Student Blog: Theatre Maker: What does that really mean?

I am a theatre maker. Great. But what does that mean? 

As a theatre maker, I do it all. I act, I direct. I stage manage and design. I’m a dramaturg, and I produce. And I work on many shows at once. Seems simple, right?

The answer is yes. But no. This semester, I was in a staged reading, acted as a dramaturg for a musical, and am the props designer for an original production. Oh, and a Production Assistant for a professional production. All of this on top of 17 credits and 14 hours a week at work. 

The reality is, it’s a lot of time management. I would be doing homework during rehearsals, I work on design and dramaturgy tasks while at the theatre, and am pretty consistently completing homework when I have free time at work. It’s hard, but it’s so worth it. I get to work with differently experienced stage managers while figuring out logistics for props. I get to observe how directors work while taking notes on thematic elements, and be responsible for both reading and writing rehearsal reports. 

It also helps me learn to stay organized. There have been times where I would receive 3 daily calls in a day for different shows, and I had to figure out how to be everywhere I needed to be and when. I’ve learned how to track props as a designer, but I also am learning how to do the same from the management side. I’ve learned how to create budgets for productions, which helps me as a designer and director, knowing what needs to be done and how it can be possible. 

Overall, it prepares me to work in theatre education. No matter what path I follow, I will be more prepared to assist and guide learners in theatrical fields. I will feel more confident making a show happen from the ground up – starting from budget spreadsheets, technical aspects, and using my directorial and dramaturgical skills to highlight the themes of the piece.

So, what is a theatre maker? Someone who makes theatre. 

But to me, it’s more than that. I can be a multi-hyphenate person with a background in acting who does tech on the side. I can be a theatre educator who’s constantly running around with spreadsheets in four different tabs. Maybe I’ll be that one theatre kid who has no idea what to focus on.

However, I think I deserve to claim the “theatre maker” title. I do it all, with varying amounts of success. No, I can’t do lighting design, but I can tell you what I want the lights to look like. I can’t make costumes, but I try my hardest to come up with mood boards and ideas, and I try really hard to get better at hand sewing. I hate trying to design a set, but I will always make sure every platform and staircase is weight-bearing.

So, contemplate. What does being a theatre maker mean to you? Is there one way to define it? Are you a theatre maker? Or, do you just “do theatre”.