CHAPTER 13 Stage Management Stage managers have many responsibilities related to rehearsing and performing theatre. They are typically the first to arrive and the last to leave. It is a tough job, but also very rewarding. Throughout the process of producing a play, a stage manager should be the center of communications in sharing ideas and information, whether they be artistic, administrative, or technical in nature. That may be a simple statement, but the true challenge of the job is keeping up with the many ways this information is presented, and making sure that it gets disseminated in an accurate and timely fashion. Professional stage managers are members of the Actors' Equity Association (AEA), the union for actors. It has been that way since the union was formed, when virtually all stage managers were people whose acting careers had gone awry. That is no longer axiomatic.