Putting The Play Over The Actor

To the Editor:

I am an avid participant in community theater and have performed with the Town Players of Newtown twice in recent years. Both experiences were thoroughly satisfying. However, my peripheral involvement in their last two productions leaves me concerned. I have watched as directors, after casting volunteer actors and starting rehearsals, ask them to accept smaller roles or to resign altogether. This was done for purely artistic reasons — the actors just didn’t measure up to the directors’ expectations. The chairman of the board states that the board fully supports these decisions, although she acknowledges the distress felt by the actors.

This violates the normal protocol of the casting process as I have always understood it and is unfair to the actors. Casting is tantamount to a contract and the actor donates a huge amount of time, sacrifices other opportunities and activities, and reschedules his life in exchange for this creative opportunity. This contract can be broken, but not trivially and not when the actor is behaving in good faith. In my rather extensive experience, asking an actor to resign is almost unheard of and done only when the actor is uncooperative or disruptive.

Actors who might audition for the Town Players should be aware of this policy; none of us wish to be perpetually auditioning. The public should be aware that the Players, at present, seem to put their audience’s experience ahead of the welfare of their volunteer actors.

Sincerely,

Maureen Kelly

75 Grassy Plain Street, Bethel                                       June 25, 2009