HOW SICK IS TOO SICK - 2 Questions

How sick should an actor be to not turn up for a performance??What would you do if you saw that said actor perform the following night at a different venue in a different show, showing no signs of illness??

This question is purely hypothetical I assume ???I know of an actor who started a performance with acute appendicitis and got about halfway through before collapsing... Just an example of TOO sick.Earlier this year I had to get somebody else to do my back stage job one night because I couldn't stop throwing up long enough to get to the car.....but was back at the theatre the next night, so it IS possible, I guess.You must feel very annoyed. I take it you don't believe this person.Kim

>> How sick should an actor be to not turn up for a performance??>My opinion is that an actor would need to be totally incapacitated (i.e. unable to walk and/ or talk) to be treated compassionately by me as a director or fellow actor. Acting takes strength of body and character and sometimes the latter holds the former together. I guess you have to ask the question, why do people involve themselves in a challenging experience like performing when they're not really prepared to put heart and soul into it. Passion and drive gives the performer the momentum necessary to create the work. In my experience 'sick' actors (meaning unwell, because we're all sick...) are not usually sick in body but lack the will to control their bodies and the determination to see the work through to its end.> What would you do if you saw that said actor perform the following> night at a different venue in a different show, showing no signs of> illness??I would never work with that actor again and I would never recommend them to anyone for anything. Reward the sure of heart. Nuture the talented ones, and treasure loyalty and professionalsim above all things.>

EMAILNOTICES>no> How sick should an actor be to not turn up for a performance??Let me take the Performers point of view....What is Sick? Being ill alone is not enough if they have passion for what they do. I've had ills before going on stage but found that While on stage, I was fine. The rushing adrenaline and desire to be there over-ran the uneasyness of the stomache. Mind you, I didn't hang around too long after these shows.Injured, that's as maybe. Let me tell you a tale of personal experience. Cinderella, Marloo theatre, 1997. I was walking off stage after a short scene when I didn't place my foot properly and twisted it horribly sidways before collapsing on it to boot. It hurt a lot, but I had to go on stage to do a dance number and I refused to let some pain stop me. I went out danced and hoped I smiled throughout the scene, came off-stage and suddenly collapsed again as I was unable to put any weight on my right foot at all. Luckily, my next on-stage call was not until act 2, so I sat up with cold-packs on my foot untill I was needed.On another incident, I was involved in a potential deadly accident and was saved by a whisker. I was on my way to a show in at Hayman. I was dazed and shocked when the cop and ambulance driver asked me if I wanted anyone notified. First thing I said was "call the theatre." That was all that was on my mind. We had Two shows that day, and after I was cleared to go, I was straight on my way for the second performance. My timing couldn't have been better. Somehow the story had got around that I had been KILLED! How appropriate then that my first appearance that afternoon was at the back end of a coffin that I helped bring on-stage. Except for those I entered with, no-one else on-stage new of my presence. You should have seen their faces as they gawped at this pale faced figure at the rear end of a coffin, someone they had just been told had DIED.Even death did not stop me!> What would you do if you saw that said actor perform the following> night at a different venue in a different show, showing no signs of> illness??I think I might have answered that one too.Jeff "Ghost Who Walks" WatkinsBrandon Lee - Crow -"I say I'm dead and I move."

> On another incident, I was involved in a potential deadly accident> and was saved by a whisker. I was on my way to a show in at Hayman.> I was dazed and shocked when the cop and ambulance driver asked me> if I wanted anyone notified. First thing I said was "call the> theatre." That was all that was on my mind. We had Two shows> that day, and after I was cleared to go, I was straight on my way> for the second performance. My timing couldn't have been better. Somehow> the story had got around that I had been KILLED! How appropriate then> that my first appearance that afternoon was at the back end of a coffin> that I helped bring on-stage. Except for those I entered with, no-one> else on-stage new of my presence. You should have seen their faces> as they gawped at this pale faced figure at the rear end of a coffin,> someone they had just been told had DIED.> Even death did not stop me!I've heard of dying on stage, or even corpsing onstage, but leave the real thing to the right moment, because if/when you do die, no-one in the cast of that play will believe you.The Jeff who cried "DEAD!!!"?El