I’m the director for a smallish (25 people, but only 10 or so are full time) street acting troupe at the local Ren Faire. We have specific commitments for street gigs that are the same each day, plus a stage show once a day - everyone is expected to be there and on time for all commitments. I’ve been a member of the troupe for quite a while, but I’ve only been in charge for two seasons (this upcoming spring will be my third as director), so I’m still feeling my way as management.
Last year, one of my longtime actors - call her Liza - was severely depressed. She’s 22, but has been part of the group since she was a pre-teen. I knew she was in a really bad place, so I told her that I would be very flexible about her daily commitments - while I’d like her to make as many as possible, she didn’t have to be at all of them if she wasn’t up to it, as long as she was at Faire whenever possible and as long as she gave me at least a little warning that she wouldn’t be at a gig. I felt that it would be better for her to be at Faire, among friends and doing things, rather than sitting at home trying to think of reasons not to kill herself.
However - this had a horrible impact on the other performers, especially the more recent additions who didn’t know her well from previous years. All they saw was one of their fellow performers who was being a flake and not getting any flak for it from management (me). They were resentful toward her to say the least.
Some factors:
Liza is, when she’s on, a really good performer and very much an asset to the group.
We’re always - ALWAYS - shorthanded.
The director before me was very slack about just about everything, and it negatively affected how our group was seen by the larger Faire community. Because of that, I’ve tried to instill more discipline in the troupe than they’ve been used to, and have given a few of them an earful when they were consistently flaky. (Hence a lot of the resentment.)
Even when she’s not actively depressed, Liza’s always been kind of a drama queen - apt to stomp off in a huff at any imagined slight, insisting that this person or that person hates her, that other person doesn’t like her (when in fact they don’t have a problem with her at all), etc.
That said, I very much believe that the depression she’s going through is legit and not just an attention-seeking ploy. Oh, and to top it off, she was in her first year of law school, and was under a huge amount of stress from that.
As of springtime, her depression was resisting medication. I don’t know if it’s gotten better. I’m going to assume that it’ll take a while, and she probably won’t be 100% back to normal by next March.
So what do I do next year, or if it comes up again? What should I have done differently last year?
It is very unlikely that she will MORE able to participate next year regardless of the depression situation; the second year of law school is usually the most intense as far as workload goes.
To maintain an outside obligation in the 1L year requires uncommon commitment; unless she’s taking a medical leave of absence or seriously neglecting her studies, given the rehearsal and performance schedule you’re describing, I don’t think her participation next year is realistic at all. Have you talked to her about what she expects for next year?
I haven’t talked to her about it yet - I didn’t really know how to bring it up, and figured I would wait till closer to the season.
Yikes! I’d heard about the horrors of 1L, had no clue that 2L was even worse.
(She wasn’t doing well in school last year, which was part of the depression in a wonderful little feedback loop. She’s also a prodigy who graduated HS at 16, UCLA at 19, and is for the first time in her life facing serious academic challenges.)
Tough situation. As someone who is/has been depressed for most of their life - I don’t have much to offer except:
It is almost certainly legit. I can’t imagine why someone would want to fake this. It isn’t really a great way to get attention. Some people don’t even think it is real. At least fake something like cancer (of course - that is easy to prove/disprove I guess).
She may be totally unaware of how her depression is effecting others. I had no idea (to some extent) until it was pointed out. Someone took a picture of me once and said “do you realize you look this sad?” I didn’t. I realize this is different (her being flaky is what is causing issues). I assume she is not in denial about her condition (since you know about it). You may (depending on her personality) tell her how her condition is effecting the group - tactfully of course. I know when I feel like I am needed - for whatever reason - it makes me more likely to do whatever. She may want to show up more often - and this might give her the extra push to do so.
Maybe ask her if she has any suggestions. If you can - offer to coordinate a ride or whatever she needs. There may be some logistical issues she is having. They can seem overwhelming when you have depression.
I suck at these management like issues - and people are different. Some people I’m sure would suggest this is too much coddling, but I think she may actually want to be there. She might want a little more reassurance or something about her value.
Some people are very defensive about their depression - or ashamed - feel guilty - if you can figure out what is going on by getting her to open up - it may give you some ideas.
You could try something like…
“I’ve been thinking about you lately and worried about you. How are things?”
Sorry I don’t have anything better to offer.
ETA: oh missed the law school thing. I can’t imagine doing law school with depression - let alone both of these.
You could ask her not to come back next year (or say that she can only come back if she gets counseling/medication for her depression). This isn’t unreasonable, even if you’re short-handed. If her poor attendance is affecting morale as much as you say, then the troupe would probably be better off without her. Or, you could keep doing what you’re doing. And when people approach you as if she’s a problem, let them know that she has a medical excuse for being flaky and they need to shut their yaps.
This advice is predicated on the assumption that ADA accommodations don’t apply to your performers.
I’m coming at this from a bit of a different angle:
Is this a side-job thing, with pay and auditions and all that good stuff, or is it a volunteer, hobby-like thing?
Because if it’s the latter, “morale” should be built-in. People should be doing it because they have time and passion to spare, and because it is pure, unadulterated fun. If people aren’t having fun - if “morale” is bad - why are they there? Why do it at all?
What I’m asking is…well, have you and your gang turned a hobby into work? Is this really a good idea? Is Liza really the problem?
This sort of stuff is really common in fandoms BTW. It usually explodes violently. Just saying.
She may very well be thinking that her “flakiness” isn’t adversely affecting anyone at all, because she sucks, and she’s not really a valued member of the group, as evidenced by the very fact that her manager isn’t making a big deal of her absences. In fact, they’d probably be happier if she just left entirely, 'cause she’s just a stupid asshole who can’t act her way out of a college production of R&J and what the hell does she think she’s doing wasting her time with this bullshit anyway?
I know that’s not at all how you feel, but that’s the way some brains work when they’re depressed.
If I were her (and I’m not, but I do have Depression and I’ve done my share of theater people work), I’d want to hear that things are really difficult when I don’t show up, and that my contribution is really needed, and that Sally has been having a hell of a time with the accent and is there any, any way that maybe I could work with Tom on the harmonies for just a few minutes before the next show?
One of the worst things for me, with *my *Depression, is free time. Too much free time to hear the hate in my head just makes things worse. I need to be busy and know how others depend on me to keep myself putting one foot in front of the other.