Strong team relationships are the foundation of a successful show. Invest in understanding the role of everyone on the team - not to be an expert but to appreciate the work others do to make the show come together. Tensions will develop and will be much more easily managed when you understand the different priorities within the team; respect that their task is as important to the whole as yours is. As a director, talk to your tech team and designers early on, communicate clearly what your vision and end goal are. Work with the team to achieve it. When people understand what you want to achieve they often bring you alternative ways of achieving the vision - trust in their expertise, whilst enticing them to push the limits.

Things sometimes tend to go wrong technologically with live performances, whether because walkie-talkies are not synced to the same channel, the volume of microphones isn't ideal because of audio malfunctions or the performer is too far/close to it, etc. Be sure you have a means of communicating well with your stage manager/supervisor about technological issues (whether they are nearby or you've made sure the walkie-talkies etc. are synchronized beforehand so you can communicate that way), so that they can be addressed and solved quickly and the performance can go on smoothly.

"The show must go on" This quote has to be followed no matter what. Surprises are bound to arise in a live performance, but the important thing is that concentration of the audience must not break, or else the performance might lose its essence. To avoid that situation, the team can be prepared beforehand. All the the cast and crew must develop some form of code/sign language which can be understood without a second thought. This way the backstage crew will be able to improvise in a dire situation while the actors handle the act on stage. Multiple rehearsals and practice sessions are the only way to smoothen these skills.

As an actor, become familiar with the language of theatre that will be used by the stage crew; as a director, ensure your actors are theatre ‘literate’. Everyone needs to speak the same language so that time is not wasted in rehearsals, techs, and show day prep. I’m often surprised by actors who do not know how to find their light or which side is stage left! Tech rehearsals are notoriously stressful and so much of that comes down to time wasted because of poor or miscommunication. Also familiarise yourself with the house specific language - the code word for fire, for example, may vary between venues.

Good example of when silent gestures are essential is during scene changes. If someone forgets to move or place the item they are tasked with, you need to be able to communicate quickly and silently who will sort it. And that also applies in the situation where you notice something on stage that shouldn’t be there or a prop that isn’t placed correctly for the next action - you often need to communicate silently with signals who will get on stage to correct it or when this could happen. Often the comms here needs to be with an actor about to go on so the whole team need to understand a set of nonverbal cues.