Professional Attitude

I made a note in my journal the other day that simply said: “Why can't some people learn fast enough?”

It referred to some members of the team I'm currently working with for whom this is their first professional contract.. I thought about how certain performers can comprehend what is required of them very early on, despite their lack of experience, while others will complete their employment unchanged. How could this be? Is it an inability to learn and progress or an actual resistance to it?

I always prided myself on the challenges I would force myself to overcome: during my current tenure I accepted the responsibility of being the wardrobe supervisor, learning the necessary skills to maintain and repair the costumes for my cast. It may not seem like much but learning to sew another skill, something I could not do before. Even without conscious effort I have watched new hires pick up relevant knowledge, learn and grow as performers in a professional environment. Were individuals who did not purely lazy, or was their mindset such that they could not accept the idea that they were somehow flawed?

As I thought of the people who fell into the two categories: those who progressed with things like professionalism; punctuality, attitude, respect for the product and maintaining it's integrity, it became apparent that there was a factor that distinguished the two camps: those who had attended a higher education facility for performers continued to progress and those who had come from a competition background or from weekend and evening schools did not. I have no doubt that this is no universal truth, however it would imply that those who make the commitment to years of intensive training either respect the idea that they have more to learn, or it is a mentality they develop there.

As the age of employed performers seems to be getting lower for large, international leisure companies, in an industry where 'talent' displayed at a single audition can garner an individual a gainful contract, it is worth considering the implications this may have for a production team's morale, as well as a continued level of excellence in their work. Employers should encourage a higher standard of education for their entertainment employees in order to ensure a future of respectable live productions.