Monday, May 7, 2012

Number 33: Write a scathing Letter to the Editor

Hey Blog World - what's shakin'? I'm going to level with you guys, this letter isn't scathing. But I've been thinking about this article for the past few weeks and I've got a lot to say on the matter. So here we go with Number 33 - Rebecca Novick, you don't make my blood boil (and I won't argue with everything you have to say), but I disagree with you. Here's why.

For those of you in the arts world (or friends with someone who is on Facebook) probably at least saw the article, "Please, Don't Start a Theater Company! Next-Generation Arts Institutions and Alternative Career Paths." It's a solid read for anyone looking pursue a career in the arts, and an even more important read for those who are thinking about starting a company. And the first time I read it, the title really threw me off - I was a little angry at it. Reading it a second time proved that I agreed with a lot of what Novick has to say about why the model of, "Yep, we're going to start a company and then get famous and then make a living doing this" doesn't work. But, speaking as someone on the other side... someone who recently disbanded her company, I can honestly say that I do not regret a thing, and starting The CoLab is one of the most formative things I could have done as a young artist in Boston.

2009 was a terrible year to graduate. Really effing awful. But in all of the research I've done on "graduating into the recession" and all of the advice that's out there on the interwebs, no one is giving advice for the theatre major. (Well, except for maybe Ms. Novick.) And why would they? We graduate with the idea that we will be working some sort of "survival job," waiting tables or answering phones, something to pay our bills while we fulfill our dreams nights and weekends. We are the weird girl in the office that looks haggard and awful for a full week every few months with our only excuse being the mysterious phrase, "I'm in tech."

Let's break down the article. The first section of the essay, "What could we build instead?" urges artists to consider different models of theatre companies with different "organizational structures." She gives a few examples of companies that pay their actors to do administrative tasks and other companies that are able to fund themselves by getting grants for specific small projects. Well, that's great, but to even get to that level you have to start somewhere, and that means getting experience! (Which she later says, is exactly what she got out of starting her own company in her twenties.) And I'll tell you, there aren't too many organizations who want to PAY someone who graduated three weeks previously with a Bachelor's in Acting to work in the arts world. Sure, there are plenty of box office jobs that pay $8/hour (who can subsist on $8/hr?!) and plenty of unpaid internships, but as someone who had to pay her own rent, neither of those things were going to cut it during my first year out. So when one of my friends suggested we start our own company, I said sure, let's do it. I can do it on my time, at my own speed, and I can actually work on the type of theatre I'm interested in. And off we went.

The second section of the article actually describes some of what we did at The CoLab. We set ourselves up with specific goals and didn't plan our second one until we were sure we could accomplish the first. When we first produced play. in 2010, we were putting up ensemble-devised work, which literally no one else in Boston was doing. We took things one step at a time until the company started to grow larger than ourselves - we needed more money, more time, more manpower and it was going to take a lot to acquire all of these things. And we didn't have it in us to keep going (and accomplish all of the individual things we wanted) - so, we went out with a bang, and this momentum has carried each of us into the next phase of our lives. (Read our goodbye blog here.) Novick encourages that we operate this way, and not under the title "company" with a specific infrastructure and five year plan, but I say, having that is important. It ties everyone in to one specific goal, even if at it's basis, the goal is "to produce art."


But, it's not the inception that matters the most - it is the drive to push forward. To create. To produce. To know that in a world where they tell us the arts are dying - new groups are springing forward, and saying, "yes, we believe this can work." The final section of the essay asks that the change to support paid fellowships and apprenticeships for actors, playwrights, producers, etc. starts with the larger companies. Yep. Agreed. But, I've heard a number of companies talk the talk, without walking the walk. As Novick says, "It's discouraging that the holy grail of a living wage from satisfying artistic work, attainable for only a few in the current system, doesn't look too much more likely in these newer models."

And I agree -- it is sad. And I recently attained a job that will pay me to work in the theatre, but I'm convinced I would not have gotten my foot in the door if it wasn't for The CoLab. Because it is that drive that proves to these larger, more established companies, that yes, this person is worth investing in. Look what they started at 22 years old. And maybe all of these thoughts make me a dreamer or an idealist, but I'm proud of that. Because as a wise man said to me recently, "I like this. I don't want to become jaded." "You will at some point," I replied. And it's true, we all lose some naivete the longer we stay in the business. But then that same wise man replied, "I just like to play." And that made me realize - that is what we said at one of our first CoLab meetings - "Let's start a company so we can play." So, until we are able to transition into this phase of trickle down support from large to small, I think we've got to keep listening to a different wise man, "The play's the thing." Yeah, starting a theatre company is naive in many ways (and stupid in many others), but not starting it would have been the biggest mistake I ever made.

So, here's to an underfunded, overpopulated, we're-spread-too-thin world of theatre. And the next generation of artists to keep it going. Because, Ms. Novick, no matter how misguided our attempts may be, that desire to start ourselves off on our own two feet, the ability to figure out how to fund a play, the audacity (to quote an equally "naive" woman) to throw eight actors on stage in a church hall and call it a show, and the passion to say, "This is my work. I built this from the ground up" is what is driving this so-called dying movement in America. And I'm damn proud to be part of it.


Here's to the next company to start and fail. Because it we don't fall down, we'll never figure out how to climb a little higher the next time.


And scene.
E

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Number 20: Try on engagement rings, even if you're not in a relationship




ENGAGED?! WHAT?! Well, I may not be engaged strapping young gentleman (and I'm not planning on it any time soon either!), but nine months ago I entered into a Facebook relationship with a friend that I fondly refer to as my wife and on this blog will call Ms. ML. One fateful retail-therapy shopping trip led to this montage. We hope that you enjoy.



Mary-Liz pops the question!
Examining the rock...
Getting nervous! 


She seems pleased!