The Tao that can be told
Is not the eternal Tao
Surrounded in light
It is cloaked in darkness
It is the unseen
Resounding
Yet inaudible
It is the unheard
It flows from stage left
To stage right
And envelopes all between
This is essential to the show
Yet the actor understands it not

Under heaven, all can see beauty as beauty
Because there is ugliness
Good owes its existence to evil
And the Tech owes his existence to the actor
As male needs female
As student needs teacher
As the foolish need guidance
So does the actor need the Tech

Therefore the Tech goes forth
Cloaked in darkness
Bathed in silence
Radiating the Tao
Creating yet not posessing
Working, yet not taking credit.
In this way, the Ten Thousand Things are preserved

The Tao is an empty vessal; it is used,
But never filled
Oh, unfathomable source of ten thousand things
Change the lamp,
Adjust the level,
Call the cue,
Clean the shirt.
Oh, hidden deep but ever present
It comes from the darkness And flows into the light
It is the keeper of our art

When the Tao is present in the Universe
The horses haul the manure
Which happens as one of the
Ten thousand things becomes misalligned
The man who has not the Tao panics,
And is therefore up to his neck in unhauled manure

The Tech, however, abides in the Tao
And the Tao in him.
Therefore, when one of the Ten Thousand Things is misalligned,
He realigns it
And the manure is hauled away.
Or if it cannot be realigned
So what?
We'll still get paid.

Actors are stupid

The wise actor hears of the Tao
And strives to follow it
The mediocre actor hears of the Tao
And gives it its due respect
The foolish actor hears of the Tao
And laughs
Then I cut off his sound and lights
and leave him setless
propless
and naked
This is the way of the Tao

The audience is gulliable
They see the actor as a god
The Tech is wise
He sees the actor as a child
The actor must be made up
And have his hair done
He needs to be dressed
And led to his props
The Tech needs not such things

Silence is the language of the Tech
His movements are the wind
While in his care, the props do not break
Nor are the lights dropped from on high
There is not panic within the Tech
There is instead the peace of the Tao
Which allows him patience to deal with actors
Yea, even child actors
Without beating them even more retarded
Then they already are
(at least until the end of the run)

The greatest virtue is to follow Tao
And Tao alone.
For it is well known that a Tech can act
But he will never be an actor
Just as the actor may attempt to tech
But he will never be a tech.

The actor's art is internal
He cannot help but become self-centered
He is the victim of his trade
Which leaves him oblivious

The Tech's art is external
He cannot help but be concerned with others
He is the benefactor of his trade
Which conditions him to be aware

To act is to know oneself
To Tech is to know all in one's environment

A good walker makes no noise
A good speaker arrangement
Gives no feedback
A good actor breaks not the props
Nor does he break the furniture

The Tech takes care of them all
And abandons no one
He takes care of all things and abandons nothing

This is called "abiding in the Tao"

What is a Tech?
The keeper of an actor.
What is an actor?
A Tech's charge.
If the Tech is not respected
And the actor not cared for,
Confusion will arise
This is the crux of illusion.

Whenever you advise a designer in the way of the Tao
Counsel him not to break the laws of nature.
Do this also in the guidence of a director
Animals, Trees, Children
Such things should never cross the stage
When the designer or director
Conspires against nature
He upsets the Ten Thousand Things
Yet the Tao attempts to accomodate him
The Tao is great
But even greatness
Cannot overcome fate
For it is written
There are no stupid concepts
Just stupid directors and designers
Producing the most intelligent concepts
They can come up with at the time

The Tao is forever undefined
Ubiquitous, yet intangible,
It eludes the masses
When Designers abide in it,
The Ten Thousand Things rejoice
If directors and actors could harness it,
The Ten Thousand Things would natuarally obey
The dramatic and the technical would intertwine
And all would abide in the Tao

Once the whole is divided, the parts need names
There are already enough names
One must know when to stop
Knowing when to stop averts trouble
Knowledge and wisdom are the companions of the Tao.

No acting please

Knowing ignorance is strength
Ignoring knowledge is sickness

If one is sick of sickness, then one is not sick
The Tech is not sick because he is sick of sickness
But because he is sick of actors

The great Tao flows everywhere
Both to stage left
And to stage right
The Ten Thousand Things depend on it
It fulfills its purpose silently
And makes no claim

It nourishes the Ten Thousand Things
And yet it is not their lord
It anoints the Tech
And enhances his ability

Therefore the Tech knows himself and others
He has self-respect, yet is not arrogant
He lets go of that and chooses this

The Tao of the Tech is impartial
And stays with him at all times