From the prompt corner to the lecture theatre: Making the move from professional to academic stage manager

Abstract

Following my journey from stage manager to academic I wanted to discover whether my experiences were unique. Although there has been investigation in other fields into transition experiences, there was no existing research in this area. In this article I investigate the values and identity of stage managers in academia and how these are affected by moving into academia, specifically within the context of the drama conservatoire. Using a qualitative phenomenological approach and examining data from online surveys and semi-structured interviews through content analysis, I sought and considered the views of those with similar career trajectories. Themes identified included uncertain identities, shared values, work/life balance, and tensions between theatre and academic structures. This study moves the stage manager working in the wings of drama schools to centre stage, examines their motivations and identities and encourages academic stage managers to claim their position confidently in this emerging field of study.

Introduction

I began my career in theatre after completing a university undergraduate degree in drama. My initial ambitions were to be a performer, but at university I was introduced to the technical and backstage processes and methods conventionally used in the UK theatre industry, and found a particular passion for stage management. I went on to study at postgraduate level at a drama school (a term used in the UK for a specialist conservatoire for vocational training for performers, creatives, stage management and technicians) and worked professionally as a stage manager in a variety of contexts for some years. Looking for something with more reliability, regular hours and an ability to balance with family life, I accepted a job within a drama school, initially as a stage and production manager: the same role but within an educational context. I found this to be something I very much enjoyed and for which I seemed to have an aptitude. Following the birth of my children, and after a few years out of the workplace, I accepted an offer from the drama school in which I had been working previously to do ‘a bit of teaching’; initially ten hours a week, which soon increased to 20 and, some years later, full time. The drama school in which I worked merged with a large university, becoming a department of a research-focused institution rather than an independent vocational college. Gradually over the many years of this process I felt that my identity shifted from stage manager to academic; in recent years, an academic manager. Often this transition shift was highly challenging and disconcerting: moving from a practitioner background to academia, rather than the ‘traditional’ academic route of a PhD and research career.

My experiences and previous autoethnographic research which focused on this personal and professional journey (Franklin, (2019) prompted me to reflect on a range of questions: am I a stage manager, an academic or hybrid of both? How do we define the terms ‘stage manager’ and ‘academic’? Are there a shared set of values amongst professional stage managers? If there are, what are they and how might these translate into an academic context? How do these values manifest themselves? Do we pass these values on to our students, either consciously or unconsciously? How have my identity and values adapted or changed during my ‘journey’ into academia?

Hence my impetus in this research was to bring the stage manager metaphorically down stage centre and to discover the identity – that is our sense of who we are both professionally and personally - of stage managers and the impact of the transition to stage management academic. I hoped to explore how my contemporaries have made this transition and, from this, how others may be able to do this successfully; how to make the profession more ‘visible’ both within the academy and the industry and to bridge any perceived gap between the professional and academic worlds. Most importantly I wanted to give the stage manager a voice and visibility in UK higher education. To what extent is there a shared identity of stage managers and how is this influenced by a move into academia?

Literature review

Although there is significant literature dealing with both transition experiences and professional identity in academia, there is little specifically examining those within the small group of stage managers. Hence this literature review will describe and evaluate the history and current status of stage management within higher education, literature relating to the profession of stage management itself, transition experiences of ‘teacher-practitioners’ (Ashton, 2013a) in arts fields, and the sociological framework of identity and community within academia.

Stage management training at HE level

Formal training in stage management and technical theatre began in the UK in the late 1950s, following the formalisation and unionisation of stage managers’ contracts by Equity (the performers’, creatives’ and stage managers’ trade union) in 1954 and the formation of the Stage Management Association (at first the West End Stage Management Association) in 1956. In 1962, RADA (the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art) set up the first ‘official’ stage management course, following several years of one or two ‘apprentice’ stage managers being admitted to the academy for a three or four term training under the guidance of the resident stage manager, Dorothy Tenham (Cattell, 2015). Tenham realised that, just as actors learnt in an environment that mixed taught sessions and intensive production work, so could stage managers, undertaking the necessary production work within the institution rather than engaging professionals.

From this the field expanded with other drama schools starting similar programmes. Initially these followed the same pattern, that is an institution setting up a small stage management course as a resource for the performance courses, in a conscious simulation of the predominant regional ‘rep’ system (Rowell et al., 1984). This phase continued until roughly the end of the 1970s, by which point all UK drama schools that currently still offer technical courses had got these underway. The courses were not at degree level, being either HND (Higher National Diploma) qualifications or the institution’s own diploma or certificate.

Following the Dearing Report (1997) and the expansion of UK Higher Education, there was a shift by drama schools into the established university sector, in order to secure more reliable government funding for students. This brings us to the contemporary system of drama school training, which is, interestingly, both very diverse and at the same time remarkably homogenous. Each institution is different in terms of size, governance and structure, but what is taught and the systems used to do so are much the same from one institution to another, as they attempt to mirror the professional world. This is explicit from the website of the Federation of Drama Schools which details the ‘guiding hallmarks’ and ‘key principles’ of conservatoire training (2018).

At the same time as traditional drama schools moved into the mainstream university sector, there was a huge increase in the number of institutions offering degrees in all aspects of drama, theatre and performance. Some of these have attempted to replicate the intense nature and professional status of conservatoire backstage training. Notable amongst these are Bath Spa University, Lincoln University and St Mary’s University Twickenham. In addition there are some older established institutions which have long offered, and continue to offer, degree courses with a high proportion of practice-based content in technical and backstage aspects of theatre, for example the Universities of Birmingham, Aberystwyth and Hull. All courses sit ‘within’ the UK QAA Subject Benchmark Statement for Drama, Dance and Performance (2019), but as this is extremely broad (reflecting the very wide range of learning and scholarship in this field) the conservatoire sector primarily aligns to the specifications of the FDS (referred to as its forerunner, Drama UK, in the 2019 statement).

Hence the sector in the UK is very diverse whilst also being essentially a two-tier system: traditional drama schools or conservatoires, perceived as the ‘elite’ training institutions, and the wider university sector, perceived as more ‘academic’ than ‘vocational.’ This is unique globally; for example in the US and Australia, (the only other countries where there are significant numbers of higher education level programmes in stage management), these are mainly situated as departments within universities rather than stand-alone conservatoires.

In the last 20 years there have been two significant reports exploring this unique context: Farthing (2012) and Nordicity and Smith (2017). Farthing was commissioned by the Higher Education Academy to investigate technical theatre training. This report reflected the institutional challenges for stage management arising from the history of their foundation; there was still a division apparent between the performers, for whom the schools had originally been created, and the stage management and technicians, who were a later add-on. Nordicity and Smith looked more widely at the backstage workforce for UK Theatre and the Society of London Theatre and made a range of recommendation around training routes, including drama schools.

Academic transition experiences in the arts

There is a range of literature around transition experiences of academics in vocational fields, such as fine arts, media, design, music and to a lesser extent, theatre and performing arts. Within the field of art and design Shreeve (2009, 2011) has argued that in moving into academic posts, practitioners retain their primary identity and find it hard to perceive themselves as academics. There is an eventual accommodation which leads to a feeling of ‘being in two camps’. Similarly Orr (2011) discusses the challenges of assessment practices in fine art for the artist practitioner in a teaching role. Aspects of these are relevant to the experience of the drama conservatoire practitioner, but what is missing is the sense of a community of practice which overlaps the educational context and the professional sphere which is so prevalent in that setting. This is explored further by Ashton, who examines both the student experience (2013b) and what he refers to as the ‘teacher-practitioner’ in the film/media sector. He argues strongly for the benefits of combining these two identities, both for students who value industry currency and academics themselves, who gain stability, reflective space and the chance to ‘give something back’ to the next generation. Mateer (2019) expresses similar reasons to mine for investigating this topic and also found positive motivations for film and TV professionals to move into academia, but quite negative views about the personal and professional challenges of doing so. In the specific context of drama in universities, Lam (2018) argues that ‘artists-in-academia’, that is those that have moved from arts practitioner to academic in mid-to-late career, are ‘intentional hybrids,’ so neither one thing nor the other. They operate in a third space, acting as ‘knowledge brokers’ between the practitioner and academic worlds, and are uncomfortable with the concept of being a ‘proper academic.’ This study was however limited to research-intensive institutions rather than conservatoires, and acknowledged that it only included those who had made a successful transition into permanent roles, not those who may have begun a transition but been less successful.

Moving closer to the drama school experience, authors including Davies (2004) and Gaunt (2010) have examined the environment of the music conservatoire and the relationship of these institutions to the context of professional performance. Perkins (2013) argues that there are distinct ‘learning cultures’ (Hodkinson et al., 2007) in the music conservatoire; for example ‘star’ hierarchies, elite specialisation in a particular instrument and vocational position taking, which are highly reminiscent of the drama school. Music performance training clearly bears a close relation to theatre, particularly in the notion of scholar practitioners (Wasserman and Kram, 2009) and reflective practice (Moon, 2013). However they lack the specific context (in both professional and educational terms) of the drama school environment. Duffy (2013) provides an overview of curriculum reform and institutional transition at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (both a music and drama conservatoire), although there is minimal discussion within this of stage management or technical theatre training, despite this being embedded in that institution for over 40 years Drowley et al. (2013) consider the perceptions of drama school staff in exploring the merger of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (again a combined music and drama conservatoire) with the University of Glamorgan (a post-1992 university), providing an insight into how the cultures of conservatoires and more ‘traditional’ universities interact at an organisational level and illustrating the ‘culture clash’ between the two. Again there is little mention of stage management or technical theatre training, although professional and vocational positioning as a conservatoire staff member is highlighted as being central to identity as a member of the school. Looking more specifically at drama and theatre, some literature has begun to examine the experiences of actors and other ‘creatives’ in translating their professional practice into an academic setting. Notable amongst these is the work of Hodge (2000) who provides an overview of contemporary actor training, Brannen (2004) who delineates the endless ‘balancing acts’ of teaching theatre in Higher Education and Wilkie (2015) who argues that there are systemic problems with vocational actor training. Only the work of Zezulka (2018, 2020) has fully engaged with the backstage training sector, exploring the views of professionals and educators specifically in the field of stage lighting on vocational training, academic learning and graduate employability, and the inherent tensions and challenges therein. Although highly relevant to stage management higher education (indeed many students and practitioners learn within programmes that incorporate both disciplines), this is not specifically mentioned or discussed. The overall picture is complicated by the variety of different contexts for theatre, performance and drama education at a Higher Education level in the UK, which creates a difficulty in generalising or drawing conclusions with any confidence.

The profession and role of stage management

Historically there is an absence in the literature of drama and theatre of study related to stage management and other backstage professions. The Farthing Report (2012) was an attempt to foreground issues around technical and stage management training and included interesting viewpoints on the culture and context of drama schools and how stage management and technical training fits within that. However there has never been any specific study of any kind into the environment, culture, context and experiences of staff and students studying or working in stage management departments in UK drama conservatoires. This reflects a similar gap in academic literature generally in these fields; as if, like the professional roles they examine, the practitioners concerned are ‘Standing in the Dark’ (the title of a series of podcast interviews with stage managers produced by Rachel Zucker (2017)).

Despite the lack of historical information, in the last few years scholarship specifically around the work and practice of stage management has begun to appear. Kordsmeier (2017, 2018) has argued from a sociological viewpoint that stage managers are the shapers and emotional leaders of the creation of performance art; this work is significant again in giving voice to stage managers, but is entirely in relation to actual production work and does not consider contextual issues. Studham (2015) has examined the challenges of intercultural stage management and Cattell (2015) argued powerfully for greater analysis of stage management as creative makers of theatre and hence greater credit for their essential and unique contribution. This was based in an historical overview of stage management as a role and more specifically what can be gleaned from the ‘language’ of stage management as recorded in prompt copies (stage manager’s ‘books’ which record all details of a production), so did not directly address the position and experience of the contemporary stage manager. Also significant is the appearance of the first academic journal related to production practice rather than performance or scenography: Behind the Scenes: the Journal of Theatre Production Practice (2017). Most relevant to this particular project, O’Neill (2017), examined the mid-career transitions of female stage managers in Australia. Finally Zezulka (2020) has begun to focus on training for theatre lighting professionals, an adjacent profession to stage management.

Academic identities, values and communities

It was necessary in undertaking this project to ‘zoom out’ from the context of theatre and drama training, in order to situate the research in the wider sociological context: literature relating to values, community and academic identity which will provide a theoretical and conceptual framework.

Within the academic context, the concept of identity has been widely studied, both for ‘career’ academics (those who have come through the traditional route of PhD study and post-doctoral research) and those who have made a move from professional practice to the academic world. Logan et al. (2014) argue that there are significant and challenging differences when taking up a first academic post, depending on whether the post-holder has a PhD beforehand or not. Learmonth and Humphreys (2012), in an auto-ethnographic examination of their own experiences of moving from active business to a university business school, describe their feelings as ‘doubleness’, suggesting that holding two identities simultaneously can lead to a feeling of ‘dislocation’. These disconcerting feelings are exacerbated, according to Rowland (2002) by the ‘fragmentation’ of the modern university. Rowland identifies a series of ‘fractures’, most relevant of which are the fault line between teaching and research, which manifests as a negative division between teachers and researchers. McNay (2005) argues that these ‘fractures’ mean that universities cannot act as coherent and supportive communities as the organisation lacks a clear identity and in a further in-depth exploration of values, principles and integrity in UK higher education, that the increasingly corporate nature of universities has a dehumanising effect on the staff (both academic and professional services) working within it (McNay, 2007). This is in stark contrast to the collaborative and teamwork focused ethos of the theatre (Cohen, 2011). It is easy to see how a theatre practitioner may find the transition to academic work highly disruptive. As we can also see in the work of Jawitz (2009), practitioners move into universities to teach; research is very often alien to them. Once in the academy, Becher and Trowler (2001) suggest that practitioners will need to negotiate a new world of academic tribes, and may find significant threats to their primary identity, which Breakwell (2015) argues will necessitate them adopting a range of coping strategies. A comprehensive overview of this process is provided by Horton et al. (2014), drawing on the work of Ashforth and Mael (1989) to argue that identity conflict and subsequent identity integration can be a force for positive change. On the other hand Billot (2010) presents a more negative picture of the challenges to identity faced by academics in a changing higher education context, describing academic identity as ‘a dynamic and slippery construct’ (p. 11). Following on from this Billot and King (2015), framed by the ‘thinking tools’ of Bourdieu (1977), used analysis of metaphors used by academics to describe their identities and experiences in the work place to striking effect.

In summary, the existing literature has much to say on the themes and contexts that I wished to explore, but nothing specific on professional stage managers and/or academic staff within the field of stage management. It is this gap which my research aims to fill.

Methodology

For this study I used qualitative phenomenological methods, as I was keen to give voice, via the expression of lived experience and reflection (Cohen et al., 2002) to a group and a context that is mainly invisible in previous literature. Qualitative research, in its focus on detail gained from direct contact with sources and participants, lends itself naturally to this approach (Cohen, 2011). I decided that qualitative content analysis would be most appropriate when analysing the data: key reasons for this was that the data gained from both surveys and interviews did not, as I had expected, lead to specific findings on, for example, shared identity. Rather it pointed to overlapping and sometimes contrasting experiences, opinions, beliefs and views. Hence I was drawn towards a flexible inductive approach in the light of the complexity of individual experience. This was undertaken by examining and analysing the findings by means of categorisation initially into broad themes, and then narrowing down into the most dominant.

I used a short online survey to get a range of responses and to identify themes to take forward to the next step of the study, followed by in-depth semi-structured interview with a small number of participants. The survey was sent as a link in a personalised email to 53 possible respondents, all known to me as people who had both worked professionally in stage management and taught the subject in higher education, to encourage interest and engagement. Both email and survey were kept as short and simple as possible and there was a mix of closed questions in order to gain information on both background factual aspects, (e.g. participants’ own training and current professional role), to give some important context, and open questions to obtain richer data which would point towards the themes to be explored in the interview phase. At the end of the survey respondents were asked if they would be willing to take part in a face-to-face interview.

The semi-structured interview was designed based on the themes emerging from the survey. It consisted of five basic questions designed to provide a ‘way in’ to talking about the themes related to this study. The questions were as open-ended as possible to encourage wide-ranging discussion (Turner, 2010).

The survey was sent to people who I believed were likely to be interested in this topic and to be willing to share opinions. The criteria for selection were in two categories:

• Academics (lecturers, tutors, teachers, production supervisors) actively involved in the delivery of teaching of stage management in Higher Education (both in conservatoires and universities)

• Professional practitioners in stage management in the entertainment industry, who had been involved in teaching and learning activities; these activities included teaching in Higher or Further Education, managing work-based learning or placements or working as a stage manager, production manager or production supervisor within an educational context.

There was an excellent response with 37 completed questionnaires, a response rate of 70%. Following on from this I selected six interview participants from the 29 people who had indicated their willingness to participate. The criteria for those who had started out in a professional stage management and had made a move into an academic career at a later point. Four were employed at the time in UK conservatoires; two others had previously worked in these contexts and had left to pursue opportunities overseas. All had begun their working lives as professional stage managers and had moved into teaching stage management. All hold or had held academic management positions. These best met the criteria for this study as I was specifically examining people who had been both stage managers and tutors or teachers in Higher Education; those who had had a transitional experience from one to the other; those who had sufficient ‘life experience’ to encounter challenges in work/life balance; and who could take a reflective ‘long view,’ taking into account the many changes and developments in both the theatre business and the UK higher education context in the last 20 to 30 years. In terms of sample diversity, all were white, three female and three male; this is very much representative of the current technical theatre training sector in the UK.

The high number of potential participants suggested that these academics and practitioners welcomed the chance to talk in some depth about their life and career to a peer within the same context. I expected this as I believed that many people feel isolated in their professional roles, often as the sole, or one of only two or three stage management lecturers in their department. In addition many of the participants described themselves as having held management or departmental head duties, which again may lead to a perception of isolation within the institution.

I then arranged face to face interviews with five of the six: one person did not participate due to workload pressures. The interviews took place at mutually convenient locations, suggested and arranged by the individual participant, where they felt able to speak freely and honestly.

I analysed the language of both survey and interview responses to draw out related themes and issues. As previous research was limited, I had few preconceived ideas about the themes that would arise from this study.

Once the survey had closed I downloaded all responses and used the online survey tools provided to analyse the data. All ‘open’ questions were downloaded verbatim and the words used to create ‘word clouds’ for an easy visual reference of the dominant themes. The ‘closed’ questions were analysed as bar graphs, similarly providing a quick and easy reference.

Having analysed the survey data, I formulated questions for a semi-structured interview. The interviews were recorded and transcribed and I spent time reading and re-reading. Through this process I categorised six dominant themes that arose throughout the interviews. I also examined the language used and counted the numbers of certain key terms, for example ‘stage manager’ and ‘teacher,’ in an attempt to get a sense of what was important or significant in their working lives for the participants. The data analysis is arranged thematically around these. Within this report quotes are attributed to participants by means of numbers in the case of the survey, that is 1 to 37 for the survey participants, or by letters (A to E) for interview participants.

Discussion

Although the overall initial impression from both surveys and interviews was one of variety and diversity, from analysis of the data gained from both surveys and interviews, six thematic areas, were identified that are inextricably interlinked in many ways: identity, imposter phenomenon, theatre structures, academic structures, lifestyle and family and personal skills and qualities.

The interview questions were formulated with reference to the themes discovered through the survey and were designed to encourage open discussion with the participants. The first question - how did you get into stage management and then make the move into teaching-prompted all participants to give an overview of their entire professional career path to date. The second - how would you describe yourself professionally - prompted reflection on professional identities, and the third - shared & distinctive qualities of the stage manager and the teacher - encouraged discussion of how skills and qualities transfer between contexts.

Identity

The first survey question was ‘How would you describe yourself professionally?’ After stage manager and production manager (the overall manager of all technical aspects of a production, a role often taken by stage management academics in addition to teaching) the next most mentioned word was ‘theatre,’ suggesting that stage managers in both industry and academia see theatre as their primary work context. The answers ranged from a singular job to longer descriptions with a range of roles and identities. The answers were highly varied; a sign that the question of identity is not clear cut.

I had hoped to discover a shared identity for stage managers which might change or adapt when moving to academia. What I discovered was fragmented or even non-identities, echoing the findings in other disciplines, such as Learmonth and Humphreys (2012) and Logan et al. (2014). The survey respondents presented a huge range of different terms for their professional selves, from the generic ‘stage manager’ or ‘teacher,’ to a complex string of terms, to specific job titles. When directly asked how they would describe themselves academically, none of the interviewees were able to answer straight away. Several hesitated or said that they genuinely did not know. All were clear that their primary identity was as a stage manager, but that this had changed over time in education. When encouraged to articulate current identities, these included ‘vocational trainer and mentor,’ ‘educator and showcaller,’ ‘departmental manager,’ ‘reflective practitioner’ ‘former stage manager,’ ‘academic manager’ and ‘scholar practitioner.’ They talked about how hard it is to identify a specific identity, and how their perceptions of themselves have changed over their careers, from a profession that was central to how they perceived themselves and how they felt others perceived them, to finding it hard to describe themselves and concerned about how others see them.

A common concern expressed in both survey and interviews was that a teacher of stage management who has not recently worked professionally as a stage manager lacks credibility and currency, a theme strongly foregrounded by Mateer (2019) in discussion of education for careers in broadcast media. There was a perception that teachers of stage management must remain up to date in terms of industry practice, which was certainly found to be highly valued by students in my previous research on teaching in the field (Franklin and Anstey, 2021). Hence the interview participants expressed an imperative to continue to work professionally, despite often having chosen to teach as the demands of professional stage management were at odds with a positive work-life balance. This is a significant tension in vocational training programmes in the higher education context, as identified by Billot (2010). The impression is of stage management academics adopting a range of identities depending on context, switching from one to another as work circumstances change. For example, in several interviews we discussed losing the ‘hard edges’ of getting the show on when working with students and conversely, working at a higher pace than ‘academic time’ when returning to freelance theatre work.

This question revealed almost the opposite of what I expected; rather than a strong shared identity, multiple identities were expressed, demonstrating perceptions of self that are similar to those already found in literature relating to other vocational academic fields.

Impostor phenomenon

Although the word ‘academic’ appeared as a professional description in the survey, it was striking that it was not one of the dominant themes. The interview participants were uncomfortable with the term ‘academic,’ a typical comment being that they were ‘…a pretend academic who’s getting away with it’ (Participant E).

Despite this all interview participants have been employed in academic posts in UK higher education institutions and two have worked internationally. All have held significant academic management responsibilities. Three have given conference presentations, all have been External Examiners, three hold Masters qualifications in education, two are undertaking a PhD and one is writing a book. By any objective definition they are academics. However they are reluctant to identify themselves as ‘academics,’ similarly to the ‘artists-in-academia’ described by Lam (2018) or Ashton’s ‘teacher-practitioner’ (2019). Research into imposter phenomenon in higher education faculty has found this to be a common experience with significant negative impacts (e.g. Hutchins, 2015; Hutchins and Rainbolt, 2017). Although both Mateer (2019) and Zezulka (2020) touch on this, more specific study of stage management academics would be worthwhile.

Despite the evidence of their status as academics, it seems that for stage managers working in academic posts there is a reluctance to claim that title, and a need to work hard to cover up feelings of inadequacy. Given the common industry view of stage managers as overworking perfectionists (Vitale, 2019) this may be setting an unhelpful example for students.

Theatre structures

One of the key aspects of conservatoire training is that it aims to be an authentic simulation of professional theatre. This is central to the Core Principles and Guiding Hallmarks of the Federation of Drama Schools (2018). There is an explicitly ‘theatre’ culture in the conservatoire, following professional production practices. It is expected that permanent teaching staff are also professional practitioners and that there are regular contributions from visiting professionals. In the survey results, ‘industry’ was prominent. The interview participants all related how they had first become involved in the business and their enthusiasm for and dedication to the work and theatre in general; for example from Participant B, describing their first stage management role ‘I walked on stage at the [theatre] and I found out who I was’

The sense of collaboration and community in the theatre can be highly attractive, with stage management seen as the ‘glue’ holding it all together (Cohen, 2011). The feeling of ‘belonging backstage’ (Taylor, 2020) in the theatre community of practice remains strong when moving to academia, despite the tension between what is perceived as ‘vocational training’ and in contrast ‘academic learning’ (Zezulka 2020). So it is not surprising that participants were keen to continue working in the familiar structures where they felt highly valued.

Academic structures

Working in a conservatoire can look and feel very much like working in a theatre, with well-equipped venues and professional production simulation, aiming to meet the student expectations of ‘teaching excellence’ in the field (Franklin and Anstey, 2021). Nevertheless, it is not a theatre but an academic institution, which can be difficult to navigate when transitioning from one to the other. Several survey responses mentioned leaving teaching due to problems in this area and all interview participants had tales to tell about the challenges of working in these institutions. These primarily centred on the different pace and expectations of theatres and universities, requiring a mental shift when moving between the two, as I explored previously (Franklin, 2019), or otherwise risking burnout, as participant B described:

If you approach academia like a stage manager it is unsustainable….Most academics are strategic about what they do

All expressed frustration with the lack of collaboration in academia as compared to theatre, and systems which are slow moving and difficult to negotiate, hence unsupportive of organic and deadline driven creative processes. There was also some perception of a lack of respect for stage management as an academic subject, from both industry and institutions, as highlighted by research in similar fields (e.g. Mateer, 2019). As Participant E put it:

‘It still, sometimes, I think, comes down to… Are these disciplines degree worthy?’

Again we see the tension identified by Zezulka (2020) playing out in these responses, as participants continually adjust and readjust their behaviours to match the context within which they are working.

Lifestyle and family influences

Another key themes from both survey and interviews was the interplay between personal life and work. Three of the five interview participants specifically mentioned family reasons for their first move into an academic role and another discussed how their academic role had changed to accommodate caring responsibilities.. Only one of the five was childless; they cited wanting a better work/life balance following many years of touring. The majority of stage management work in the UK is engaged on a freelance, short contract basis, with an expectation of working whatever hours necessary. As identified by O’Neill (2017) in their study of career transitions for Australian stage management and Wallis et al. (2020a, 2020b) in broadcast media, it is easy to see how a demanding lifestyle can precipitate a career move into what is ostensibly a more ‘regular’ job.

When asked why they had begun teaching, there was a split between those who had made a definite decision to take on an academic post and those who had done so ‘by accident.’ Those who had consciously decided to teach mentioned both altruistic and pragmatic reasons. Some focused around wanting to ‘give something back,’ while others were looking for a new challenge. Another common theme was family reasons or work/life balance; for example, ‘I made the move into teaching when I had children.’ (Participant 22); ‘after nearly a decade of short contracts, eight or more show weeks and touring I wanted a home and evenings/weekends back!’ (Participant 23) The majority of the respondents offered several reasons, both practical and altruistic, suggesting that a particular set of circumstances had come together to prompt the move.

Survey participants were also asked if, having taught in the past, they may consider teaching in future. The positive responses spoke of altruistic motivations, around helping a new generation and ‘giving something back.’ The more negative responses were around industry and student perceptions of the lack of professional currency of the stage manager who is now working in education. To summarise, the desire for a more structured, family-friendly work/life balance (alongside idealistic motives) is a dominant theme in professional narrative journeys from stage management to academia.

Personal skills and qualities

Unsurprisingly, ‘sense of humour’ emerged from the research as the most important quality; without an ability to make light of challenging situations a stage manager would find it difficult to secure and maintain employment. The rest of the key terms focus around ‘soft’ skills – communication, people skills, empathy and attention to details – all of which (along with sense of humour) are highlighted in stage management text books (Bond 1991; Copley and Killner 2001; Kincman, 2016; Maccoy 2004; Norburn 2018; Pallin 2003; Porter and Alcorn 2020; Vitale 2019). Indeed, the primary work of stage managers in creating an artwork has been seen as ‘emotion work’ (Kordsmeier, 2018).

Several survey respondents felt that being a professional stage manager and teaching stage management required a very similar, if not identical skillset. Shared qualities mentioned related to transferable skills; for example organisational abilities, communication skills, adaptability, multi-tasking and attention to detail.

One interview participant formulated the concept that stage managers have a generalist skillset, able to turn their hand to anything as creative facilitators, suggesting that this was a ‘specialism’ in itself. Another felt that there was much ‘knowledge exchange’ between the two roles and that ‘stage manager’s instincts’ are just as applicable to teaching. In stage management it is necessary to balance pressing short term issues and medium term planning. Similarly in an academic role there is often a need to manage both larger projects and short term issues simultaneously, for example a student crisis alongside next year’s timetabling. Several participants felt that a stage management background could only be beneficial in managing this aspect of academic life; one likened it to an opera company manager role, with the academic regulations ‘floating around in your head like… the details of the chorus contract’.

Personal qualities were equally important, particularly empathy, patience, passion and an ability to be a mentor and role model to students; qualities that students value as exemplifying ‘teaching excellence’ in the discipline (Franklin and Anstey, 2021). As the interview participants had all been in teaching roles for some time, they reflected on how these qualities manifest in their teaching roles and how they had evolved. However the persona of the caring stage manager can be unhelpful in academia. As a stage manager it is necessary to be immediately available (Maccoy, 2004). As an academic this is often not possible, and may not be the best course of action; sometimes taking time to think and respond is more effective. As participants had moved into academic leadership roles, demands arose for more strategic thinking and long-term vision (Knight and Trowler, 2000) a divergence of the roles which becomes more evident the longer a stage manager works in an academic context (Franklin, 2019).

However, through all responses the needs of the student are seen as paramount, with an impetus to guide students patiently into finding their own professional practice. It was also significant that several people believed the qualities required for stage management and teaching stage management were identical; indeed, one person answered both questions the same: ‘Communication, organisation, teamwork, empathy & time management’ (Participant 1). Entirely absent was any notion of ‘imposter phenomenon’ when teaching stage management, as opposed to research or academic management; in fact participants were highly confident in their skills, and had taken on freelance work if they felt that their professional currency was waning.

In summary, there was general agreement in the personal skills and qualities required of both stage managers and academics and significant crossover in the roles. However, there is some divergence as participants climbed the management ladder, and there was an absence of any discussion of the research and innovation aspects of an academic’s role.

Conclusion

Following on from my previous autoethnographic research (Franklin, 2019), my key objective in this study was to provide a forum for stage managers in academia to share their identity, values and experiences and to reflect on how this resonated with my own work. The response rate to the survey showed an enthusiasm to share opinions and it was hard to bring the interviews to a close as both the participant and I were enjoying the conversation so much: not surprising as it was my impetus to share my individual experience that initially took me into this field of study. In this project, I was searching for a shared identity for stage managers (including me) which proved elusive. However I discovered shared passions, fears, values and pride in being a stage manager. Similarly I hoped to discover how a transition into academia was navigated by the participants, how it potentially changed their identity, and whether that fitted with my own journey. Although in this respect my findings were even less clear, I did discover much of interest and potential avenues for future investigation.

Similar to those in related disciplines, (e.g. Ashton, 2013b; Lam, 2018; Mateer, 2019; Shreeve, 2009) the participants in this study were not comfortable with the concept of being ‘real academics.’ However they did have a very high level of expertise gained through practitioner experience, were engaged in a range of standard academic activities (writing, academic management, presenting at conferences as well as teaching) and were highly reflective of their practice. Possibly this reluctance to be recognised as a ‘real academic’ stems from the stage management role of generally being ‘invisible,’ hidden away without anyone knowing what we do. Perhaps the truth is that not claiming an identity makes the stage manager in academia feel special? Or, as argued by Jaen and Sadler (2022) that we all have a ‘multiplicity of identities’? The role is highly complex and difficult to define and explain. It is paradoxically both creative and fun yet highly controlled and structured. We need to take an assertive lead, yet disappear off stage on cue. It some ways this complexity is freeing as others do not have the expertise to criticise; however the disadvantage is that we may not be able to find wider support, leading to a feeling of isolation. As Nystrom (2009) argues, professional identity formation is dynamic and depends on context amongst other things; for the participants in this study many factors impacted on how they saw themselves professionally. In addition, despite placing a high value on being reflective practitioners, the participants felt they found it difficult to find space to reflect. This was possibly why so many responded enthusiastically to the invitation, for a chance to think about themselves and their lives and work, rather than concentrating their efforts into facilitating others’ artistic and/or academic pursuits. This was certainly true for me, both within my previous research and this project.

Another of my objectives was to help stage management like me make the transition from the profession to teaching; to mark out a pathway, as we can see identified in related fields, such as design and media (Mateer 2019; Shreeve 2011). The study showed that although this was often a challenging process, it is one that many involved in professional stage management are keen to follow. Those who are successful in this career trajectory often become academic managers. All of the interview participants were generally positive about a career in academia, particularly teaching; as one said ‘I can’t see myself doing anything else now’. Indeed, having been an academic stage manager for almost 20 years now I cannot imagine returning to ‘just’ stage management. There is no one way to be ‘an academic’ – to do research, to be a teacher, to manage - as is clear in the large range of literature on academic identities, journeys and transitions. As I have been encouraged to undertake autoethnographic and qualitative research by colleagues in very different fields as part of my own learning and development, I have found my feelings of being an impostor recede. This research builds on the existing literature and my own experience to show a way for fellow backstage professionals to claim an academic identity, which I hope will be encouraging.

My final objective was to contribute to increasing the visibility of stage management as an emerging discipline. It has been encouraging to discover, whilst undertaking this project, that scholarship is now emerging in this field and that stage managers themselves are enthusiastic about participating in this. Recent books published since I undertook these interviews, frame stage management as a reflective academic discipline, most notably Porter and Alcorn’s ‘Stage Management Theory as a Guide to Practice’ (2020) and Jaen and Sadler’s ‘Off Headset’ (2022). The journal ‘Behind the Scenes; Journal of Theatre Production’ will soon be publishing its third edition, appropriately titled ‘Emergence.’ As we talk to each other more, rather than working in isolation, I believe international momentum is gathering for that emergence.

Future directions

As an ‘insider’ I understand all aspects of the career roles and trajectories of the participants. Indeed this research investigating my peers’ journeys flowed directly from my own autoethnographic research (Franklin, 2019). This made the research process straightforward, supported honest and open conversations and meant that I closely identified with what was said. It could be argued that as such an embedded researcher it is challenging to approach the findings with objectivity. However as autoethnography is now a well embedded research method, and one I have found to get to the heart of reflection on personal experience (Chang, 2016), I would like to return to and update my initial research in the light of my more recent findings.

The interview participants were all successfully integrated into the academic world, holding senior academic management roles. Essentially they are the ‘survivors.’ The experiences of those who have found this difficult and hence have returned to professional stage management work are absent in this study and would prove an interesting avenue for further research. Similarly, further investigation into imposter phenomenon and how this might relate to perfectionism in stage management would be warranted.

A question that this study has prompted for me is how the reflections of the experts who took part could impact how stage management is taught in future. While the key UK textbooks in the field remain focused on ‘how to’ rather than ‘why?’ the experts had become, through experience, more focused on ‘why’ rather than ‘how to,’ which is reflected in literature from the USA and Australia. I believe it is time to consider how this new knowledge should underpin our future curriculum. An increase in scholarship is now essential for moving the discipline forward. The academic stage managers of drama schools are now beginning to come down stage centre and find our light.