...why don't you quit the Theatre? Your chances are so slim.
Wait. Forget I said that.
No really. Periodically, we all have those conversations about how everyone should go make money in TV, and that making a living in theatre is impossible, and the business is shallow and driven by the wrong things, and that the audience just isn't there, etc, etc.
What keeps you going? When you wake up in the middle of the night and think, "Oh no. What have I gotten myself into?" what makes you say "Get up and fight."
I don't think I could go work in TV instead. I would have to become a plumber.
ReplyDeleteKinda what Kyle said. Seriously, what else am I gonna do?
ReplyDeleteGreat question.
ReplyDeleteI've already sold out a million times, a million ways. So it's no longer about if I'm going to sell out, it's about how I'm going to sell out. I believe I have control on those terms.
I continue to work in theatre because it keeps me rooted in the arts. It's collaborative, which I like . . . and no one ever promised me I could make a living at it. It may happen one day. It may not. But that's not why I'm here.
For now, theatre in Toronto is exciting and vital and growing. It gives me every reason to keep coming back for more.
Here's a quick quote I read a few days ago that I love – that made me understand a bit more about why this whole theatre thing is important. It involves the Toronto-based dub poet artist d'bi young and her work teaching at-risk youth about the importance of learning how to tell stories about their community:
"Working with d'bi.young.anitafrika, the young artists have learned the importance of storytelling as a way of ensuring that their perspective on life is known and not simply interpreted by others looking in."
What about you, Mr. Freeman? What keeps you going?
Ian
I won't stop until someone has to describe my work to high school students.
ReplyDeleteAmbition. It's the new green monster.
I won't stop until Matt Freeman returns my calls.
ReplyDeleteI responded to this on my blog. Thanks Freeman.
ReplyDeleteIt still beats temping for lawyers.
ReplyDelete