英语 英语 日语 日语 韩语 韩语 法语 法语 德语 德语 西班牙语 西班牙语 意大利语 意大利语 阿拉伯语 阿拉伯语 葡萄牙语 葡萄牙语 越南语 越南语 俄语 俄语 芬兰语 芬兰语 泰语 泰语 泰语 丹麦语 泰语 对外汉语

美国国家公共电台 NPR--Working in theater is a grind. But it doesn't have to be

时间:2023-09-05 03:15来源:互联网 提供网友:nan   字体: [ ]
特别声明:本栏目内容均从网络收集或者网友提供,供仅参考试用,我们无法保证内容完整和正确。如果资料损害了您的权益,请与站长联系,我们将及时删除并致以歉意。
    (单词翻译:双击或拖选)

Working in theater is a grind. But it doesn't have to be

Transcript1

Recently, Baltimore Center Stage had to cancel its first preview of the season. There was a problem with the giant moon in the background and the lights didn't come in time to be thoroughly2 tested. For artistic3 director Stephanie Ybarra, it was ultimately a safety issue.

"The show did not go on as planned," Ybarra said. "And it was because we were not feeling like it was the responsible thing to do."

Ybarra said it's been a tough time to be at Center Stage. Things are moving slower because there's been turnover4 all around the theater — from the scene shop to the marketing5 department.

"When we planned this show almost a year ago, we had no idea what the labor6 market would look like or what our team would look like," Ybarra said. "And having turned over almost the entirety of our production department over the course of the last few months, it's put a tremendous strain on our workers."

It takes a big team of people to get a show going at a regional theater. You need carpenters, lighting7 designers, costumers and more. The hours can be long and the pay isn't great. It's often a labor of love. But the shutdowns from the pandemic forced theater workers to ask if theater loved them back.

"A lot of people realized that their identity didn't disappear when they left theater for a year," said Rachael Erichsen, props8 manager at Center Stage. "And once you realize that, then you do start to weigh those options — are the long hours, is the stress worth it for me?"

Across the country, regional theaters like Center Stage are trying to tip those scales in theater's favor by making big changes. Artistic directors are looking at everything from increasing diversity backstage and onstage and better health insurance, to child care supplements for parents and shorter work weeks.

Changing the scope of a season

At Center Stage, where a normal season might offer six shows, there will be four in the 2022-2023 season. Ybarra said she looked at the labor market and the budget and concluded that, especially post-pandemic shutdowns, the theater simply couldn't do as much. The decision got a lot of blowback with people asking: Why not?

For Erichsen, who's on her sixth season at Center Stage, the move challenged the rise-and-grind culture that she and so many theater workers come up in.

"It's been a transition moving from a certain way of thinking, a certain high," she said. "You get off on the manic energy of creation-just-in-the nick-of-time."

She said she's "realizing that's maybe not a healthy work pattern that we've all been trained and ingrained in." It's a really interesting process, she said, "to retrain our brains, retrain our reward circuits to appreciate a slow, steady, creative energy versus9 a manic creative energy."

No More 10 out of 12s

After some prompting from the We See You White American Theater movement, Center Stage joined a handful of other theaters pledging to do away with a practice known as "10 out of 12s." It's a shorthand for the hours theater workers put in. It refers to a rule where actors can't work more than 10 hours in a 12 hour day. But once the actors are done, the crew has to go over notes and problem-solve things that didn't work. So days for backstage workers can stretch into 14 hours, 16 hours, if not more. And those last hours always seem to take the most time.

"It's also the least productive time of the day," said Nathan Scheifele, master craftsman10 at Center Stage, who's on his 19th season. "I would run into the problem where sometimes the Baltimore City light rail would stop running at a certain time. And I'd have to figure out how to then get home."

Center Stage moved to an eight out of 10 workday, drawing praise from Lindsay Jones, a composer and sound designer for theater and film based in New York City and a member of the group No More 10 out of 12s.

"I think that Center Stage has really shown themselves to be a leader in changing their work practices in order to model a more fair and equitable11 work environment," he said.

From Jones' perspective, theater as an industry has a tendency to work on autopilot and avoid any self-reflection. Jones says that when a place like Center Stage makes a move like that, it makes a broader difference.

"Their taking a stand, I believe, really did encourage others to stop and think about what they had been doing in their practices and could they make those changes," he said.

Theater is often a labor of love. But you can't pay your bills in love

When Ybarra first got to Center Stage, her first goal was to increase compensation. Low pay was something she heard about from her staff then and is still hearing about now.

"We're still playing catch-up and trying to keep up," she said.

Getting people paid more, and getting people paid equitably12, is difficult considering ticket sales and memberships are down. But for Ybarra, it was a question of holding the theater accountable to its own values. For instance, Ybarra ended the theater's internship14 program. While the theater paid a weekly stipend15 and offered its interns13 housing, Ybarra still considered it exploitative.

"We have people in the building who talked about how they couldn't afford to buy groceries. They would rely on the leftover16 food from a board meeting. That's how they were feeding themselves. And that is exploitation," she said.

Listen to enough heads of nonprofits talk about values and it's easy to get jaded17 if nothing happens. But Bridgette Burton, an artistic producing associate who's worked at a number of regional theaters, sees something different at Center Stage.

"Because they're following up," she said.

Burton started in January 2021, at first on a contract basis, then full time. She's gotten raises with each evaluation18. And beyond just the bump in pay, she says the company has also been uniquely transparent19 about its finances and budget.

"We get to see the budget and know what goes into it. We had a staff meeting today and there was a section on financial transparency, and that was never the case in other places I've been to," she said.

For workers like Burton and Erichsen, all these changes are reason enough to stay. And there's also the joy in making theater. At the opening night of Our Town, the big moon in the back worked. It nostalgically waned20 to show the passing of time.

This little tech miracle — in fact, every aspect of a production — requires a lot of different people with different backgrounds and skills to work together. For Ybarra, that's the draw.

"That sense of belonging we feel when we're making theater? It can't be beat. And I want as many people to experience that as possible," she said.


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 transcript JgpzUp     
n.抄本,誊本,副本,肄业证书
参考例句:
  • A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
  • They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。
2 thoroughly sgmz0J     
adv.完全地,彻底地,十足地
参考例句:
  • The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
  • The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。
3 artistic IeWyG     
adj.艺术(家)的,美术(家)的;善于艺术创作的
参考例句:
  • The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
  • These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。
4 turnover nfkzmg     
n.人员流动率,人事变动率;营业额,成交量
参考例句:
  • The store greatly reduced the prices to make a quick turnover.这家商店实行大减价以迅速周转资金。
  • Our turnover actually increased last year.去年我们的营业额竟然增加了。
5 marketing Boez7e     
n.行销,在市场的买卖,买东西
参考例句:
  • They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
  • He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。
6 labor P9Tzs     
n.劳动,努力,工作,劳工;分娩;vi.劳动,努力,苦干;vt.详细分析;麻烦
参考例句:
  • We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
  • He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后,他已经疲惫不堪了。
7 lighting CpszPL     
n.照明,光线的明暗,舞台灯光
参考例句:
  • The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
  • The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。
8 props 50fe03ab7bf37089a7e88da9b31ffb3b     
小道具; 支柱( prop的名词复数 ); 支持者; 道具; (橄榄球中的)支柱前锋
参考例句:
  • Rescuers used props to stop the roof of the tunnel collapsing. 救援人员用支柱防止隧道顶塌陷。
  • The government props up the prices of farm products to support farmers' incomes. 政府保持农产品价格不变以保障农民们的收入。
9 versus wi7wU     
prep.以…为对手,对;与…相比之下
参考例句:
  • The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
  • The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。
10 craftsman ozyxB     
n.技工,精于一门工艺的匠人
参考例句:
  • A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。
  • The craftsman is working up the mass of clay into a toy figure.艺人把一团泥捏成玩具形状。
11 equitable JobxJ     
adj.公平的;公正的
参考例句:
  • This is an equitable solution to the dispute. 这是对该项争议的公正解决。
  • Paying a person what he has earned is equitable. 酬其应得,乃公平之事。
12 equitably Ut7zg1     
公平地
参考例句:
  • We should equitably assess historical figures. 我们应该公正地评价历史人物。
  • Land was more equitably distributed. 土地得到更公平合理的分配。
13 interns b9fd94f8bf381b49802b6b686cb9d5ac     
n.住院实习医生( intern的名词复数 )v.拘留,关押( intern的第三人称单数 )
参考例句:
  • Our interns also greet our guests when they arrive in our studios. 我们的实习生也会在嘉宾抵达演播室的时候向他们致以问候。 来自超越目标英语 第4册
  • The interns work alongside experienced civil engineers and receive training in the different work sectors. 实习生陪同有经验的国内工程师工作,接受不同工作部门的相关培训。 来自超越目标英语 第4册
14 internship oqmzJB     
n.实习医师,实习医师期
参考例句:
  • an internship at a television station 在电视台的实习期
  • a summer internship with a small stipend 薪水微薄的暑期实习
15 stipend kuPwO     
n.薪贴;奖学金;养老金
参考例句:
  • The company is going to ajust my stipend from this month onwards.从这一个月开始公司将对我的薪金作调整。
  • This sum was nearly a third of his total stipend.这笔钱几乎是他全部津贴的三分之一。
16 leftover V97zC     
n.剩货,残留物,剩饭;adj.残余的
参考例句:
  • These narrow roads are a leftover from the days of horse-drawn carriages.这些小道是从马车时代沿用下来的。
  • Wonder if that bakery lets us take leftover home.不知道那家糕饼店会不会让我们把卖剩的带回家。
17 jaded fqnzXN     
adj.精疲力竭的;厌倦的;(因过饱或过多而)腻烦的;迟钝的
参考例句:
  • I felt terribly jaded after working all weekend. 整个周末工作之后我感到疲惫不堪。
  • Here is a dish that will revive jaded palates. 这道菜简直可以恢复迟钝的味觉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
18 evaluation onFxd     
n.估价,评价;赋值
参考例句:
  • I attempted an honest evaluation of my own life.我试图如实地评价我自己的一生。
  • The new scheme is still under evaluation.新方案还在评估阶段。
19 transparent Smhwx     
adj.明显的,无疑的;透明的
参考例句:
  • The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明,可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
  • The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。
20 waned 8caaa77f3543242d84956fa53609f27c     
v.衰落( wane的过去式和过去分词 );(月)亏;变小;变暗淡
参考例句:
  • However,my enthusiasm waned.The time I spent at exercises gradually diminished. 然而,我的热情减退了。我在做操上花的时间逐渐减少了。 来自《用法词典》
  • The bicycle craze has waned. 自行车热已冷下去了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
本文本内容来源于互联网抓取和网友提交,仅供参考,部分栏目没有内容,如果您有更合适的内容,欢迎点击提交分享给大家。
------分隔线----------------------------
TAG标签:   美国新闻  英语听力  NPR
顶一下
(0)
0%
踩一下
(0)
0%
最新评论 查看所有评论
发表评论 查看所有评论
请自觉遵守互联网相关的政策法规,严禁发布色情、暴力、反动的言论。
评价:
表情:
验证码:
听力搜索
推荐频道
论坛新贴