Thursday, July 28, 2016
“Are you really going to major in theatre?” : The dreaded question that us dream chasers face
OnStage: Whether you’re preparing to chase that Broadway spotlight or planning on operating it, most of us who choose to pursue a theatre degree in college have been pestered with that one dreaded query: “Are you sure you want to do that?!”
As an upcoming B.F.A. theatre arts student at Catawba College, this question has presented itself much more frequently as summer begins to draw to an end. It’s annoying and unfair (I mean, how many pre-meds get asked this, I’d like to know!), but can we really blame the asker for their ignorance?
I don’t think we can.
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10 comments:
Clearly as someone interested in pursuing theater in college is an ill-informed question to ask, but I understand the concern people feel when one decides to pursuit the arts. Anyone who decides to go for a BFA enjoys their craft. I love theater for its crazily broad knowledge is draws upon, how I ca be expected to accomplish something new every day, and I understand that people outside of the theater community don't always understand that. However, living as an artist is certainly not the most stable job on the planet. It's all about knowing the right people, being someone people can get along with well, and to some degree just luck. People don't question people pursuing pre-med degrees because doctors are always needed. Theater is never truly necessary; it's not always possible to keep a job. I just understand people's concern for my future, and to some degree I really appreciate it.
In your junior and senior year in high school the question “what do you want to do in college?” is asked so frequently. When I respond with “I want to get a BFA in technical theater”, I usually get confused looks or the ever hated question, “What’s your backup plan?” People who are not in the theater community really don’t think theater is a “practical” career; and I hate that. Like the article says, we can’t really blame them for their ignorance, because they haven’t had the deep connection with theater like the people that peruse theater as a career have. In order to want to pursue theater professionally you have to really know that that’s what you want to do because even in my own mind sometimes I think “is this really practical?”, but then I respond to myself with “Yes, this is what I want to do and I can’t see myself doing anything else”. This draw and need to do theater is what those who think it is impractical don’t understand. So my response to the backup plan question is: no, I don’t have a backup plan because I don’t need one. For me theater is my way to make an impact on the world through art and that’s the only thing I see myself doing. And by that point the person I am talking to is usually either thinking one of two things, wow she has a passion and it’s good that she’s trying to peruse it, or wow, she is going to be a starving artist and they wish me luck.
When I tell people that I want to go to college for theater, often the next thing I hear is “Ok, but what are you going to do for your real job?” I have found that the people who ask me that, are also the people who tell me to “follow my dreams and pursue whatever my heart tells me to”, or something to that effect. Some people have a hard time realizing that what I have a passion for might not be something that is going to get me rich. Another question I get asked a lot is “What will you do if theater doesn’t work out?” This question usually comes after I tell people that I want to go to a BFA program. They think that just because I am choosing a focused degree means that I have no other interests. I always assure them that, yes, there are a variety of other interests that I could explore if theater does not end up working out. I understand where people are coming from with this question. Jobs in theater are hard to come by, but that does not mean that I shouldn’t try my hardest to get one of those few jobs.
I am lucky enough to have grown up in a family and household in which my mom has always encouraged both me and my brothers to find something that we love to do (especially something artistic and creative that we love to do) and really follow that one (or many) thing(s). Then, being able to go to a school in which theatre and all of the jobs within it are so accessible to me, has pushed that idea of following a career in theatre even more. I personally have not run into that many people who question what I'm going to do as a "real job", but I know that I have a lot of friends who want to go into careers that are more artistic or creative, but at the same time whose parents don't really believe that those jobs can be their one career. I think that when you find something that you really love doing, nothing should stop or hinder you from doing that thing. For me, costuming has become such an essential part of my life, and something that I spend so many hours a week doing that I can't imagine not going to school for it, and then chasing a career in costume design. For anyone else who thinks they really have found a career or job or activity that they really know they want to pursue full time, I would say that nothing and nobody should ever be able to tell you not to follow it because you might not make "enough" money, you should do what you love because you'll be so so much happier in the long run, much more than you would be living in a high end apartment going to a job you hate everyday.
I recently ran into the exact problem that Browder described. Since my time the Pre-College program, my father has continuously mentioned that theater is not a real career. Many people view it as more of a hobby, especially the tech theater world. I used to get very angry about it, but then I realized exactly what Browder said: they may not wish ill will on you, people just don’t understand. The do not understand that hard work that is put in, on all ends. They do not understand that theater is not just people messing around. As a technical theater person, I have found it difficult at my school to explain to people that I want to do technical theater for a living. People who work in the arts I feel, are the strongest people out there. We are willing to go through hard time in order to reach out dreams, and no matter what, no one can tell us that it is a bad idea, or that we are wasting out time. I really loved the way that Browder said it, and I feel that more people need to understand both sides of the argument.
Reading the comments I feel a familiar story coming on, but oh well. I have to agree, coming from a family of traditional "inside the box (or cubical)" style people, I Find it difficult to make people understand the process of working in theater. I am curious as to why people naturally see theater or the arts as a non-lucrative career path, or where that conceived notion comes from, even when fields traditionally thought of as lucrative can be solidly middling, or worse, depending on the quality of the person, and the same is true of theater. Although, I am drawn to something Susan Tsu said during her design class, and I'm paraphrasing, but the general idea was that yes, sometimes theater people don't make a lot of money, but we all have to be doing theater, there is nothing else for us, and we are searching for why we have to be doing it. For me, that is why yes, I really am going to major in theatre.
It's pretty absurd, yet amusing to know that everyone has encountered the same conversation. I'm in a family that's full of "normal" jobs like teachers or businessmen and women. So especially because I'm about to start the next stage in my life, I always get asked that same question. And honestly, I always have to think hard about my answer because like Browder was saying, it's a very fair question to ask. It's not a very luxurious job financially except if your in Broadway, which is already extremely hard and takes time to get there. But like he was explaining in the article, when you are constantly in the theater environment, you are easily swayed to pursue it as a career. Going to an arts school and doing technical theater everyday, makes me realize how dedicated I really am to this job. So regardless of how strange it is to others or how difficult it will be to get a position in the field, it's something I've learned to love and that's why I want to do it for a living.
This is exactly the problem I have right now. I want to do everything related to behind the scenes of theatre. It all appeals to me, that’s why I freeze up when anyone asks me what concentration I want. I just want to do it all, people! But then I feel like I have to pick one, and I’ve been avoiding that since eighth grade. But this is the question people ask when I say I want to go into theatre. I feel like this question is more for actors and MT’s, though. Because their part is so much more competitive, but for techies, there are always positions open and companies are always looking for more. But there is passion in our work, and I think that’s what gets us going, and pursuing our dreams. Whether we be actors, MT’s, or techies, we always find a way to make our dreams become reality.
Just today I met another kid from the pre-college program that asked me what program I was in, and when I said I was a DP he asked me if all we learn is how to move things. A really huge thing that I have faced is that people don’t quite understand that tech ranges from costume design to carpentry to electrics. People have no faith that this can be an actual career even though they attend elaborate, professional productions. I have no understanding of how people can go see a spectacle of a show and think that a couple people can just toss it up in one night. While I do understand that this is an incredibly difficult field to be in, I see it as completely worth it, as there is absolutely nothing else I can see myself finding so much joy and passion in. The way I see it is I would so much rather dedicate every part of myself to surviving in this career because this is what I love than to choose a safer, more “typical” career path.
I spent my entire childhood being coached to be a doctor and then an engineer would I would insist (lying) that I was afraid of blood. Why are those seen as the only "real" professions? Why are children not raised to follow their talents and aspirations, but to follow money, even if it means a life of monotonous misery. I do not understand how and why believe that it's okay to laugh in the face of a child who so gleefully exclaims that they want to be an artist, a technician, a designer of any sort. Theater so is widely encompassing and includes so many talents and job types with such amazing potential for success. How many of the same people who asks these patronizing questions save up to watch a broadway production or two staring in awe throughout the entire performance and chatting endlessly about it afterwards. Is theater necessary and practical then when it serves them? I feel that if people can work up the nerve to ask this question, then they can easily draw back into their memory the joys and thoughts that the shows they love so much bring forth and answer it for themselves.
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