Theatre design tech gets back at producer who "betrayed" actors, ruining her chances of getting into festival: 'My work is done... I deleted everything'

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Jan 22, 2026 5:00 PM EST

Theatre is a place for drama, both on-stage and during the entire lead-up to the play. 

From middle school plays to college shows to community theatre, I can't imagine there's ever been a single play produced that didn't have tons of drama going on behind the scenes. There are many reasons for this. You have lots of big egos gathering together every day for weeks if not months, and they're almost all quite talented. Cliques form, alliances arise, group chats go off the rails… the drama starts and then truly never ends. No matter how many plays you've been in, you'll find this to be true. And then on the final night of the play, after all the bows have been taken and the spotlights turned off, during the wrap party, everyone will gush over what a wonderful time they had. 

Of course, just because you can look back on the difficulties of production through your rose-tinted glasses doesn't mean that everyone walks away on equal footing. Just take this person, for example. They did not have a very good time during their tenure as the design tech for a particular play. They explained, as you can read about it in more detail below, that "Jane" was a writer/producer who'd been working on this play for years. It was near and dear to her heart, which this person found out the hard way. They shared that by the time they joined the play, rehearsals were already ongoing, because a director had already started working on that play… and then quit. Yikes! Directing a play is a huge deal, so you can only imagine what kind of nightmare scenario would lead to one walking away from a play that has already begun rehearsals. That's what happens to micromanagers, though. If you don't give the professionals the breathing room to actually do their jobs, you're going to create an oxygen-less environment, and these creatives would rather abandon the project than suffocate under one person's thumb. I mean, just think about how many people work on even the smallest play — 40, 80, 100? A play is never, ever a 1-person deal, and yet those with giant egos will try to convince us all otherwise. 

In an additionally frightful twist to this story, this person revealed that they "almost quit on the spot" after finding out that the director expected them to play role of not just designer, but also lighting designer, stage manager, and booth operator, somehow doing all of these things at the same time. I wonder if this person knows better now that when you're asked to do the impossible, you'll only be able to achieve it under the most grueling circumstances. You can put yourself through that, and some might argue it's even a rite of passage, but you can also choose to dive off that sinking ship and float to calmer waters. 

Check out the full story in all it's dramatic glory below, and see if you think this person pulled off their malicious compliance in the right way, or if you think they shouldn't have deleted a thing. 

Advertisement
  • 01

    “Your job is done. I don’t want you to do anything related to the project ever again.”

    Woman in white shirt crosses arms and looks upset with back to man in white shirt who looks at her in disgust, in background is red stage curtain with shadows of 3 figures
    via Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 02
    Apologies for length. TL:DR at the end. I work in technical theatre design, and I was approached by a writer/producer to direct her show after I had been recommended to her by a mutual friend (let's call her Jane). Jane had been working on this script for a couple years, and it was her baby. The script was actually pretty good, and the cast she had
    via u/wheresmychin
  • 03
    already hired was awesome, so I agreed to do the job. The show had already began rehearsals before I was hired, as the previous director had suddenly quit. After one rehearsal, i immediately realized why.
    via u/wheresmychin
  • 04
    Jane was an absolute nightmare. She had no idea what she was doing. She had never produced theatre and knew nothing about any aspect of live event productions (blocking, lighting design, etc). However, she also wanted to control and micro manage everything. A majority of my job ended up consisting of her freaking out about something I had done, then me spending 20 minutes explaining why it had to be done.
    via u/wheresmychin
  • 05
    The cast hated her, and she made every rehearsal miserable. She wasn't interested in watching the scenes to see how good the actors were. She would spend every rehearsal buried in her script and getting upset each time an actor missed a word, or said them instead of they, or other minor easily fixable things.
    via u/wheresmychin
  • 06
    The only reason the cast stuck around is because this woman did have some industry contacts, and she was inviting them all to the show. She constantly bragged about it, and said she would share all her connections with the cast so they could benefit from the show.
    via u/wheresmychin
  • 07
    About two weeks before tech week, I realized she hadn't hired a lighting designer, booth operator, stage manager, or anyone at all to run the show. She had been expecting me to do it all once the time came. I almost quit on the spot, but I ultimately stuck in because the cast was so great, and I knew the show would never happen if I left. She'd never be able to do anything on her own.
    via u/wheresmychin
  • 08
    I ended up calling in a couple favors, and someone we got everything done. The show actually turned out great, and the audience loved it. She had paid a guy to professionally film two performances, and she really got great stuff on tape.
    via u/wheresmychin
  • 09
    After the show ended, the cast asked for a list of emails/numbers of the industry that was in attendance so their agents could follow up. Jane betrayed them and refused to share any info about her contacts. She said she didn't want them bothering people she knew.
    via u/wheresmychin
  • 10
    I was furious, so I sent her an email saying "you need to share that list. It's what you promised. You owe it to them." She replied "This is no longer any of your business. Your job is done. I don't want you to do anything related to the project ever again." Cue malicious compliance.
    via u/wheresmychin

    This person made an admirable attempt to stick up for the cast members who made them stick around in the first place! When you see actors melt into a role, giving jaw-dropping performances again and again while learning how to play a character, it's normal to feel protective toward them. But that's not quite where the story finished, because this person chose to honor only themself in the end… 

  • 11
    8 actors dressed in brown, red and white costumes dance upon wooden stage with white arch decorations in background
    via Andrej Lišakov For Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 12
    One week later, she sent me an email. Apparently she was trying to raise funding to do the show again, and had entered the video she had recorded into an prestigious online theatre festival.
    via u/wheresmychin
  • 13
    The audio didn't turn out great in the recoding. She realized that she didn't have any of the sound effects, the marked production script, the Qlab show file, the projections, the blocking notes, nothing. I had done all the work, and had all the files. She had never even asked to see them before.
    via u/wheresmychin

    Typical! This writer/producer/micromanager underestimated the importance of some of the less glamorous roles. Your lighting dude might not get to take a bow on the stage, but they're still utterly crucial to the production. This person chose to skimp out on her play, and that's exactly what she got in return – a missed opportunity on a project months in the making. 

  • 14
    If she wanted to replicate the show, she'd need these things. Otherwise, she'd have to pay someone to start from scratch. If she wanted to fix the audio, she'd need all the music and sound files. She demanded that I send her these things immediately. I replied:
    via u/wheresmychin
  • 15
    "Per your previous instructions, am not to do any more work on this project. My job is done." Then I deleted everything. She was royally pissed. Her realizing she had nothing tangible to re- mount her show almost made it worth two months of painful rehearsals.
    via u/wheresmychin
  • 16
    TL;DR: Was hired to direct/design a show. Theatre producer makes everyone's life hell, then refuses to honor her promises to the cast. She's tells me to get lost, then is dumbfounded when she realizes I have all the important files. I delete them and she can't reproduce her show without starting from scratch.
    via u/wheresmychin
  • 17
    Shadows of 3 people behind a curtain - a man wearing a hat and crossing legs, a woman in dress reaching upward with one arm, and a man holding a violin and crossing legs while looking down
    via Kyle Head on Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

theatre designer play
Scroll Down For The Next Article