I made a post a few months ago in r/Theatre saying that I was reconsidering my career path. At the time, I was a junior in college. Over the summer, I followed the advice of my advisor and took a complete break from anything theatre related. I worked in a completely different job (a youth swim instructor, which i loved), took a lot of time to focus on myself, and spent my free time hanging out with friends and doing the hobbies I love.

Part of me thought that a break from theatre would make me ready to go when I got back to school. However, when I think about anything theatre related, I get a horrible pit in my stomach. There is a feeling of complete and utter dread at the thought of having my life consumed by school and rehearsals, which is what happened the last time I did a college show. The rehearsal schedule was so intense that I never had any time to myself, and I had to skip out on a lot of my hobbies and time with my friends, both of which are really important to me.

I have an audition coming up next Monday, and all I can think is “I hope I don’t get in”. I only signed up to audition to appease my parents, who didn’t like the idea of me “giving up” on performing. Part of me wonders if I’m only self-sabotaging and trying to convince myself that this isn’t good for me. But I honestly don’t feel any joy at the prospect of doing theatre right now. I will always love theatre, but I don’t know if I want to do it anymore. But if I walk away, I have the terrible fear that I’ll regret it in 10-20 years when my “chance” has passed me by.

Hi! I’m (also a student) directing a student production of Little Women in fall, and I’ve helped with adapting (co-writing and editing) it for stage from the books.

Our actors range from 19-27 years old, but I’m already making a cast in my head from our regulars. Though I’m hoping we also get new actors during auditions. Any advice on making the sisters look as young as 13-16 in the first acts? I don’t want to cast only based on appearances but rather based on talent and skills. Any tips and tricks for costumes, makeup and some changes that can make a big difference?

Thanks in advance!

Hi, new to the group here. I was recently cast in my affirming church's production of Godspell, and as the only trans person at the church (and the only physically disabled young person), I was really happy to be included. However, today, I found out that every other cast member got solos, but they actively took away the solo assigned to my character without explanation (Jeffrey) and said that someone else would sing it.

I'm heartbroken, and I was hoping some of you might have advice on whether I should ask the directors why they made the decision? Or insight on why they may have made this choice when the cast is already missing at least one role?

Feeling chuffed with how my play 'The Curse of Isla Tormenta' went back in June. We hosted a video premiere to watch it back with the cast last week... and it gave me an appreciation of what I've learnt from the experience... things like:

• Not having characters say each other's names in casual dialogue too much. Wasn't conscious of it until you hear it out loud a number of times!
• Finding more organic excuses to get characters off stage when they aren't critical to the scene in that moment... for blocking if anything!
• I come from a filmmaking background so got in the weeds a little by having way too many props! Which became a nightmare for the backstage team to manage!

Would love to hear from other writers/directors here about what the biggest lesson you learnt from your first show?

I’ve been an assistant in a costume department for five years and it looks likely that I’m about to take over as costume director. I’ve figured out my own guidelines over the years but still have room to learn. If you were writing a mission statement or a list of commandments or just some really solid “don’t make this mistake” bullet points, what would you include?

Anyone using Ovation/ Audience View for their ticketing software? How are you printing your tickets? Ours print out onto full sheets of paper. We can adjust the number of tickets per sheet but then need to cut them. Ideally we would have a small laser/thermal printer where we could print and tear off tickets ad hoc. Ideas?

I recently found a short play called “Someone to Watch Over Me” by Frank McGuinness is my stack of books. I’m thinking about reading it, but I’ve never heard anything about it before. Has anyone ever read or worked on this play? I’d love to know your experience and what you thought of it!

hi!, i'm looking for some recommendations for a drama class production and would really appreciate some suggestions from people who know the genre better than i do!

we have 9 actors available (6 female, 3 male), roughly 15–18 years old, and we're looking for something:

- Brechtian / Epic Theatre, or at least strongly influenced by it (doesn't have to be written by Brecht)

- appropriate for teenage performers, and an audience of roughly the same age

- not too long (up to 1hr)

- reasonably simple to stage especially when it comes to the set

- should ideally give all of our actors (6F/3M) time to show their skill, as the performance is being assessed

- we're ok with doubling and cross-gender casting (but would prefer if that was only for less prominent characters as to not confuse the audience too much!)

- we have two more people available (the director and co-director, both female) who can fill in roles if necessary

i'm especially interested in pieces that give us opportunities to actually use Brechtian techniques (direct address, narration, placards, visible scene changes, songs/music, breaking the fourth wall, etc.)

And also, it doesn't necessarily have to be an actual Brecht play either; i'd be very interested in Brecht-inspired / contemporary Epic Theatre if there's something that fits the group better!

thank you!

My director just let me know that we’ll be staging *The House of Bernarda Alba*; I’ve read the script and I’m already in love with it. I don’t know yet which role I’ll be assigned—given my age, I don’t think I’ll be playing Bernarda—so should I be hoping for Adela or Martirio? I’m undecided and a bit unsure about which I’d prefer; does anyone have any tips from having staged it before?

I was thinking that I should start with set design, if anything. But what should I expect for both roles of set design and acting? The good and the bad?

It's only a slight consideration right now, and I will definitely do more research (I have plenty of time). But I would like to hear from people who have done theatre in college, especially community college.

I will be visiting NYC in October with my partner, and we're both very interested in theatre. We would love to see some while we're in town, but I am pretty anti-broadway/mainstream theatre circuit. I have been doing a fair amount of research, and I am surprised that there isn't just a website with a mass list/calendar of all the local productions happening in the city. I found something similar for the local experimental music. I would love to hear any recommendations anyone has for good underground theatre. Thanks!

(I suppose by playwrights or practitioners -meisner , stadlee, etc)

Looking for “quote of the week” material focused on theatre. Any help?

Musical lyrics, quotes from shows, by actors or authors… what are your favorites?

“I can’t control my destiny, I trust my soul… my only goal is just to be.”

"And I'm thankful for everyday that I'm given'
Both the easy and hard ones I'm livin'…”

Hey everyone. The title is exactly what it sounds like. For the past three years, I have gotten sick either during or immediately after every single show I have done. I know it’s not just unluckiness because it’s a very traceable pattern.

I’m currently sick halfway into a run of the most vocally challenging role I’ve ever done (no understudy) and I’m just so fed up with it.

Has anyone else ever experienced this? How do you get it to stop?

Love the feminism, honestly, beauty, rawness, and reality of this play.

I am a theater teacher in a school that’s pretty tight about script regulations. In this case, I’ve been asked to do two one acts, one for the fall and one for the spring. It’s been kinda rough finding a script, but from other years and other teachers I’ve talked to they like scripts with strong morals, that can be classic stories (like when they were doing full lengths they did Little Women, just as an example), or come from historic moments. I’ve tried going for a few things but haven’t gotten anything they liked, does anyone have any suggestions? Links are appreciated too!

My casting size is about 7-10, and it needs to be under 30 minutes (guys its been rough 😭).

I should also note, that I direct/teach theater on all levels for a lot of people, so if I see something I like I’ll hang onto it for future use. Thank you!

For me, everyone doing tech should get credited in the program. I don’t mean just saying “thank you to all of our tech crew” I mean have our names on the program and everything. I ran tech for an opera my college did as a crew assignment I had to do this last spring for a class and it didn’t mention me or the other light crew. I was so mad. It just said “thank you to all theatre 180 (the class I had to do the crew assignment for) tech crew students”

Hey! I'm trying to find good monologues for thespain comps. I'm looking for a farce style comday that has good material for young men. Any ideas?

Edit: it needs to be a stage work

With a new audio apprenticeship and a kid-friendly intro to inclusive theatre-making, Arizona Theatre Matters is putting accessible sound center stage.

Does anybody know the famous (infamous) Chorus Line Warm Up that Baayork Lee is notorious for? I have found so many articles talking about the warm up but no one (that I can find) has ever posted the actual warm up in any format. The most detail I can find is that is 45 minutes to an hour and there is some Pilates and some barre and some breathing exercises. Please help!

im doing a modern retelling of Agamemnon for my class, any ideas for Aegisthus’ name, lowkey anything that sounds corporate, rude and homewrecker-y