Hi my loves I know it's been a minute.
And now we have literally ALL OF THE MINUTES.
Like remember when January was a year long and then March showed up and was like, hey hold my beer?
So with all this time that was thrusted upon us - yes thrusted. As a friend pointed out on FB recently- this time was not given to us. We didn't ask for it, but rather It was forced upon us.
I digress.
With all this additional time, I've decided to get back to what I love most. Creating resources and information to enlighten and empower theatre artists to "live their best life".
And I know your feed is overloaded right now and your like ugh here's this gal trying to tell me I should be productive and be doing all of this work right now. But I'm not going to do that. Because there is no right way to quarantine. On Monday of this week I was hella motivated, posted a cute pic and was all #SCENECHANGEJOY. But then on Tuesday I was so tired from staying up late on the phone I did next to nothing. Unfortunately, there is no instruction manual for this.
So I am here to provide you with things to do /resources for those days when you do feel motivated. And on every other day I'm here to hopefully bring a smile to your face and some fun to your feed. There will be some of my usual content sure, but I've also got a lot of new ideas just to lighten up the mood.
Now that I got that little disclaimer out of the way- let's get to today's post.
5 Tips for Theatre Artists During Quarantine
1. Resumes, Resumes, Resumes. Websites, Websites, Websites.
This is the perfect time to update revamp your resume or revamp your website that you created for a project and haven't touched since. I highly recommend first creating a mission statement. Your mission statement will heavily influence what your resume looks like and how you brand yourself on your website/ social media. In the coming weeks I'll be building a course on this so be sure to keep your eyes open for that! Once your done editing call a friend and ask them to proof it!
2. Read a play. Then design a set /sketch some renderings/ build some paperwork/draft a light plot/etc. for the play.
While this seems like a class assignment you were forced to do in school (and in no way makes up for not having work) it will help keep your skills sharp and give you something to do. You can even team up with friends and hold mock productions meetings on Zoom if you are feeling really inspired. Bonus points if you do your show that got cancelled/postponed recently.
3. Take an online class or attend an online reading/concert.
Theatre isn't stopping because the world is. There are so many great virtual resources out there and most of it is free or donation based (which I highly encourage if you can afford it). This is the perfect opportunity to learn a new skill or sharpen a skill you already have. Click the photo to see an updated list from USITT'S website.
For all my SM's be sure to check out the Year of the Stage Manager FB page for constant postings as well:
4. CLEAN YOUR INBOX.
You have no reason - in my opinion ever- to have 1,567 unread emails in your inbox. But especially not now. Go thru and delete the stuff you don't need and organize the rest of it. I went thru my professional email and junk email & felt a thousand times lighter after I was done. Use this time, when you hopefully aren't getting a lot of emails (except maybe company's statements on COVID) to go thru it all. This will make the return back to normal much easier.
5. Connect with your people.
You all know the community we have is built to wither even the toughest of storms. Not only should you be checking in on your people emotionally, but you should be asking your people questions. Have they applied to UE? How does all of this impact health insurance weeks? How is their company handling this mess? I am a huge believer in transparency (within reason- like don't break an NDA) always, but especially now. We have to help each other out as we attempt to navigate this new experience.
While most of this applies to all theatre artists, I have linked a more actor-centric one on my Instagram stories @tipsytheatretraveler!
If there are any other ideas/things you've been doing please be sure to let me know!
Much love always,
💜Chelsea