# Theatre is hotbed for bullying



## Daffey (Jul 3, 2011)

What do you guys think of this article/issue?

The Stage / News / UK theatre is hotbed for bullying, study reveals


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## mstaylor (Jul 3, 2011)

Sounds like a stupid premise to me. I would be interested to know the definition of bullying they are using. It sounds like they are using a pretty loose definition to me.


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## cpf (Jul 3, 2011)

249 seems an awfully small sample size.


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## DuckJordan (Jul 3, 2011)

200 some out of 22k employed is a very small observation group. Not to mention how they decided to select for the survey isn't even stated. My issue with this article from a research standpoint is the misleading use of percentages and the small sample size. In any theater I've ever worked if there is any bullish behavior its due to a misunderstood joke and was profusely apologized for from a confrontation from the "victim".

Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk


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## blackisthenewblack (Jul 3, 2011)

While I do want to know what the definition of bullying is, I would say that the statistic posted is a likely number. 

In all the collective years of knowledge and work experience at Control Booth, how many times has a crew chief or department head, told someone (in a hurried, potentially yelling, potential explicitive laden sentence) to work faster? Or that the director does not like the set piece and needs a new one? Or a catty argument breaks out over hear-say? 

I know that last year in university, several members of my class, along with a fellow teacher filed an academic report to have an instructor canned because of some remarks and attitudes linked to bullying.


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## Van (Jul 3, 2011)

Bullying ? I'll show you bullying ! Get Back to Work You freaks ! 
No, Seriously, I think if you are the kind of person who lets "good natured ribbing" get to you, you shouldn't be in this business. I realize it's a lot different for those of you in the educational world but let's face it, in the real world of Production you'd better be able to give as well as you get. 
Guess I should go read that article now.


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## Les (Jul 3, 2011)

Disclaimer: I didn't read the article.

I've never experienced "bullying", but there _is potential_ for a lot of politics and corruption if the theatre has a board of directors (especially if they are well-off retirees with too much time). Been there, power trips and all. This can result in 'corporate bullying', which is probably not the topic of discussion at hand.


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## Van (Jul 3, 2011)

OK, Read it. IMHO Anne-Marie Quegg is full of ********************** ! < Yeah try to figure that out> 

> “I think in some ways those of us working in the arts have ourselves to blame,” she said. “Often, there’s a passion attached to the kind of work we do, a commitment to it and great admiration for good art. So, I think we actually tolerate behaviour that wouldn’t be tolerated in other sectors, because we are committed to the end result being great. I do think, in some respects, we need to open our eyes a bit more and realise that, actually, it’s not necessary to tolerate any kind of harassment or bad behaviour on the part of certain members of a team. It’s perfectly possible to create high-quality work without inflicting pain or harm on people.
> 
> “Part of our issue in the arts is that we don’t like to think there is a problem,” she added. “We subscribe to this notion that we’re all really nice people and we embrace diversity and inclusiveness. So, the idea that we are actually able to behave in this way is not one that we would welcome, I suspect. That means it is difficult to have the right kind of mechanisms in place [to deal with bullying] and, indeed, the right kind of leadership.”



Yes we do work in an area where passions run high, and yes we do tend to let things slide, that is the mnature of the Arts. I think Ms.Quegg will, most likely, be comming out with a whole series of training manuals and specifications which she will gladly sell to theaters for 250 Pound per manual and she will teach anti-bullying technicques for 65 pound per hour. 
IMHO she needs to leave the arts to the artists and try to reform the Data Processors. I hear they are brutal if you missplace a semicolon.


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## derekleffew (Jul 3, 2011)

Van said:


> ...I hear they are brutal if you missplace a semicolon.


You spell another word wrong and I'll put an exclamation point up your semicolon 

It's not bullying--it's educating via the time-honored traditions of intimidation and humiliation.


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## Les (Jul 3, 2011)

Well, I read it. I thought it was funny how the "person most susceptible to bullying" would be a white female box office employee... Funny, but untrue - I would think that the box office is furthest from whatever drama they are complaining about. The 'bullying' I was describing above was related to deep-rooted community theatre politics and resistance to change. Us theatre people can be very territorial, and since there are so many grey areas where creativity is concerned, it's easy for us to feel challenged, which can lead to bad blood (if you're immature/inexperienced). 

Overall I feel like the study was flawed. The theatre has no more bullying than any other work place, in general. The one thing a [small] theatre sometimes lacks is an HR department and/or tightly-enforced harassment policies (no open-door policy).


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## kiwitechgirl (Jul 4, 2011)

I guess it depends on your definition of bullying, but I've certainly seen it and been on the receiving end a couple of times. A director I've worked with a few times is notorious for always having a "whipping boy" amongst the cast (and sometimes the SM) of a show he's working on; that person seemingly can't do anything right, everything they do is wrong and they get abused and ruthlessly belittled no matter what they do. I've never been the "whipping boy" because I'm strong enough to not stand for that kind of treatment (some might say I'm stroppy or bolshy!), but I'd certainly say that he has bullied me - I've been treated in an utterly vile manner by him a couple of times and it got to the point where when we were allocating shows to SMs, I'd ask to be taken off any show he was directing. I've also seen him literally screaming at a poor box office girl, demanding tickets to a sold-out show but refusing to take anything but the best seats. The problem is that he used to be the artistic director of the theatre and while he was in that position, he was able to do as he pleased because he got the results. Now that he's not the AD (comes back as a guest director), people are finally starting to realise that they don't have to stand for that kind of treatment and he's been told that if he continues to treat people like that then there won't be any further work for him. So yeah, I reckon it's out there.


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## DuckJordan (Jul 4, 2011)

No one ever said it doesn't exist its just not as common as this "study" seems to claim it is. There is always going to be those jerks around. I've seen them, I've seen them shown the door. Its just like anything someone with a little knowledge gets a hold of... They play it off like they know it all and claim it as fact.


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## avkid (Jul 4, 2011)

Stop wasting time with this bull excrement and get back to work!


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## MrsFooter (Jul 4, 2011)

Okay, first of all, let me start by saying that this is one of the weakest statistical studies I've ever seen. She asked people if they had been bullied? That's like doing a study by asking people if they are overjoyed at the moment, then stating that 33% of people want to throw themselves off bridges. Weak sauce.

However. This does bring to mind a story I was told once from my old summer stock. Small truss is being loaded into the audience box seats. Two guys go to the landing above, lower it down with a rope, two guys below catch it and release the rope. The two guys up top are Crusty Old Stagehand and Fresh Faced Intern. Intern says, "Wow, this truss is really heavy, I don't think I'm comfortable lowering this by myself. I could really use a hand, Crusty." Crusty looks up from his chair and says, "Quit being such a *****! Get the sand out of your vagina and be a man!" Intern, being fresh faced and slightly afraid of Crusty, attempts to lower the truss by himself. Truss is, indeed heavy, and the rope flies through his hands. Truss goes crashing to the ground 30' below, taking out several rows of seats. Intern gets in trouble.

Now, I realize this story is rare, but I can also see how some of our "normal" behavior could be interpreted as bullying by objective eyes. The number of times I've called my boss a jackass to his face or told the audio head what I did to his mom last night or told our head flyman what he could do to himself. To our guys, this is just part of the work dynamic, but in any other workplace my ass would be out the door without question.

And as far as the white female box office agents go, ours is absolutely bullied. All the time. By everyone. (Just ask her.)


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## mstaylor (Jul 4, 2011)

Well, in my workplace I would be the bully. I have on more than one occasion dressed my crew down for failing to follow my procedures, complete with colorful language. To me that isn't bullying, that's correcting the crew, to follow safety or work procedures. 
Bullying is when a head carp comes in, completely screws the advance, is eleven guys short because he sent the wrong rider and then tries to browbeat me like he is blameless. If I back away and bow to his will then I have been bullied. If I stand my ground, tell I will fix the problem then that becomes a disagreement and a solution.


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## Van (Jul 4, 2011)

derekleffew said:


> You spell another word wrong and I'll put an exclamation point up your semicolon



Help! Help ! I'm being Oppressed! Come See the violence inherent in the system ! 
< Derek is Such a bully ! Maybe that study was right...>


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## chausman (Jul 4, 2011)

Van said:


> Help! Help ! I'm being Oppressed! Come See the violence inherent in the system !
> < Derek is Such a bully ! Maybe that study was right...>


 
"I'm not dead yet...I'm feeling betta..." "Could you do me a little favor" *whump* "See ya Thursday"


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## shiben (Jul 4, 2011)

Van said:


> Help! Help ! I'm being Oppressed! Come See the violence inherent in the system !
> < Derek is Such a bully ! Maybe that study was right...>


 
So DEREK is the big bully. I thought he was from Vegas... Well, I better buy the 50£ book and get the 7000£ seminar coming thru just in case he comes...


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## Grog12 (Jul 5, 2011)

derekleffew said:


> It's not bullying--it's educating via the time-honored traditions of intimidation and humiliation.



This makes me so much happier than it really should.


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## NickVon (Jul 5, 2011)

Les said:


> Well, I read it. I thought it was funny how the "person most susceptible to bullying" would be a white female box office employee... Funny, but untrue - I would think that the box office is furthest from whatever drama they are complaining about. The 'bullying' I was describing above was related to deep-rooted community theatre politics and resistance to change. Us theatre people can be very territorial, and since there are so many grey areas where creativity is concerned, it's easy for us to feel challenged, which can lead to bad blood (if you're immature/inexperienced).
> 
> Overall I feel like the study was flawed. The theatre has no more bullying than any other work place, in general. The one thing a [small] theatre sometimes lacks is an HR department and/or tightly-enforced harassment policies (no open-door policy).


 
the "WFBE"  is probably more likely to be sexually harassaed by A) testorone fueld actors, B) Dock workers tired of seeing sweaty guys all day. C) electricians who have been focusing all day and haven't seen anything. D) the audio guys that just have to much time on their hands and don't do any real work -)).


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## zmb (Jul 5, 2011)

MrsFooter said:


> This does bring to mind a story I was told once from my old summer stock. Small truss is being loaded into the audience box seats. Two guys go to the landing above, lower it down with a rope, two guys below catch it and release the rope. The two guys up top are Crusty Old Stagehand and Fresh Faced Intern. Intern says, "Wow, this truss is really heavy, I don't think I'm comfortable lowering this by myself. I could really use a hand, Crusty." Crusty looks up from his chair and says, "Quit being such a *****! Get the sand out of your vagina and be a man!" Intern, being fresh faced and slightly afraid of Crusty, attempts to lower the truss by himself. Truss is, indeed heavy, and the rope flies through his hands. Truss goes crashing to the ground 30' below, taking out several rows of seats. Intern gets in trouble.


 
And that's how accidents happen.


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## shiben (Jul 6, 2011)

zmb said:


> And that's how accidents happen.


 
Also how young guys decide that the old hands are idiots and stop respecting them. Effectively in the story, the old guy caused the problem, you know he was on the next call tho, and the young guy (whos real fault was listening to the old dude in the first place) probably didnt get back on a call for ages.


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## Les (Jul 6, 2011)

NickVon said:


> the "WFBE"  is probably more likely to be sexually harassaed by C) electricians who have been focusing all day and haven't seen anything.



Most accurate quote ever. 

"A", on the other hand is questionable. Most actors I've seen go after the stage crew, non-discriminant of gender.


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## derekleffew (Jul 18, 2011)

Delete DIGITAL DRAMA! Stomp out bullying! 

ABC Family - Cyberbully - The Movie


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## Van (Jul 18, 2011)

Hey ! You should watch that , Derek. Maybe you'd stop being so mean to me ...........


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## philhaney (Jul 18, 2011)

Van said:


> ...try to reform the Data Processors. I hear they are brutal if you missplace a semicolon.



Why yes. Yes we are.


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