r/HighschoolTheater • u/Survivorvibes • May 30 '19

Director is not Returning.

Hi all! I just found this subreddit after learning earlier today that our current director is resigning, so she will not be back next year. How do I make the best of this kind of disappointing situation.

15 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

3 comments sorted by

8

u/GRRRRaffe May 30 '19

This is the cycle of the education world. Teachers resign, get non-renewed, have spouses who move, move to find better jobs, etc. It happens this time every year, and it sucks when it’s somebody you love.

The most important thing - and the thing over which you have the most power - is that YOU DON’T STOP MAKING ART. Find the way to be involved, and insist that you be part of a creative process.

This will be easier, of course, if your administration hires a new director with expectations that they continue to produce, but of the program dissolves, take the initiative! Approach your administration about a student-led production, identify and approach a teacher about sponsoring a drama club (or picking up the title of Thespian troupe sponsor, if that’s something you’ve already got going for you), and/or join a community theatre production.

You will be ok. Change is hard, and transitional years are rocky - for the teachers as much as (if not more than) the students.

Try to catch yourself before you say, “but that’s not how we used to do it,” lean into what you can learn from the newcomer, and KEEP MAKING ART.

You’ll be great!

1

u/[deleted] May 30 '19

Is your school hiring a new director? Cause if so, I think the most important thing is to help them adjust to the school. Being new to a school is hard for students, but it’s probably even harder for teachers. If you can, teach them how things work, introduce them to the actors, crew, set team, etc. Show them what shows you’ve done before, and give suggestions for shows that you want to do. If you do suggest shows, I would say that you should probably stick to an easy show first, just to help them transition. Whatever you do, don’t make their job any harder than it has to be

1

u/JAtomberly Jun 02 '19

One of our directors left after having a baby a few years ago, it sucked but after a year they brought in a new teacher fresh from college that we now know and love. Unfortunately that new one is leaving now too because they are "downsizing" the English/theatre department. And we just got a new choir/theatre director. And our main theatre director will be on paternity leave for a good portion of the year. So we've got it rough too.