Playbill: You've all seen the semi-frequent discourse online—from disapproving elders who insist students study "practical" college degrees, to commenters wondering who can afford to study the arts, in this economy. Sadly, many people feel that a theatre degree, should you not end up working in the theatre, is obsolete.
18 comments:
We all come into a program like DP hoping to work in theatre, ideally backstage (literally or metaphorically, like being a designer). However, a lot of us have had to have the dreaded "what's your backup plan" conversation, with ourselves, a parent, a college/career counselor, or with any other number of concerned parties invested in your success. This article does a very solid job at saying more or less the same thing in several different ways: a good chunk of the skills you acquire when getting a B.A or B.F.A are more or less transferable to many different fields, and you don't have to be all doom and gloom regarding your future. While we're here, I think it's generally preferable to focus on the here and now and not already begin compromising on your dreams (as in, don't accept that you'll never work as a designer before you even have the chance to try, much less before you even declare). Moving forward, though, thinking about other fields that might make good use of your skills is an advisable idea.
Over the past year, when I tell someone I’m pursuing a degree in technical theater those who know me are excited and very supportive, and oftentimes any stranger I tell wishes me good luck with a very specific look on their face. Usually it is a combination of asking themselves what technical theater even is, and an expression of pity that I am about to waste a lot of money on a seemingly “useless” degree. For this reason, I am grateful for this article and its description of the baseline characteristics that students studying theater have, and how truly versatile a theater degree can be. I think these jobs are also important to recognize as the theater industry is in such a large period of change. With more sets becoming digital and the threat of A.I. taking creative’s jobs, the importance of being able to pivot from one industry to another is becoming a more valuable asset for anyone who holds a BA/BFA.
I really hope to always be working in theatrical design after I graduate, but I understand that this lifestyle means working on contracts, meaning you are constantly hunting for new jobs. I am completely open to taking a job here and there that isn’t necessarily theatrical design if I can still be involved with theatre itself, which is why I wanted to read this article. This article actually had some really great ideas that I might even apply to this year for a summer job! I absolutely adore writing, and I would absolutely love to try theatre journalism! I am planning on applying to the CMU arts publication “Lemon” next year because of how much fun it sounds, so I can hopefully gain some journalism experience in the near future! Susan Tsu also told us several of her students have worked summers at the local museums around Pittsburgh, especially the Warhol Museum. I have always been a history nerd, and I grew up loving museum visits, so I feel like I would enjoy working in museums as well. Becoming a theatre professor is an idea I have been playing with since the day I started planning on pursuing theatre I college. Some people say you need a “backup plan” when pursuing the arts, but a career in the arts can lead to so many more possibilities than people realize.
I hope I end up in a theater job however I understand there are difficulties in getting and keeping jobs in theater. I am glad that so many of the skills we are learning currently are actually from real life in that they can apply to other fields of employment. I think working in a museum or as an interior designer could be really fun and rewarding as a second plan. Interior design could also be done alongside theater design for additional work and pay. While I am a little worried about the job market I know that there are numerous areas for work and departments to find myself working in theater for. Now I am interested in many aspects of theater but I think once I specialize I can look for the equivalent in the workforce to see if I can double up.
I truly think that theater is one of the most transferable skills that someone can learn. ESPECIALLY design and production. As someone in highschool who focuses mostly in stage management, it truly changed my life. My public speaking skills have increased, I have learned to be confident in my opinions and not afraid to ask for help or talk to people in general. I have also learned to not take shit from anyone. My mother is a chef and for my entire life I have watched her manage her kitchen. People who do tech know how to work hard, receive instructions, move with intent and urgency while still remaining calm. Almost every field requires someone with those qualities. Moving in a kitchen is so incredibly similar to backstage, close quarters, time constraints, and an audience to please. Having an education in theater makes you such a well rounded person, you learn about history, art, and how to work.
When I decided I was going to be pursuing an education and career in technical theatre, I knew I would probably get a lot of people asking me what my backup plans are. The people who know me well have always been supportive but those not so close to me always seem a little concerned for me when they learn I’m pursuing an arts degree. Many people also go to my parents asking how they are ok with me going into theatre which my mom has started pointing out is almost more stable of a career than computer science at the moment. I think this article highlights one of the main reasons I love working in theatre, the skills we learn in a bfa program can be transferable to many different jobs both within and outside of theatre. Many skills and experiences we have can be applied to anything we do, and the environment of a small collaborative cohort helps develop those skills which will help in whatever roles we take on in the future.
I am lucky to have people in my life that support the arts and support my career goals of working in theater. However, I know that they are also concerned for my financial stability in the future. I really believe that I can make a theater career work, and that the skills learned while getting this degree will be transferable to many other areas of the workforce. As someone interested in scenic design, I have definitely considered being an interior designer as a career route, as it would still satisfy my desires to create spaces for people. I know that I will not be happy working in a corporate setting where I sit at a desk and work 9-5 for the rest of my life. I need variety and creativity in what I do, which is why I am determined to pursue a craft that I am so passionate about.
When I tell people that I’m studying theatre they always assume that I am an actor, when I tell them that I’m actually in production design they seem to think that my chances of being successful go down. I am very lucky that my family is very supportive of what I’m passionate about, but even so it is difficult to not think practically, especially at CMU where it seems like everyone around you has a better chance at being successful. People don’t really understand just how big the theatre industry is and how many job opportunities it can have and I think that is a driving reason for the fact that not many parents are accepting of this career choice. Right before I came to school my grandmother said to me “when you get tired of making $20,000 a year you can go to law school.” She doesn’t understand that I don’t expect to go straight into a designer position and that I’m willing to work in these other just as important jobs because she doesn’t know that they exist.
I love this article! Definitely bookmarking this for a rainy day. I really appreciated the Dramaturgy representation in this article. It had some great tailor made suggestions based on your experience. I think I'd really enjoy being a wedding planner. Being a part of making a day that someone will remember for the rest of their lives has a similar magical ephemeral quality that theater has. Going into business is also an idea I've had in my head and this article affirmed that. I also appreciated that they talked about a few of the options in LORT theaters ~ although I wish they went into more detail as to all of the different roles that can encompass. It was also really sweet the personal touch that the author gave as being a theater major who went into journalism. Their encouragement to go into academia was also heartwarming. This was a great article.
I often think about what I would do if I didn’t do theatre, and it’s so funny how the skills I’ve been building throughout my life have been to serve theatre’s purpose. I got married a little over a year ago, and I fell in love with the planning process. I loved to talk through logistics, make lists, write emails to the venue, and most of all: make the seating chart. I thought “maybe I should go into wedding planning.” It took me an embarrassingly long time to realize that what I was doing was essentially production managing/stage managing my wedding, and that was why I loved it.
Luckily, I have a parent in the industry, and it was not hard to convince my parents that I should be able to study theatre, but I feel the need to bring up the amount of transferable skills I gain to other people. It’s funny how often I feel the need to defend myself.
As a Stage Manager myself it was really cool to see alternatives to the standard work on plays. Just this past week I worked at a conference where I was helping facilitate speakers and sessions, which while not traditional theater, my skillset felt very applicable to that situation. I also really appreciated that it was Playbill that released this article so they were familiar with most theater concentrations. I’ve also seen those with a stage management background go into other event planning such as weddings or sports events.
One of the big focuses of the article was that anyone with theatrical experience could pivot themselves into the business world. With the curriculum I am currently getting at CMU I definitely agree with that statement and agree that that is a possibility. Collaboration is a huge part of theater and pivoting into project management in a more generalized medium, the corporate world, seems totally feasible.
I predict this article might be the one most people comment on this week, since everyone here is in a theatre program and will be in this industry in the future. Also, by the time I comment, a lot of people have already commented. Though the article talks about a lot of theatre related jobs, I noticed that technical direction is not one of them. They cover stage management, dramaturgy, scenic design, props design, and even directing, but nothing for TDs specifically. I personally feel like TDs actually have a lot of career paths, so I am not worried at all. For me, just the fact that I get to work on a show excites me a lot. But I like how this article is talking more about soft skills like storytelling or improvising. I guess the framework is just different. And coming from Playbill, even the "We believe in you!" at the end of the article is truly amazing.
I’m lucky enough to receive a lot of support from my family while pursuing a degree in theatre (even if they don’t always fully understand exactly what it is I do), but outside of my immediate family, I’ve seen my fair share of thinly veiled comments about being successful. While on the one hand, a career on the technical side of theatre might offer jobs a little more frequently than, say, performing, that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Though I hope to make my career in the theatre, it’s reassuring to see a clear list of other places these skills could be applicable. I particularly liked how this article talked about ‘soft skills’ that you gain from theatre being transferable to business. I hadn’t really thought about it too much before, but it makes a ton of sense that the ability to be in front of a crowd would be useful in a conference room as well.
Continuing to reiterate this message is so freaking crucial because the belief that having a theatre degree simply means someone is just prepared for the stage downplays the many skills that this kind of training actually teaches us. Theatre trained individuals know how to work together under pressure, gauge situations, think on their feet if something goes awry, coordination, communication, and overall flexibility! Simply put, theatre individuals have skills that are useful in all kinds of industries that require individuals who can actually think quickly. This is one of the reasons I think theatre students may be the most adaptable type of people out there because of the different roles they have to assume regardless of DP or Performance. Those who forget about the skills possessed by theatre graduates do so at their own risk because when you hire a theatre kid your institution business whatever it may be will change for the better!
There has been a sound bite on Tik Tok that goes around every now and then that is a clip of Josh Groban saying “hire a theater kid.” A lot of theater is fast on your feet problem solving that can be transferred to so many different professions. As someone who did stage management in undergrad, I found that learning all those management skills have helped me elsewhere in life. For a while I was working as an afterschool program coordinator and I was able to transfer a lot of my stage management skills into that job. In the end, we had a 76% participation rate at a school that did not have many programs before I joined. As a theater student, you learn a lot about how to think on the fly and create solutions quickly. You learn how to create temporary solutions that will work until you can create more permanent solutions. Theater skills can transfer to so many other disciplines.
Overall, very disappointed by this article. I think they missed a large portion of jobs that are well suited to a bfa education if not "In the Theatre". Great examples include: vendor sales & marketing, concert touring, sports & event work, theme parks, corporate events & gatherings, resort and hospitality management, booking and management agencies, branding activations, game development...etc. There are so many other sectors that are relevant to anyone who can meet deadlines, coordinate, communicate and work on a team.
I am fortunate enough to come from a family very supportive of my career. However, If they weren’t I would show them this article. I love that Playbill themselves discusses what you can do with a theatre degree beyond Broadway and live production and breaks down what getting a theatre degree really means. I wish that the broader society would recognize that getting a theatre degree often comes with a raised sense of self-awareness, collaboration, culture, and perfection. I really like the section that shows transferable skills from a theatre degree to a non-theatre job. All of the connections between a degree and a non-theatre job make a ton of sense, such as stage management connecting to event planning and manager, or scenic design connecting to graphic design. Overall, while it might not be for me, I like that this article highlights that getting a degree in theatre doesn’t mean you have to do theatre forever.
I am sure all of our parents are glad that other jobs exist outside of theater that we can use our skills that we have learned to get ahead. The soft skills that are used by theater professionals can be useful in many situations outside of theater. The knowledge of how to work with others collaboratively under pressure is one of the most important things theater majors learn. Every industry can benefit from having someone with strong collaborative soft skills on their team. In the current job market the soft skills are for the most part more important than hard technical skills. Anyone can be trained to do a task, but not just anyone can communicate effectively with others and become a part of a team. The whole big part of theatre is working with others to reach a common goal. I hope that people with theater degrees can feel more comfortable with their prospects after reading this article.
Post a Comment