Positive Energy
When people talk about positive energy in a rehearsal room, I think it can sometimes be misunderstood. It isn't about being the loudest person in the room. It isn't about forcing a smile when you're having a difficult day and it certainly isn't about pretending everything is perfect all of the time. For me, positive energy is something much simpler. It's about what you bring into the room. It's about your attitude towards the work. It's about your willingness to contribute. It's about how you treat the people around you. One of the things I love most about theatre is collaboration. A rehearsal room is full of people bringing different experiences, skills and ideas together to create something that couldn't exist without them.
The best rehearsal rooms I've worked in all have one thing in common:
People want to be there.
They're invested in the process.
They're curious.
They ask questions.
They support each other.
They celebrate each other's successes.
They care about the production as a whole, not just their own part in it.
Positive energy doesn't have to be loud. Some of the most positive people I've worked with have been the quietest people in the room. They're the ones helping somebody with a harmony during a break. Running lines with a cast mate who is feeling overwhelmed. Checking in on somebody who seems a little quieter than usual. Not because they've been asked to, because they care. That's the kind of energy that changes a rehearsal room. The opposite is true as well.
Negativity can spread quickly.
A lack of effort.
A lack of collaboration.
Constant complaints.
Putting other people down.
Focusing on problems without wanting to help find solutions.
Those things don't just affect one person.
They affect the whole company. Theatre is too collaborative for one person's attitude not to have an impact and that's why I value positivity so highly. Not because I expect everybody to have a perfect day, we all have bad rehearsals, we all have days where things don't go to plan, we all have moments where we're tired, frustrated or struggling. That's part of being human.
What matters is how we respond.
The strongest company members are the people who keep moving forward. The people who support others when things aren't going well. The people who can celebrate somebody else's success. The people who are willing to roll their sleeves up and help solve a problem rather than simply point it out. Those are the people who help build great productions. They're also the people who make rehearsal rooms places that others want to return to.
One of my favourite things in a rehearsal room is watching people collaborate; watching somebody build on somebody else's idea, watching a scene develop because performers are listening to each other, watching a company slowly become a team. Those moments don't happen because one person is carrying the room. They happen because everybody is contributing something. That's what positive energy means to me. Not perfection. Not constant happiness. Not being the loudest voice.
Just a genuine enthusiasm for creating great theatre and helping the people around you do the same.
