Responsibility

Definitions of Responsibility (noun)

• accountability: the state, fact, or position of being accountable to somebody or for something
• something to be responsible for: somebody or something for which a person or organization is responsible
• blame: the blame for something that has happened

As parents, we try to instill into our children that those in life who are responsible, are successful in life. Being on time, having one’s homework done, being prepared for the test, being respectful of others, and understanding that we can be at fault.

A major part of being involved with theater is keeping a schedule so that the prepared play or event opens to the paying audience meeting everyone’s expectations. That means, the actors are prepared, the director has told them everything they need to know and do to develop their characters, the sets and scenery are finished, the costumes are designed properly and fit the actors properly, make-up strategies and applications are ready, … in other words, everyone involved has taken the responsibility to complete their individual tasks.

Scheduling and getting to rehearsals is where we have our biggest challenge. The kids are doing a lot during their day and it is our responsibility as directors to schedule rehearsals so that the majority, if not all, of the cast are at the prescribed rehearsals. The first thing the kids do is turn in their extra-curricular schedules, their school schedules, and their family schedules. Yes, we must juggle rehearsals around all of these.

We have learned with today’s environment of the Cell Phones, iPads/tablets, Internet Email, Facebook, FaceTime, Twitter, Texting, etc. that kids are pretty savvy about communicating among themselves and with adults. They just don’t use the telephone conversation much. So, we have found that either we get up to speed, or miscommunications can be made about activity schedules, actor availability, rehearsal schedules, and volunteer coordination.

As parents, in our time, we were not only responsible for transportation, but also knowing when and where our children were supposed to be. Today, we find that the older kids have their daily planners filled with their schedules and they are becoming more responsible for communicating their transportation needs to their own parents. Granted, we still have to watch out for some kids, but not as many as 21 years ago when we started the program.