Isaac

Your former best friend lunges at you in an egomaniacal rage and it’s all you can do not to slug him while you’re keeping his hands from around your throat.

Well, here’s my first post.  I’ve been busy dealing with all the major issues of my show and, since this post will be primarily venting and pondering, I’m glad that the people it’s about don’t have access to this particular blog.

I’ve learned from doing this show that I’m a very hands-on sort of producer.  I need to be involved with every aspect of the production, from arranging space to having a say in casting to supervising load-in and ticketing to having an active role in the artistic collaboration.  My partner in this venture, who is directing, for all his talk about collaboration and open-mindedness has not delivered on a single statement he’s made.  As I’m also acting, this tension has been even harder to deal with.  I’m perfectly willing to follow his lead as an actor, but as a producer, I’ve found that I’ve been completely cut out of the process entirely, treated like little more than an on-demand checkbook and any time I try to take a more active part in the process, as in dealing with performer politics and trying to build a real ensemble, he gets offended and accuses me of stepping out of place.  He accuses me of not delegating enough and then blames me when the jobs I delegate don’t get done.  I’ve seen this pattern before with my mother and her sister and I’ll be DAMNED if I let this happen to me. 

Needless to say, I’ve got nine more shows to get through and to make this work.  I don’t know how to hold the group together, let my partner know about the issues I’m having with him in a diplomatic way and also be able to get my character back on track.  I don’t want my friendship to suffer with him, but I know for a fact that I’ll never be able to work with him again for the simple reason that he’s not a collaborator.  I know he may have ADD and can’t focus on all the details of a production, which would explain his occasional absent-mindedness, but when I see him focusing on his LARPs and the things he really likes to do, I begin to feel insulted.

Guys, what would you do in this situation?  How do you recommend I deal with this in a way that still keeps the friendship intact but gets the job done?