The Castmate Code: The Unspoken Rules of Being a Good Cast Member

Community theater can be a great experience: fun activities with new friends, the pride and joy that comes with putting on a great production, cool costumes...every show is a new adventure. The thing to remember is that you aren’t alone. There’s a whole host of folks who are part of the process, and like any good community, there is an unspoken social contract that helps make the experience good for everyone. The problem with an unspoken social contract is that it is, well, UNSPOKEN, so not everyone knows how to fulfill it. But I’m here today to raise the curtain on the mystery with a short list of tips on how to be a good cast member, no matter what role you have. Let’s begin at the beginning.

Be on time.
Rehearsals and shows are a huge time commitment. If you are late, it delays the rehearsal process, extends the time commitment, and often wastes other people’s time because material has to be repeated. And believe me, if you have ever been in a show, you know there is more than enough repetition already! “One more time” never means just one more time. It’s about as accurate as a doctor saying, “This will only hurt a little.” Be on time and ready to rehearse at the scheduled time. That may mean arriving 10 minutes early to change shoes, hydrate, get settled, and warm up. Being on time is respectful and responsible, both imperatives to being a good cast member (much less a good human being!).

Be off book early!
For reference, “off book” means being fully memorized and no longer needing to use the script on stage. The faster you get your face out of the script, the faster you can discover genuine eye contact, dynamic blocking, spontaneous reactions, and real chemistry with your scene partners. That’s where the stage magic happens.

Carry a pencil and take notes.
Never assume you will remember a director’s note or a specific piece of staging because, believe me, you won’t. Keep a pencil handy during every rehearsal so you can immediately write down your blocking, your blocking changes, changes to the blocking changes, pronunciation corrections, emotional beats, and more blocking changes directly into your script. Theater is dynamic. As you uncover more character nuance, your stage business and blocking may change to accommodate it. Keep your notes updated so you always know how the scene is currently staged, not how it was staged three Tuesdays ago.

Do not direct other actors.
The job of directing belongs to the director. Even if you have a brilliant idea for another actor’s performance, keep it to yourself unless you are specifically asked. Giving unsolicited notes to fellow cast members can create tension, confuse the director’s vision, and undermine the rehearsal process. Not to mention that it is disrespectful to your fellow actors. Your job is to focus on your own character, your own choices, and your own responses. Respect your castmates and your director by allowing them to do their jobs.

Treat the crew like royalty.
A production cannot happen without stage managers, light and sound techs, costumers, dressers, prop crews, set crews, and everyone else working behind the scenes. Treat them with respect. Listen to your stage manager. Be where you’re supposed to be when you’re supposed to be there. Say thank you. Besides being the decent thing to do, this is how you maximize the fun factor of your show. Many a stray straight pin from a disrespected costumer has derailed someone’s journey.

If it is not yours, don’t touch it.
This is a really important rule to live by in theater. Actors and crew members preset props and costumes in specific places and in specific ways for a reason. If you pick something up to look at it, move it out of the way, or “helpfully” put it away, you may have just inadvertently sabotaged a stage moment. Maybe that garment was laid out in a certain direction to facilitate a quick change. Perhaps that prop is sitting in a certain place at a certain angle because someone has to grab it on the fly. Maybe the actor simply doesn’t have time to get to the prop table and back. The point is, you don’t know. Trust that the actor or crew member who put it there had a reason. And what if, heaven forbid, you accidentally break it? Now you’ve added a whole new dimension of stress and expense. Since you can never know for sure how someone else’s costume, prop, or equipment is supposed to be set, the best rule of thumb is simple: If it is not yours, don’t touch it.

Come prepared.
This is related to being off book, but it’s broader. Know what was rehearsed last time. Review your music, choreography, blocking, and lines between rehearsals. Bring your script, shoes, water, pencil, and whatever else you’ve been asked to have. Rehearsal is not where you repeatedly relearn what everyone else has already learned. Rehearsal is where you are given the building blocks: blocking, choreography, stage business, music, character work. Later rehearsals refine and build on those things. Practice is what you do at home: memorizing, drilling, reviewing, and preparing so your foundation is ready for the next layer at the next rehearsal.

Don’t make everything about you and your stage time.
One of the biggest differences between a wonderful castmate and an exhausting one is whether they understand that a show is an ensemble endeavor. Sometimes you wait. Sometimes someone else’s scene gets worked for an hour. Sometimes your favorite bit gets cut because it isn’t helping the show. Sometimes another actor gets the laugh. Sometimes somebody else gets the big number, the beautiful costume, the dramatic moment, or the applause. The goal is not for you to be great. The goal is for the show to be great. And when everyone understands that, everybody gets better.

Help, but don’t “help.”
There is a lovely distinction here. Absolutely help strike the rehearsal room. Move chairs when asked. Clean up after yourself. Ask whether the stage manager needs a hand. But don’t reorganize props, fix somebody else’s costume, change scenery, adjust equipment, or decide you’ve discovered a better system without talking to the person responsible for it. Good castmates make other people’s jobs easier. They don’t create surprise projects for them.

And lastly...

Leave the drama on the stage.
Not in the sense that casts can never have disagreements – actors are human after all. Put enough people in a rehearsal room for six weeks and eventually somebody is going to get on somebody else’s nerves. But gossip, grudges, romantic drama, casting resentment, cliques, passive aggression, and personality conflicts can poison a production remarkably quickly. You don’t have to become best friends with everyone in the cast. You don’t have to socialize together outside rehearsal. You don’t even have to particularly like everyone. You do have to be someone everyone can safely and comfortably work with. Because ultimately, being a good cast member isn’t about having the best voice, landing the biggest role, getting the most laughs, or even giving the best performance. It’s about understanding that for a few weeks, you are part of a community of people trying to build something together.

Do your homework. Show up prepared. Respect other people’s time, work, belongings, and boundaries. Support the people around you. Take responsibility for your little piece of the production and do it as well as you can. That’s the social contract. And when everyone holds up their end of it, something pretty wonderful happens: a collection of actors, technicians, volunteers, costumes, props, scenery, music, nerves, mistakes, inside jokes, and countless hours of work somehow becomes A SHOW. And even better, it becomes a show people are glad they were part of.