How to Write a Rehearsal Report (With a Free Template)

The rehearsal report is the most important document you will write on any production, and you will write it every single night. It is also the document most often done badly. Too long, too late, missing the one note the props designer actually needed, or written like a diary entry instead of a working memo.

This guide covers what goes in a rehearsal report, section by section, following the format taught in most training programs and standardized through USITT's stage management resources. There is a complete rehearsal report template you can copy below, plus a filled-in sample so you can see what a real one looks like on a real night.

What a rehearsal report is (and who it is really for)

A rehearsal report is a nightly summary of everything that happened in rehearsal that affects someone who was not in the room. That last clause is the whole job. The director knows what happened. The cast knows what happened. Your report exists for the costume designer who was at her day job, the TD who was in the shop, and the producer who wants to know the show is on track without calling you at 11pm.

Every note you write should pass one test: does someone outside the room need to know this or act on it? "We ran Act One and it went well" fails that test. "Director cut the umbrella business on page 42, props no longer needs the practical umbrella" passes it.

The report is also the production's paper trail. When the set designer says nobody told them the platform moved downstage, the report from three weeks ago says otherwise. Write every report knowing it may be read back to you later.

The standard rehearsal report sections

The format below reflects the USITT-aligned structure used across professional and educational theatre. Companies vary the order, but nearly every good report contains these sections.

Header block

Show title, report number, rehearsal date, start and end times, location, who was called, and who wrote the report. Number your reports sequentially from the first rehearsal. When someone says "check report 14," that should mean something.

Attendance and schedule notes

Late arrivals, absences, illnesses, and injuries, stated factually. "J. Alvarez arrived 7:22, notified in advance" is a note. "Jordan was late again" is a grievance. Injuries always get reported, however minor, the same night they happen.

Then anything that affects the schedule going forward: rehearsal ran long, a scene got bumped to Thursday, the director wants a fight call added before every run.

What was rehearsed

A brief factual account: which scenes or numbers were worked, whether it was blocking, a work-through, a stumble run, or a full run. Two to four lines. This is context for the department notes, not a review of the evening.

Department notes

This is the heart of the report and the reason it exists. One section per department, and every department gets a line even if the line is "No notes today, thank you!" A department that never sees its name stops reading, and the night you finally have a note for them, they miss it.

Typical sections: Scenic, Props, Costumes, Lighting, Sound, Music, Choreography, Production/Stage Management, and General. Adjust to your show. A good breakdown of how to write notes each department can act on lives in department notes, but the short version is in the tips below.

General notes and questions

Anything that crosses departments or needs a producer or director decision: budget questions, space conflicts, a request for a production meeting agenda item.

Next rehearsal

Date, time, location, and what will be worked. This doubles as an early warning for departments: if you are running Act Two tomorrow, sound knows tonight is the night to get the new cue file to you.

Free rehearsal report template (copy and paste)

Copy this into whatever you use to write reports. It is deliberately plain so it survives email, docs, and printing.

REHEARSAL REPORT #___
[SHOW TITLE] - [Producing Company]

Date: [Day, Month DD, YYYY]
Rehearsal: [Start] – [End] Location: [Room/Venue]
Report by: [Name, Stage Manager] [email / phone]

--- ATTENDANCE & SCHEDULE ---
Called: [Who was called]
Late/Absent: [Name, time, reason if known, or "None"]
Injuries: [Details, or "None"]
Schedule notes: [Changes to the upcoming schedule, or "None"]

--- REHEARSAL SUMMARY ---
[2–4 lines: what was worked and how (blocking / work-through /
stumble run / full run). Pages or scenes covered.]

--- DEPARTMENT NOTES ---

SCENIC:
1. [Note]

PROPS:
1. [Note]

COSTUMES:
1. [Note]

LIGHTING:
1. [Note]

SOUND:
1. [Note]

MUSIC / CHOREOGRAPHY:
1. [Note]

STAGE MANAGEMENT:
1. [Note]

GENERAL:
1. [Note]

(Every department appears every night. "No notes today,
thank you!" is a complete entry.)

--- NEXT REHEARSAL ---
[Day, Date] [Time] at [Location]
Working: [Scenes / focus]

Sample rehearsal report (filled in)

Here is the same template on a realistic night, mid-process, at a community theatre.

REHEARSAL REPORT #17
THE 39 STEPS - Millbrook Community Players

Date: Tuesday, March 10, 2026
Rehearsal: 7:00 PM – 10:05 PM Location: Fellowship Hall
Report by: Dana Okafor, SM dana@millbrookplayers.org

--- ATTENDANCE & SCHEDULE ---
Called: Full cast
Late/Absent: M. Reyes arrived 7:25 (traffic, called ahead)
Injuries: None
Schedule notes: Thursday 3/12 now begins with a 30-min fight
call at 6:30 PM before the 7:00 call. Fight
captain and both Clowns called at 6:30.

--- REHEARSAL SUMMARY ---
Blocked Act 1, Sc. 4–6 (pp. 28–41), then a work-through of
Sc. 1–6. First stumble run of Act 1 is still on for Friday.

--- DEPARTMENT NOTES ---

SCENIC:
1. The director has restaged the window escape (p. 34) so
Hannay exits over the trunk, not through the frame. Can the
trunk lid support repeated standing weight? Please advise
before Friday's run.

PROPS:
1. ADD: a second pipe for Prof. Jordan (Sc. 6); the handoff
to the Sheriff no longer returns it.
2. The rehearsal handcuffs arrived, thank you! They work well.

COSTUMES:
1. Pamela is now dragged stage right by the handcuffed wrist
(p. 38). Please note for sleeve/seam durability on her
Act 1 jacket.

LIGHTING:
1. No notes today, thank you!

SOUND:
1. The director requests a 3–4 sec train whistle to cover the
Sc. 4 transition. Needed by Friday's stumble run if possible.

MUSIC / CHOREOGRAPHY:
1. No notes today, thank you!

STAGE MANAGEMENT:
1. SM will retape the Sc. 6 platform spike marks Thursday
before fight call.

GENERAL:
1. Producer: the church has confirmed we lose Fellowship Hall
on 3/21. Do we move that rehearsal to the black box or cut
it? Decision needed by Monday 3/16 to notify cast.

--- NEXT REHEARSAL ---
Thursday, March 12: Fight call 6:30 PM, full call 7:00 PM
at Fellowship Hall. Working: Act 1, Sc. 7–8, then review 4–6.

Notice what the sample does. Every note names a page, a deadline, or a decision-maker. Questions ask for an answer by a date. Departments with nothing still get thanked. And the whole thing reads in under two minutes, because your designers will read it on their phones during a lunch break.

How to write notes people actually act on

One item per note, numbered. Numbered notes can be answered by number. A paragraph of prose gets skimmed and half-answered.

Lead with the action word. ADD, CUT, CHANGE, QUESTION. The props designer triages twelve productions' worth of email; make yours scannable.

Give the page or the moment. "The umbrella business" means nothing in six weeks. "p. 42, top of the scene" always will.

Report, do not editorialize. You are a neutral conduit between the room and the departments. "The director cut the song" is your note. Whether it was a good idea is not.

Ask questions that can be answered. "Thoughts on the trunk?" invites silence. "Can the trunk lid support repeated standing weight? Answer needed before Friday" gets a reply.

Never bury safety. Injuries and hazards go in every time, clearly, even when the actor says they are fine.

Timing and distribution

Send the report the same night, within an hour of the end of rehearsal if you can manage it. A report that arrives at noon the next day has already cost the shop a morning. Send it from the same address, with the same subject line format ("Rehearsal Report #17: The 39 Steps"), to a list you maintain deliberately. Every designer, every department head, the director, the producer. When in doubt, include them.

The traditional workflow is the painful part: you keep notes on paper or in your phone all night, then rebuild them into a formatted email at 10:30pm while the building manager waits to lock up. This is the part worth automating. Proscene assembles the report as you go and routes each note to the right department when you distribute it, so the 10:30pm rebuild disappears. But whether you use software or a template in an email, the discipline is the same: every night, every department, no exceptions.

The habit is the skill

Nobody remembers a merely adequate rehearsal report, and that is the point. A report that shows up on time, in the same format, with numbered notes and honest questions, makes the entire production trust the stage manager. Miss two nights and that trust erodes faster than you earned it.

Copy the template above, put it somewhere you can reach at 10pm, and send report #1 after your next rehearsal.

See how Proscene builds the report for you as you take notes: Creating a rehearsal report, part of Proscene's reports feature. Free during open beta.