AMERICAN THEATRE: There is no way to say “I work in theatre” without dissolving the fourth wall between you and other people’s polite, bewildered courtesy. However, there is a way to cheat! Here are all the correct answers to the questions you will never stop getting.
33 comments:
It’s hard to tell if this article is for real or just a joke? I can tell the answers are jokes but are they serious in us answering those questions with these answers? I just don’t understand why they would write this. To be honest I didn’t even finish the article because it really confused me. These answers may seem funny and not serious but if we were to answer these questions to real people I think that they would think theatre people are just jokesters and don’t take anything seriously and won’t do anything with their life but I disagree. We work just as hard or even harder than “normal” workers do. Making a joke of what we do sometimes isn’t the best way to let people know what we do. I’m not saying this to be serious all the time but theatre is important and not always a joke.
This was an interesting article and I'm not sure what to make of it. I am not sure if it is meant to poke fun at the life of theatre artists, or at the unsuspecting pedestrian who doesn't understand theatre. I'm not even sure if as a joke this article is wise, regardless of who the target is. On one side, we have the pompous theatre contributor who assumes that if you are not in theatre, you are incapable of understanding, so everything must be dumbed down.On the other side of the exchange is the supposedly dumb pedestrian who are seen as annoying. This may not have been the intention of the author, but I feel like it hints to much to those underlying messages. A few weeks ago I was on crew and a non-drama major wandered in and asked what we were working on. The TD on the job made a face and said, "carpentry?" as if it were obvious and she should have known that. Once she left, the other people on crew with me and the TD laughed about what a stupid question she asked, when I think she was actually asking what show we were working on. It always upsets me when theatre artists belittle those outside of the theatre and feel like they have to talk down to those not directly involved. It really puts us in this conceited bubble, as opposed to sharing the art. When I encounter non-majors around campus, they always have all these myths floating around their heads, or just genuine questions about what we do. In the article, one of the suggested answers is "Just lie, they won't know the difference." Although this is a joke and not intended to be taken seriously, I worry it puts thoughts in our heads that those outside theatre are stupider than we are and incapable of understanding. Theatre is important to all people, and can help a lot of lost souls, so I would rather be open to sharing that as much as possible and dissolving that elitist wall that exists.
I agree that this article may or may not be a joke, but it doesn’t really sit right with me. If an acquaintance decides to ask about you plans for financial stability in the future to imply that it’s a poor career choice, then yes, their unsolicited opinion warrants a snarky shut down. (It’s considered impolite to ask someone what their salary is, and I think this is worse.) It seems like all of their other responses were written assuming everyone either looks down on theatre or pretends to know about it to look better. I really don’t think that’s the case. A lot of people I have talked to are genuinely interested because it is a completely different world to them. I have even talked to actors about their classes and told them about ours because we don’t get to see much of the other side. And completely agree with Tahirah that we can be mean whenever someone doesn’t know something we think is obvious. But there are way too many aspects of theatre for everything to be obvious.
When I first opened the article, I thought it was going to actually be a useful list of responses to the family members who have no idea what you do or the stranger that you meet and asks what you do, however it was not particularly helpful at all. I started reading the article and had a chuckle or two, but by the end of it, I couldn’t even really stand to read it anymore. I understand the sophisticated style of humor they were going for, and if there is an industry that can make fun of itself it is theatre (look at the shows that are written about it). However, as I read farther and farther I just got frustrated and annoyed. It wasn’t delivering a point anymore. The article tried to redeem itself with the specification by position in the industry but that didn’t work either. We should lift each other up considering recent national events, not make a joke of ourselves.
This was quite a strange read. From the start, it seemed like a serious article--it's from the American Theatre Wing, and although it is marked humor it starts normally. But as it goes on, it gets more and more absurd. It almost feels like to me that it is a weird sort of parody--it shifts between sarcasm and good jokes and just plain absurdities. It, to me, almost feels like one of those parodies written by and for high schoolers in drama programs--something you'd see in a meme, rather than an article written by the American Theatre Wing. I also agree that the article seems very conceited--as if commonfolk won't understand how theatre works or won't be interested in actually what you do. I disagree with that--I love talking about what I do and what I'm studying, and I hate that this high minded attitude is created by this article. While I did enjoy some of the jokes, I thought the article as a whole was quite condescending.
This article does not make sense. I could not tell it was satirical at first, which is scary given the content. I think the problem is that the article is not funny because it is too real. People actually do ask those questions, and they are offensive. This is a real job with real responsibilities and with the ability to affect real change in the world. I think the only point in the article that is funny is the question and answer about what is the biggest thing you have worked on because it is true that they do not know what is going on in the theatrical world and you could say basically anything you wanted. I think another question that might come up now (for the sake of satire) is “did you work on Hamilton?” because it is what we would consider a mainstream musical. With all of that said, maybe I am being too sensitive. Maybe the article is funny in its ridiculousness, and I am just not in the mood to read it as such this particular week.
Wow. This article defied all expectations. Much like Ben, I had opened the article expecting s concise list of useful responses. The article started concise. The answers weren't so useful, but they were enjoyable. As the article went on, it became ridiculous. Ridiculous, and almost a bit attacking. As the article began to diverge into specific questions for different positions in the industry, I began to feel incredibly uneasy reading it. This article started seemingly lighthearted, but then turned into something a little too aggressive. I wonder who gave the "okay" for this at American Theatre? It doesn't really seem to fit into their typical work. Thank you for including this article here, though. It was an experience.
Everyone who is confused as to whether or not this article is supposed to be funny didn't read the whole article. The last line explains that the author, a playwright, writes humor pieces. This is supposed to be funny and ridiculous. Whether or not it succeeded is up to personal views, but I thought it was hilarious. I did open the article hoping it would have some useful pointers about how to explain your job, but really I think that kind of article would be worse because you are the best person to explain what your job is. There are simply so many positions that need to get filled in the theatre world and many of those positions are combined into whole other jobs that to write an article explaining each job would immediately contradict itself. Im not saying you should be as sarcastic as the author is, but really, you are the best person to explain what your job is because it is your job. Adding some humor when you keep hearing the same questions over and over doesn’t hurt and it doesn’t disqualify your job as bring important and real.
The tone of this article is very strange. It’s shooting for funny, but often isn’t and seems frequently dismissive or patronizing toward both theatre makers and the people who don’t know much about our craft. And why would they? If they have no exposure to theatre or to other arts, of course they don’t know what to ask (other than the “what’s your real job” questions – that’s rude.) I’m sure I would sound equally stupid asking a physicist about their work.
I think this could have been funny, but it’s just… off somehow. Perhaps it’s the emphasis on lying to the person asking the questions? Or the consistent “they just won’t understand” vibe? Most people I know are actually super interested in (and capable of) understanding more about theatre and honestly, what we do usually sounds pretty cool to them. I think funny versions of real answers would have been far more effective.
I thought this article was pretty funny and sarcastic, which perfectly sums up how theatre people feel when they are questioned. I do not know how many times I was asked what a stage manager is. When I am talking to a person who does not really know theatre, I try to give the simplest answer I can because there is no point in trying to get specific and confusing them. Most of the time people just ask to be polite and they do not actually care about the real response. It is kind of sad that I do not tell a lot of other people what it exactly is I do because it just seems like a pointless conversation to me. Next time someone asks if I will make money doing theatre I will just tell them that I am Lin-Manuel Miranda with a completely straight face. My favorite thing to tell people is that equity stage managers make more money than actors because that always blows their minds.
I’m a fan of this article. Reading some of the comments on the article itself, not the news blog, it dawned on me that this might be intended to be mocking theatre people, but I think that it is making fun of the community’s place in the world. I think it’s a truth that we all already know. I mean be real who hasn’t been asked one of these questions? What’s the point in acting like we haven’t? I think especially since all I have heard this week is how necessary the arts are to the community, and that is something I believe and something that I want to use to promote change. But we have to admit that it is distinctly far FROM the community in terms of process. Outsiders don’t fully understand the creation of our product, which I think can be really beneficial because we want to surprise and disrupt their idea of normal.
Hahahaha, im terrible at memorizing scripts. No, but seriously, this is really funny, but I am a little bit annoyed at this article. Theater people do a serious and a seriously hard job, and we should be able to talk about it seriously. I would say that the majority of people might enjoy seeing some show or another, likely musicals, or other plays that are clearly meant to be entertainment and fun to watch. There is a much smaller group of people that appreciate the majority of the theater that is produced, partially because so little of it is good, and partially because the stuff that is good is not always understandable by the lay person. As a theater person who does not understand a lot of the theater that is produced, I would say there is nothing wrong with not getting what’s going on all the time. I usually enjoy when people try and explain to me what they do, especially if they are good at it and are good at talking about it. Hopefully actors are good at talking about what they do.
Like other people may have commented before me, I opened the article thinking that it was going to be useful in talking about what I do to those non-theatre folk. I was actually pretty disappointed with the actual contents of the article because it felt like it was framed as something serious but instead just made fun of an industry. I understand that the trope of "starving artist" exists and that it is many people's reality, but I'm sick of jokes like that. They're stale and no longer entertaining or funny. I've heard a million jokes about how a career in the arts is the equivalent to being broke all the time and it's time those jokes are done! I want something refreshing, something that validates the work that we theater people do. We work DAMN HARD to make shows happen and it's not because we like suffering! I'm bored of this mind frame and it's time that it's changed. And I know that this article was supposed to be funny and satirical-- I did chuckle a little bit, but I mostly just rolled my eyes. Get a new platform.
I was not prepared for the answers this playwright provided. I can see that those words were attempted to be funny but they are mostly not. They are self-deprecating in a really awkward way that makes not only readers but also whoever actually receives these answers super uncomfortable.
I understand the satirical attitude comes from the exhaustion of having to explaining what you do to everyone including your family members and maybe still ending up not being taken seriously. It seems more like a rant against people outside our world, a passive-aggressive protest against the biased views. Some of the questions do come up in our life multiple times everyday. I have friends ask me again and again "what a stage manager ACTUALLY is" after having explained in detail with passion and org charts. However, people just tend to know little outside their own jobs. It's like everyone knows robots and AI are super cool but you don't know the nuts and bolts of the process unless you are that major. I remember seeing a facebook post of comparisons across all kinds of jobs of "what you do" and "what others think you do". The point is, we are NOT the only aliens that other people don't understand. And we should not make a fool out of other people that ask us what we do. We are best ones possible that can help the rest of the world know more about what's happing onstage and backstage, preproduction and postproduction. Yeah they may seem to you like idiots asking these stupid questions, but you will look just as dumb if you ask questions about their jobs.
While this is a highly tongue and cheek article I find it definitely hit a mark with me. Having worked in an area with only one "major" professional theatre I was often asked what I do and the answer that I work in the theater industry was often met with bemused smiles. In fact more often than not when I said I work at Bucks County Playhouse I was often ask if that was a casino or even one time if it was a strip club. So while this article is definitely tongue and cheek there is a sense of catharsis that I feel it provides. I only with there was a TD section
Ha, I really liked this one. I often find that my fellow students get ornery about people outside of the industry not fully understanding what we do, so I like how this article tries to provide humorous answers to these questions in order to turn the situation from a chore to answer into a fun time. For me, the question that I get asked most frequently, at least 5 time a day, is "How tall are you". Over the years I have read numerous articles on funny quips and responses to the height comment that that mirror those given in this article. My problem with these types of joking responses to annoying questions is that I never feel confident enough to actually try them against the annoyer.
I’ve decided I’m going to print this out and bring it home with me for the holidays. The number of times I’ve gotten stuck in conversations just like this over a nice family dinner is incredible. And of course they’ve always only just brought out round two of appetizers (we’re Italian) when this questioning starts. So I can’t really escape and leave early. And I can only volunteer to take the dogs on a walk so many times in one evening. So usually I’m stuck explaining to my 70 year old great uncle how no, I’m not going to settle down eventually, and yes, I’ll likely burn in hell from my contribution to such disgusting, satanic practices. Of course, this guide doesn’t offer you answers for ‘burn in hell’ type questions, so I guess I’ll have to improvise. And then by that point the main course has been served but instead of fish all I can taste is a bittersweet mix of disapproval and relief that people can’t criticize and eat at the same time.
I love lying!! Especially to people who do not know things about theatre, like my entire family. Every Christmas or Thanksgiving I have to lie so they have even the vaguest idea of what I am doing. When I intended to declare scenic design it was a little easier, because everyone who's seen a play has seen a set. They would then often ask me if I was also IN the show.... Which was weird. Now that I am intending to declare Media, it is way harder. I had an entire conversation with a dear friend for twenty minutes about media design before she said, "oh, I thought you meant media as in journalism." So reading this article makes me feel less alone.
It also reminds me a lot of some people I know here. The second point about "What's your favorite play?" is very special to me. Last year, we did a show called Bob and Dave and Ren. It was written for this school, it did not exist before this one performance. But, I overheard someone tell someone else what show we were doing months before the show, and they said "Oh my god, I LOVE Bob and Dave and Ren! It's amazing." It hadn't be written yet!!! You can't love something that doesn't exist, liar!!!! I love this pretentious school. Some people need to read this article so they realize how not to be caught in their lies.
People usually hate answering questions like these and therefore the article, but I actually love it. I think it is important for people to understand what we do and the fact that we can be successful doing it. I love talking about my life to muggles because it is so removed from their’s, but at the same time, they can find some connection to allow them to understand and be engaged in the story. Some of these questions are just dumb and I don't see the value in warranting answers to them, but others you could actually provide some education to some non-theatre people about the life of working in and living theatre. The one I hate the most is the first question which infers that all theatre is “Broadway.” It may be similar to the shows on broadway, but there is a difference between working in theatre and working on Broadway since the latter is such a unique animal.
I think that this kind of humor is great. I feel like everyone studying theatre has heard a variety of these questions, so it is great to see a humorous look at them. I feel like it really gets at the hypocrisy both of theatre professionals and at those skeptical of them. Sure, I probably won’t use any of these answers anytime soon (I might break at Thanksgiving though…), but it was great entertainment nevertheless. I do feel that at some points it was too dry, bordering on the offensive instead of funny. I am usually happy to answer questions about my upcoming career, especially when the questions are genuinely asked. After a while, it was just the same kind of humor over and over again, which made it kind of boring to read by the end. Even so, it did make my smile at a few points, so I give the author credit.
I love how sarcastic this article is, I personally thought it was really funny. I think that we've all had to answer at most, if not all, of these questions repeatedly throughout our time working in theatre. My favorite question that she answered was just the "[blank stare]" under the designers section. People outside of the theatre industry really just don't understand what anyone in technical theatre does. When I first came to CMU my parents had no idea how I could be so stressed over thinks like drawing, drafting, and design. In addition to that, most of my extended family have no idea what a stage manager even is. My grandma is constantly asking me questions both on and off this list. Obviously this article is not supposed to give you serious tips on what to say to people, but the really hit the nail on the head with the questions that are asked.
I loved this article. Most people do not realize what we do so when, so of course they will ask questions like this. At time is can get annoying but this article lighten the mood around the subject.This will be a great article to post in my dorm since barley of the people who live on my floor understand. Most of the time they think I'm just singing or dance so it takes a bit of time for them to understand that i do not sing or dance but I am a DP. By the end of the article it started to get a bit boring but it was okay since i laughed a few times.
One thing really stood out to me in this article, and that was “I don’t ‘make a living,’ I make life worth living. That’s a much more important thing to make, Dan.” When people ask me that question, I find it hard not to become offended and sad. Offended because there is the constant thought that entertainers struggle and will never make a life from what they are doing. Sad because the thought process today is that you should be doing what makes you money, not what makes you happy. When I made the decision to pursue theatre, I told myself that it wasn't going to be easy but it is what is going to make me the happiest. When I tell people that they tend to become more understanding, but they typically still have a look of weariness in their eyes. I chose theatre because nothing else has ever made me as happy. I have yet to find another activity that fills me with as much joy as it does, and I believe that that is worth pursuing.
I liked this article, i thought it was humorous and its specific type of humor was not too overt, making it easy to take without the chance of being offended, however it also shines a light on a less well understood aspect of our profession. I personally have heard a few of these questions, and found them difficult to answer thoroughly, however maybe now i can pop off a few of these answers. I think it would be nice if more people understood what we do, and i try and help people understand whenever they are genuinely interested, however this article at some points takes the attitude that people don't care/ we don't want to answer, and i disagree with that view. I know ill have a few of these questions when my family comes to visit as they have almost no idea what im doing here, so maybe ill be able to use some of these answers, nevertheless it was a funny article.
I feel like someone should make a CMU-specific version of this handy guide. So often have I introduced myself at a Greek event (this happens a lot at Greek events, as every DP is in the same sorority, so there's not a lot of cross-pollination)to the same three comments.
Frat Boy A: "Oh, you do theater? Wait, is it true that you guys don't wear clothes?" (I mean, my go-to outfit is feathers and body paint, so I can see where the confusion comes from.I believe most of us like to wear the standard socks and hot-pants look, for maximum comfort and functionality. )
or
Srat Girl B: "Wait, do you know Debbie? She's in Gamma Phi, she but she graduated I think, and she was like a singer?" (Yes. I know everyone in this field. We're tested bi-weekly. If we forget a name, we have to rub ourselves with itchy socks and recite a sonnet from memory, but replace all the "love" with the person's name.)
or
Rando Freshman: "Oh wait, I heard that's really hard to get into, wow. How did you get in?" (I have no clue how I got in. It's not because I worked my ass off, or anything, or that I'm good at what I do. I think there's some sort of goblet of fire ritual that the admissions committee performs, but that's very hush-hush.)
I think it's a bit wrong to say these are the "right" answers to the questions. Just because this is a series of stereotypical "Frequently Asked Questions" doesn't mean they are good things to say. I found the article to be kind of satirical and I think that is what it was going for... but it was kind of a stupid article. What's the point? What is this article sharing or advancing? Moreover, what is it saying that has not even been said before. For instance, no, my favorite Shakespeare play isn't Measure for Measure, it's Hamlet because I consider it to be a masterwork that has countless motifs that make it relatable to modern day audiences. Similarly, I found the entire article to just pose questions and answers that weren't really effective. In fact, I think that this would turn more people off to theatre because instead of "showing them the light" and giving them honest answers, you do this bullshit instead.
This article made me laugh. Constantly, I am asked so many of the questions that appear on this list. Especially questions about making a living and having a "real" job. It's actually pretty weird to be part of an industry where most people don't know exactly what you do. Technical theatre is often times overlooked by audiences when watching a performance. they focus on the actors so much, and when they are told that someone designed and built the many parts of the show, the questions start flooding in. I personally love explaining to people exactly what it is I do and what technical theatre is composed of. Like others, my extended family doesn't even know what I am going to school for. They say, "Javi is going to school for Drama (with pity sometimes)". But they have no idea on the industry itself or how much designers add to the production and how that affects and influences society.
I originally passed this article over, but then I saw that it had 25 comments, and I just had to read it. This is written just in time for the holidays - you know, that time when all your extended family comes over and expresses their deep disappointment with your sexuality, choice of career, and haircut. Get ready grandma, you're gonna get some sarcastic responses to your questions as to whether or not I'll actually find work after graduating and you won't be able to insinuate that I can "fall back" on my constructions skills when I don't have a job. But really though, I needed this article so much to remind me of the hilarity of our everyday lives. I do wish that a similar article existed to provide easy answers for production and stage management/technical direction. It seems like literally every discussion about what I'm studying winds up with a long drawn-out fight to get them to understand. This is okay for relatives and friends, but I really don't want to have this conversation with a passing stranger or a nurse (I've actually been taught to just reply that I work in construction - you get through the check out line or hospital so quickly when you do that and there are never follow up questions).
I love the wit of this piece. The questions it frames really mirror my own experiences. Many of my parents' work friends last talked to me in high school, and knew that I was heading to college to study medicine. So after many years, when they find out that I am now pursuing a drama degree, their own lack of knowledge about the field mixed with their befuddlement as to why I would leave "such a stable career path" yields a patience-trying interrogation routine that is only mediated by humor. Sometimes I feel a bit spoiled, being educated in the ways of theater in a slightly insular conservatory environment. The understanding there provides a sharp contrast to the lack of understanding the rest of the world seems to have about actual, viable careers in the arts. Either way, curiosity is a means to education, so - frustrating or not - I will always field questions like these. The humor simply makes it more palatable.
Oh, how I love this. There are few things as amusing to me as the questions I get when I say I'm studying stage management, or in the school of drama, or just that I work in theatre. The responses go all over the place, like: "Oh, for movies and television?" or "Ahhh, so you're an actress!" or "You can study that?" or "What is a stage manager?" or just a simple, "Oh...well. Wait, what?" My favorite people to explain this to are probably Uber drivers. You only get a few minutes with them so you really can tell them whatever you want. I usually keep it simple and just tell them I run the show, but I look forward to coming up with some more exciting responses for them to feast upon. Honestly I don't think anyone would know the difference. They tend to always be pretty confused the moment they realize I'm not a movie director.
This was wonderfully sarcastic. I think the theater community as a whole has embraced cynicism as a defense mechanism and we have relished in it ever since. This sort of nails the patronizing questions we get asked as members of a thoroughly misunderstood community ( i blame this misunderstanding on cats the musical because it undercuts our hard work and presents our industry in a bad light but thats for another comment another day). I have ti be honest, I was always one of those people who questioned the instability of a career in art but it when it boils down to it, it's just as hard/just as easy as any other profession to make a living. If you work hard, are proud of what you do, and people love your work, even if it's a niche audience, you can be proud with your career in theater.
The rhetoric in this article is amazing. I think it is so witty and funny. Being a theatre artist you definitely get a lot of interesting questions. Like Kat said, the immediate assumption is that I am an actor. When in fact, there is a sense of ignorance with that phrase. People are unaware of what goes into the process to make the world of the play or movie come to life. Seeing that this article has over 30 comments clearly shows that I am not the only one in this boat. The articles commentary on salary of a theatre artist is hilarious and really sad too. Oh what we do for theatre......
I think I could have used an article like this when I told my parents that I was changing my major to theater and all the questions that came after that. This article certainly covers a lot of FAQs. These are the questions that I have been asked or have heard people ask. The article doesn’t say anything about frequently asked questions for technicians, which I think can be harder to describe that other professions in theater. Try telling people that you’re a draper or technical director. Nobody really knows what those people do except others in the industry. At least the general public has a sense of what directors and actors do. I think. Nevertheless, the answers to the questions posed by the author are both accurate and funny. I often tell people that I work in scenic construction – at least that way people had some idea of what I do.
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