17

Fire/Evacuation

 

The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man falsely shouting fire in a theater and causing a panic.

—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. In U.S. Supreme Court opinion (Schenck v. U.S) (often misquoted)

Do not allow your dreams to go up in smoke. Practice fire safety.

—Anonymous

 

 

The first day you step into a theater as stage manager, check out the fire prevention/control equipment—extinguisher, sprinkler system, phone—because every day after that, you are the first line of defense against fire—on stage and backstage.

 

It happened within the last 10 minutes of a production of You Can’t Take It with You, in the round. From the booth I could not see the grid. I noticed that the audience was looking up ...

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