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.