A holiday letter to theatre land

This is a post that admittedly won’t apply to my whole audience - but after seeing what’s been going on in the Theatre and Live Entertainment world this past week, mostly via the social media posts of friends still in it, I felt compelled to write something - and I hope it’s helpful at least to the people it’s intended for.

Shit is hitting the fan in Theatreland right now. 

People are getting sick and disappearing without warning, and other people are having to pick up their work with absolutely no slack of their own to give.

Cancellations mean admin, anger and crisis management. Emotions running wild.

Producers and investors are raging at the people who don’t get paid enough to put up with this shit.

But they also don’t have another choice right now.

If you are in Theatreland and you’re struggling. If you’re wondering what the heck you’re doing all this for. If you’ve been dumped on emotionally, if you’ve been yelled at, abused, treated like absolute shit just for trying to do a job that takes more than you have to give.

Take a minute, right now.

Close the laptop, minimise the emails.

Physically step out of this space, if you can.

Breathe. Breathe deeply. Take like 10, deep, slow, breaths. Count your inhales and exhales so your mind is just breath for a moment, nothing else.

You are more important than this damn show.

You are more important than the inconvenience of the people who’s Christmas outing was canceled at the last minute.

You are more important than your employer’s anger and outrage.

You, your health, your happiness, is important.

And to the people at the top - let’s acknowledge your struggle too. The buck stops with you, you know that. You don’t know what to do, so you’re desperately looking for someone else to share the burden, but in doing so, you’re putting more pressure on an already broken team.

Take a minute, right now.

Close the laptop, minimise the emails.

Physically step out of this space, if you can.

Breathe. Breathe deeply. Take like 10, deep, slow, breaths. Count your inhales and exhales so your mind is just breath for a moment, nothing else.

You are more important than this damn show.

You are more important than the inconvenience of the people whose Christmas outing was canceled at the last minute.

You are more important than your investors’, your stakeholders’, your brand owners’, the newspapers’, or your inner critic with their impossibly high expectations of you’s, anger and outrage.

You, your health, your happiness, is important.

For the next few days, you need to do these things:

• Take time in the morning to breathe, to do something for you (walk, drink coffee, listen to a podcast, breathe deep, meditate) before you open the phone/email.

• Through your day, when things get hard, step back. Breathe. Walk around the block. Scream into a pillow. Dance around your desk to Mariah Carey. Take breaks to do whatever lets you release the energy that’s building up inside you.

• Take a pause before responding to anything. Before reading anything. Before sending emails or messages in the first place. Take a pause, breathe, give yourself a minute to catch up.

• Try everything you can not to reach for the booze, or the recreational drugs. It feels like a good idea at the time. It will make you feel SO MUCH WORSE almost immediately after. Instead, drink water. Drink tea. Breathe air.

• Leave the office. Give yourself time in the evening away from the emails. Give yourself 2-3 hours, eat a good meal, breathe deep, do some Yoga in bed, light a candle, watch a Christmas movie. Set a time you’re going to check your phone IF your role requires you to, look at it, assess the situation, and be clear how you’re going to address it in the morning. Be sure to give yourself time without your screen to wind down before bed. 

• Write down everything that’s awful, get it out of your head and onto paper. And if you can find just one thing to write that is good, that you’re grateful for, that you look forward to - finish by writing that.

• When you get to Christmas, let yourself rest. Let yourself feel whatever you feel. If you’re stuck on your own due to isolation measures, order whatever you want to eat, watch whatever you love on TV, put your iPhone and your laptop in a cupboard. You owe your energy to no one on this day, only yourself. No show, no work, no audience, no media. Call people you love, cry, dance, read, rest. Do whatever you need.

Things are hard. You don’t have to stay, if it’s TOO hard. Honestly, you don’t. You might believe that this is just the way things are, and they will always be this way - they don’t have to be. You might believe you have to stay here and suffer this way because it’s all you know how to do - it isn’t. You might believe that happiness and balance just isn’t an option for you - IT IS! But I know that’s the hardest thing to believe right now.

The pandemic is exacerbating an industry in crisis, but it isn’t the sole cause. It was already in crisis before the pandemic got here, it’s just harder to hide it now. You can rest, you can reset, and you can force that change or you can step away.

You are more important than this damn show.

You are important.

Mx

I’m out of the office until January (I know, it’s a novel concept but it’s true!) but I’m here for people Burning Out if you need help. Drop me a message and I’ll do what I can to help you.