Cast Thy Rules Upon Rocks

All may be fair in love and war, but how about in Common Casting?

The annual Harvard theater world ritual has been wraught with confusion this semester as some directors and actors have broken the rule that prohibits directors from soliciting actors to accept parts in their plays.

Actors normally have 24 hours after the cast lists are posted simultaneously to decide what roles they wish to take. During this time, directors are not supposed to pressure actors into joining their cast, although actors may call directors to ask questions or discuss the possibilites of their getting a role they were not cast for.

But this semester, many directors broke the rule and called actors, usually to offer them parts for which they were not originally cast. Many directors say they did not know they could not call their second choices to offer them a part that the first choice had already turned down.

Some members of the Harvard Radcliffe Dramatics Club (HRDC) say the rules should be changed or clarified to prevent a recurrence of the confusion this season. And others say that the rule should be scrapped altogether.

"There was a lot of confusion over what the rule was," says one director who asked not be identified. He says after he lost his lead to another director who had called the actor, he called his second choice person, who accepted the role. But the actor had orignally been cast for a role in another play.

"I would have been left without a cast," the director says, defending his action. However, the director that he stole the actor away from happened to be Erik J. Salovaara '88, the head of Common Casting. Thus, Salovaara learned of the practice and has now gone on a rampage to prevent any ambiguity about the rule.

Directors who knew of the rule agreed that it was ambiguous on the issue of calling second choices. Many say they broke the rule after they lost actors to less scrupulous directors, while others who did not break it complained that they now had to scrounge for actors because of it.

Several other directors say they called second choice performers after they received approval from another member of the HRDC board, who had advised them that calling to offer a part was within the rules. Manson Yew '90, a member of the HRDC board, says he advised some directors on "how far they could go." He adds, "I had one idea [about the rule], Erik had another."

But HRDC President Andrew Watson '88 says he was not aware of the broad scope of the problem, adding he did not think a change in the rules would be necessary. "Common Casting is an insuprable blessing," he says, adding that "it is impossible for me to think of Common Casting as anything but amazing."

Watson says the complaints were probably exaggerated and that people will calm down now that "the emotional tidal wave" of the casting period has ended.

But the HRDC president adds he would be "the first on the bandwagon" if a change were necessary. "Certainly if there were complaints, we will sit down and hash about them," Watson says.

Among the changes the directors proposed is posting the top three candidates for a role. But one director says he thinks this might humiliate those not chosen for a part.

While some directors say they think the rule should be abolished, others say they think a clarification of the rules is all that is necessary. Many say they would agree to let the HRDC call second choice performers during the grace period to notify them of openings. "If we had a neutral party like the HRDC, that would be good," one director says.

Most directors say they would enourage actors in the future to call them during the grace period, even if they were not cast.

"People should be encouraged to call directors," says Heather B. Gunn '90, who will play Beth in Lie of the Mind and Betty in The Foreigner this semester. But Gunn says if directors were allowed to call actors, problems might still arise.

If a performer were to cross his or her name off a cast list but later on in the grace period decide to take the role and the rule were not in effect, the director might already have called another person to take the role. "It has happened before," Gunn says.

But most actors interviewed say they do not mind being called by directors during the 24-hour period. They say they prefer being told about a role before making other commitments. One performer says she was called and asked if she would switch parts. "It didn't really matter," she says.

Another performer says she had a director come up to her as she stood near the common casting board about 15 minutes before the grace period ended. She was offered a lead part in a play in which she had not originally been cast. She says she accepted the part.

Many actors and directors agree that directors should be allowed to call actors during the grace period if they are offering a new role. Actors say they did not think they would let directors pressure them into accepting a part they did not want.

But Salovaara says, "It seems clear that some sort of adjustment [needs to be] made." He says the HRDC will meet this week to discuss possible changes to the rule.

After learning of the violations, Salovaara says he called directors to admonish them. "I think I made it quite clear that directors are not allowed to call anyone [during the grace period]," one director says Salovaara had told him.

The director says he agreed with Salovaara at the time but later changed his mind after other directors corroborated his original impression that he had not been warned. The director says he had also been told that Yew did not have the authority to tell him he could call second choices.

Although some directors were annoyed by the warning, many say they saw Salovaara's call as a necessary clarification of a confusing rule. According to Adam J. Fratto '90, who is directing The Foreigner, there was "a lot of misinformation floating around" about the rule. But he adds that Salovaraa stopped the illicit calling "before it became much of an issue."

And Peter J. Ocko '88, director of King Lear, says he thought the rules were "made clear before auditions began." Ocko says he did not have any problems with the rule and did not know of any violations of it this semester.

The HRDC has no authority to enforce its rules, according to Watson. "Basically, it's just an honor system," Watson says.