Top 5 Reasons Why You Should Hire a Theatre Artist
Alright, I'll admit it. I'm tired of being broke.
It was cute at first when I quit my job working at a grocery store. It was a liberating flash of nerve and determination. I said goodbye to all my favourite coworkers, and stamped out of the building I had seen as my own personal hell for 3 years, full of hope and possibility.
Me, leaving my part-time job in 2020 to live my dream.
That was 2020. It's 2022 now. I've changed a lot, and my dreams and desires have been rearranged, and I find myself needing steady income. And as I pound the virtual pavement, I am reminded of how taxing searching for a job is.
"Searching for a job is a job," my boyfriend's mom always says. And she's right. For me, the hardest part of job hunting is selling yourself. I'm no slouch, and I certainly have my selling points, but whenever I'm sitting in front of my resume or a job application I ask myself: "what CAN I do?" It's overwhelming!
There's one other obstacle I've been facing: I'm not currently looking for work in my chosen field. Don't get me wrong, I'm still very much a thespian, but what I've learned is even some of the most successful theatre artists working today have another job of some kind. You have to, if you want to pay the bills. The theatre world relies on two things to make money: grants and generous donations. And if you don't have some kind of angel investor keeping you afloat while you work on your next project, you probably have another job in order to pay your bills while you wait for the next cycle of grant applications. Some people teach, some people consult, some have a side business, and quite a few of us are playing Spiderman at your kid's birthday party (like Simu Liu, pictured above). To be a working theatre artist is to be a hustler, honey.
But now I face the issue of cross-advertising. How do my theatre skills transfer over to other fields? And how do I explain them in the confines of a cover letter and resume?
So in an effort to collect my thoughts, I thought I would write about 5 reasons why a theatre person would be an asset to any company. Maybe it'll help me in my job seeking journey. Maybe it'll help you. But most importantly, I hope it helps convince my future employer to hire me, so that I can start buying cool stickers on Etsy again without feeling guilty about spending money I don't have!
Look at these cute stickers! LOOK AT THEM!
1. We will get you to your deadline, no matter what.
I have seen a variety of disasters happen in my years as an actor-from sets breaking/not being finished on time, to actors not knowing their lines days before opening, to the show not having a title a month before opening night. And you know what? In every situation, the problem got solved before the curtains went up. Theatre forces you to become a problem solver because once you've invited an audience, you must put on a show. And once the show is up, there is nowhere to hide. So when problems arise, you have no choice but to suck it up and make it work, and make it work quickly.
One of the instances where I had to solve a problem quickly was when I was in a production of Kevin Kerr's play Unity (1918) in university. It was a couple weeks before opening night, and I had everything except one of my monologues memorized. Between focusing on other parts of the play and being caught up in other assignments outside of rehearsal, I just never got comfortable with the text until it was seemingly too late. My director, of course, noticed this and put me in memorization boot camp. When I wasn't needed on stage I would work with an assistant stage manager or a fellow cast mate who would help me drill lines until the words were in my head. Then when I was at home I would rearrange furniture around the house to replicate the stage in order to get the words into my body so I wouldn't look like I was just reciting lines during my performance. It was close, but with the help of my peers I got there, and I was ready for opening night. My monologue even got some laughs! I knew it wasn't cool of me to be on-book so close to a performance date, but it was what it was, and with raw determination and reaching out for some help, I got myself premiere-ready.
2. We're great both on a team and alone
When you're in rehearsal, you have to be a team player. You must work with your cast and crew to create a cohesive world for your audience. You have to use your active listening skills. Otherwise you look like a bunch of individuals walking around. But we also have to do our own research in order to know how our character would react to the people and events surrounding them. Actors, designers, costumers, directors...everybody involved in a play has to complete their own work efficiently and effectively, then bring it to the rest of the team in order to complete the project. Any thespian worth their salt does this immediately from the moment they're cast in the production.
In my final year of university, I was in a play called Concord Floral, about a group of teens who have a big secret that starts to haunt them the more they try to hide it. Concord is a fairly new play, and although I was 22 at the time, I quickly realized I was glaringly out of touch with teenagers and what they were into, how they acted, and how they related to the world. These were kids who had never known a world without the internet, and it showed in the script. I had some major catching up to do, so I got to work.
My director assigned us with the task of researching what teenagers were into, and deciding on which trends applied to our characters. Who was their favourite celebrity? What kind of music did they listen to? What was their zodiac sign? I looked at my Instagram explore page, and tried to find out what celebrities teenagers seemed to be into at the time, and what hobbies and interests were popular. I was also responsible for collaborating with our costume designer to figure out what my character would dress like, so I'd window shop online at stores I knew teenagers shopped at, like Forever21 or Urban Outfitters. Some of my castmates had younger siblings who were still in high school, so we'd ask them for their input as well. I catalogued all of my findings in my little makeshift scrapbook and that made stepping into the character easier, because I had all of this info to back up every decision I made on stage. Since we all had this kind of information, it made the show much more cohesive-we looked and sounded like a bunch of teenagers who went to school together! Our individual efforts in our research projects combined with the work we put into our rehearsals, and it made for a really good show. That assignment laid the groundwork for how I do research for my writing as well as my acting. It also taught me how to bring my findings to a group for the benefit of everyone involved, and helped me get better at communicating my ideas to a team.
3. We can work with anyone.
The world of the performing arts has a famous-and infamous-reputation for attracting all sorts of people. And I am here to tell you that what they say is 100% true. Don't get me wrong, 90 percent of the artists that I have met have been thoughtful, inclusive, professional, and kind. But that last 10 percent have made for some, shall we say, interesting workplace dynamics. Working with certain personalities has no doubt proven to be grating in the past, but with time and experience I've learned how to work with others while letting them vibrate on their own frequencies. Remember: you don't have to be best friends, but you do have to be coworkers. And that means carrying yourself with a certain level of diplomacy if you don't hit it off with somebody naturally.
I don't want to put any of my former castmates on blast, so I'll take this opportunity to use myself as an example: I used to be terrible at memorizing my lines. This is the most important part of any acting job, and in theatre it's not only considered professional-it's considered good etiquette. If you don't have your lines memorized by the off-book deadline, you appear as though you don't care enough about the show, and it can change the way people perceive you. Now, I wasn't failing to memorize my lines for any sort of malicious or diva-esque reason, but it was still unprofessional and rude of me, and I had to improve. But thankfully, the people I have worked with over the years have been extremely nice, and have taught me a thing or two about working with someone who is not pulling their weight, like:
- Don't blame the person or try and make them feel guilty about their behaviour. Even if this tactic works exactly the way you want it to, that person now knows that they are working in an atmosphere where they know that shame and punishment will be used against them, and humans simply don't react well to that kind of environment.
- Try to see the situation as you and the person vs. the problem, not you vs. the person you are having issues with. One thing I was grateful for when I was having trouble memorizing my monologue for Unity (1918) was that when my director and stage manager approached me, they didn't admonish me for not having my lines memorized, but rather asked me if I needed any extra help. They didn't see me as a problematic actor, they saw me as an actor with a problem, and that only motivated me to make them proud because I knew they were on my side.
- Respect the process. People work and learn differently. If you get paired up with someone who doesn't work like you do, be upfront and ask them how they work best, and voice your needs as well! That way, you both can learn how the other person works, and navigate the project in a way that respects both of your routines.
I won't inundate you with this list-within-a-list, but these are just some of the things I've learned while working with some of my industry's more, uh, eccentric personalities. It sucks when you're stuck with someone who is mean, or egotistical, or who just doesn't seem to get it, but learning to work with difficult people is a fact of life, and if you can learn to do it well, you'll find that it also makes you look good!
4. We are the monarchs of a fast-paced work environment.
No one play I have ever been a part of has been the same. Even when I work with people I've worked with before. Each show requires a different work environment, and theatre artists are not only used to adapting to this-they enjoy it! Change of pace is a big reason why so many of us start in theatre to begin with, and it's a trait we take with us wherever we go.
Back in the summer when I was working on we could be, it quickly dawned on everybody that it was not going to be your typical rehearsal period. We only had a month to memorize our lines, finalize the blocking, choreograph a movement piece, and have a set built. But, as referenced in point number one, we got it done.
My biggest lesson learned from theatre is that just because a workplace is fast-paced, it doesn't mean that the workplace has to be toxic. You can work fast and say "please" and "thank-you." You can work fast and say "good job today, everyone." And you can work fast while you laugh and make inside jokes. These things can exist at the same time. And you know what else I've found? People don't mind working fast when they're appreciated. If your workplace has a foundation of respect and trust, people are going to want to work, and you may find yourself working in a fast-paced environment anyways because everyone feels motivated! Theatre folks are great at walking this fine line, and we bring that energy with us wherever we go.
5. We're walking Swiss Army Knives
You want a set designer who can build their own designs? How about a costumer that can hang a light? An actor who knows Excel? We exist! In theatre, you can absolutely specialize in something, but it's even better if you know how to do more than one thing, because you never know when someone is gonna need extra hands. Even better, if you're multi-faceted, you can make more money! Theatre artists are used to spreading out into a skill that is not their advertised specialty, and we've been doing it since before it was cool. If you need someone on your team who can pick up a new skill quickly, you definitely want to consider hiring somebody with some theatre on their resume.
One thing I will always be grateful to my education at the University of Waterloo for is that they built versatility into their curriculum. I had to take tech classes that taught me basic skills so that by the time I was out in the real world, I at least knew some technical terminology. Now, admittedly, I did not take to it as well as most of my classmates did, and I would do everything in my power to get out of striking sets after shows closed. But now that I'm producing my own show (another valuable skill I learned), I at least know the names of the tools and equipment I'll need...in order to communicate it to a licensed professional who will do it for me!
Closing Thoughts
To quote John Stenbeck:
The theatre is the only profession which has been dying for four thousand years and has never succumbed. It requires tough and devoted people to keep it alive.
Do you want to know the real reason why I think someone should hire me, or any other theatre artist who comes their way? Because we're resilient. Every artist I've ever met has a similar story of being underestimated at some point in their life, and then rising above it. We have the best attitudes when it comes to adversity. And honestly? We're incredibly fun. In the midst of this pandemic and the rise of the dreaded Zoom call, the artists in my life have made these tough times worth living through. And I'd like to think I've done the same in return.
And so, dear reader, if you are a potential employer, I beg you: do not turn me away from your news outlet, shopping app, or publishing house just because I have theatre on my resume. My skills are transferable, applicable, and I'm excited to work. I'm dedicated, passionate, and attentive, because I've been taught by the best. My peers and I will help your company through any project big or small, because we simply do not quit. We only get better.