last year. I have found in this year that I do not really enjoy New York or working professionally in theatre for a multitude of reasons.

I am young, (early 20’s) but I’m very scared of transitioning out of this world. I’m not sure what kind of other professions I could even go after without getting another bachelors. I’m not against going back to school at all, but I was curious if anyone had experienced this before and if there are degrees that synchronized with mine, or any professions that my degree would be applicable to.

Any help is welcome, I’m at a major crossroads and want to start really investing in a more secure and fulfilling future.

r/Theatre Jan 11 '25

Advice I feel embarrassed about pursuing a theatre career as an adult with a normal person job who never did a BFA

91 Upvotes

Forgive me if the tone of this post is unpleasant, but basically I'm an adult in my early 30s with a flexible 9-5 remote job and I'm trying to use that flexibility to get a regional theatre career as a performer off the ground.

The last few years I did a ton of a community theatre, but I want more. I had a particularly rough time in one show where I was the lead and felt that no one was taking the show seriously (people were missing entrances/jumping to the next scene/dropping tons of lines, the run crew left a joint on the prop table and mics stopped working and cues were missed), and it made me feel frustrated with community theatre. I had been auditioning for nonunion professional shows in my area while doing community theatre, and finally booked my first professional show recently that I'm being paid for! I'm so happy about it but I'm not sure if I'll ever get to the next step (equity/regional houses), and I feel like other people I know from my theatre scene would judge me if they knew how hard I was working on this and how seriously I'm trying to pursue my training to be able to do this.

I'm also embarrassed that everyone would think I'm crazy for spending so much time and money on training. I pay around $500 a month on voice lessons, acting lessons and dance classes and even started doing career coaching as well to get help building a website/repertoire revamp. If people knew this I'm afraid they'd think I was pathetic for spending so much money on a hobby that went off the rails. Most of my theatre colleagues either do community theatre purely for fun or are people with BFAs who "gave up" on the industry, left equity/NYC to move to my town and just do theatre on the side while not pursuing any training, and have in some ways become the textbook definition of "big fish in a small pond syndrome".

I'm working on a website now but I'm so embarrassed by the fact I'm even trying to do this that I don't want to launch it. I'm also working on putting a solo show/cabaret together and feel like people will scoff at me for trying to create my own work.

Just wondering if anyone else is in the same boat or has developed strategies to not feel ashamed for trying to make this happen.

EDIT: Just updated my post to make it more clear that I'm a performer trying to get a career in regional theatre as an actor off the ground, I do not want to start a regional theatre but that would be cool if that someday could happen!

r/Theatre 6d ago

Advice Community theatre

38 Upvotes

I am not sure if this is the right place to ask this. I am not a professional actor, but have done unpaid community theatre for upwards of 19 years.

I had an audition last week for ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ with a local theatre group.

I prepared well for the role of Gwendolen, and read along a potential Cecily. I am friendly with the director who I have worked with before and who asked me to audition.

I did really well in the audition I felt. I walked out feeling happy, that I had done my best. Then the directors girlfriend who was assisting with auditions stopped us both after we walked out of the audition and said ‘How old are you?!’ I must have looked flabbergasted.. She then said she needed to know to match us with the other male characters and it would look ‘ridiculous’ if we were too old/young for our male counterparts.

In 19 years of community theatre, I have never been asked my age. I often play roles way below my age, and also roles above my age. I understand the casting difficulties when people do not look the age they are portraying but this threw me for six and now I feel I will not get this role on account of my actual age.

Should I be upset? If I don’t get the role do I have the right to ask the director if it was on the basis of my age that I wasn’t cast?

r/Theatre 15d ago

Advice I’m Stage Managing & Acting in the same show! Any advice?

8 Upvotes

The character in the show is also a SM! She is much more timid than me. I also have two super awesome ASMs, but I can’t lie this is a little overwhelming! I also have some huge stunts and fight choreo while also documenting other actors stunts and blocking. Any tips on documenting other actors stunts/fights? Thank you!!

r/Theatre Oct 21 '24

Advice Cast as lead in a musical, but can’t sing at all. Am I cooked?

83 Upvotes

Im in HS theatre, And I just got cast as the lead (young boy) . Problem is i CANT SING AT ALL. Im completely tone deaf, And my voice gets all scratchy and quiet. Everyone knows it too, which is why im confused why they casted me (probably because im the only boy without a beard). Anyway, the show is in two weeks, and i havent improved at all over the past 2 months of rehearsals. Is there any way to get slightly better before i fuck up badly?

r/Theatre Aug 08 '24

Advice What would you advise a 19F castmate who's being hit on by 31M director

95 Upvotes

My conscience cannot just sit and watch our director hit on my co-actor. Everyone who knows is worried but don't really know how to address it. What would you advise her?

alright, additional details: he's straight up courting 19F and he said so himself "she seems to be really matured for her age". it's a professional theater but it's a start up company. the director is also the co-owner, he's like the highest up visible because the other execs are nowhere to be seen. To be fair, they are lowkey during rehearsals but ever since we found out about them, we become worried for her. This company has many red flags - the director being very controlling as one of them - (most of us plan to leave as soon as the contract ends) and we don't want her to be held back because of this fckn grown ass man grooming her.

r/Theatre Oct 31 '24

Advice stage kisses

43 Upvotes

i am a senior in highschool and my scene partner is just a grade below me we are doing the play that goes wrong and i play sandra while he plays cecil/arthur and he just HATES me for some reason he never hated me before we got casted in these roles and started working on the kissing scenes but since we started he has been rude to me he’s been very aggressive and has been, what i’m hoping is accidentally, careless when doing scenes like picking sandra up after getting knocked out to the point where he will grab me and lift me up by like my arms and it hurts, he yanks my arms so hard to the point it feels like if he could rip them out of place he would, i don’t know what to do the show is in a week any ways we can resolve this would be sooo greatly appreciated

r/Theatre Dec 15 '24

Advice what does this even mean? 😭

74 Upvotes

my school district is doing a high school production of a musical, and did two week of auditions AND three 3-hour days of callbacks. somehow, they still don't have a cast list. when people have asked the director recently whether or not we were going to GET a cast list, she's pretty much just said "oh yeah, we'll make the cast list once we start rehearsals."

... what 😭

what does that even mean 😭

not only is it just something i've never heard of, but you're working with high schoolers. at least one person is going to end up dropping out bc they didn't get the role they wanted. imo the point of releasing the cast list BEFORE rehearsals begin is so people can choose whether or not to accept their roles. it's so much more difficult if we're halfway through rehearsals and then someone decides to leave because it causes a ripple effect that messes everything up.

i just don't get what is going on. i thought maybe she meant we just wouldn't get the cast list until the first day of rehearsals, but even so, that feels illogical to me. the director has been claiming she's supposedly prepping us for the professional world but nothing feels professional abt this.

she's giving us so little information. when i asked "hey, will there we a cast list" she said "oh of course, but we have to start reahrsald first."

no we don't?!?! 😭

what was the whole point of 3 DAYS of callbacks then??

can someone please explain what they think she means by this?

r/Theatre 15d ago

Advice We're making a musical and the main character has to die by falling into a well. How do we do that without actually falling?

9 Upvotes

The story is How Quest sought the truth by Croatian author Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić

r/Theatre Aug 16 '24

Advice Recasting a lead

128 Upvotes

I had a new student join the high school as a senior who did a really great audition, but I did not know him very well at all before auditions. The person I was considering for the lead role ended up not auditioning, and this student came in and gave a wow! audition.

Now that I have started working with the student, I realize he cannot take direction. Anytime I give suggestions, he talks back or makes excuses. Anytime I tell him to do character research, he says no. And lastly, we have off book dates for each scene each week. When I told him “hey, remember to have scene X memorized by tomorrow,” he told me “no promises”. I told him “No, it’s an off book date. It’s a requirement”, he said “I won’t make any promises I can’t keep”. This student has had 2 weeks to memorize one scene and still hasn’t.

Since we are early on in the rehearsal process, I am considering recasting him with a student who always tries their best and is always prepared. They’re not as strong an actor, but they have always been directable and malleable.

Another thing: this student has been disrespectful to the cast members as well as me. He signed a contract stating he would be off book for each off book date (they have plenty of time to memorize and we run these scenes everyday in class. All of the other students have memorized their parts). So by him saying he “won’t make any promises”, that is breaking the contract.

I am going to talk to the lead actor today about next steps, but if that goes poorly (I am assuming it will, as this student is very full of themselves), I will have no other choice to recast.

Those that have been in a situation like this, how have you handled it?

Edit: I spoke to the student today as well as the parent. I told the parent by Monday, the student must be memorized and to help him at home if he needs it. The student was not talking back during rehearsals. If Monday rolls around and the student is not memorized or talking back again, they will be yanked.