Your Theatre Career Is Not a Ladder. It’s a Network.

By Joanna Sheehan Bell 

Here is the tricky thing about building a career in theatre: there is no ladder. 

There is no guaranteed next rung. No formula that says: train here, book this, meet that person, land this job, and five years later you will be exactly where you planned to be. 

Careers in the arts are messier. 

A college classmate connects you to your first job. An audition introduces you to a company that remembers your. A professor makes an introduction. A designer you worked with once recommends you for something years later. 

Theatre careers are not ladders. They are networks. 

If you want to stay in this business, nurturing and growing that network matters almost as much as building your résumé. 

Put Yourself Where the Field Is Dense 

One advantage of building a career in a major theatre city is proximity. In places like New York or Chicago, the field is all around you. You can see the work, meet artists, hear about opportunities, and stay close to the profession. 

But moving to a major city is not the only way to create that kind of connection. 

Theatre has always built networks across distances. Unions, alumni groups, festivals, professional organizations, and conventions bring the field closer together. 

That is a key part of the idea behind the Southeastern Theatre Conference. Each year, SETC brings thousands of theatre people into one place. The value is not just having more people to meet. It is seeing possibilities you did not know were there. 

An actor may arrive for an audition and discover a graduate program. A designer may show a portfolio and meet a company looking fortheir style of work. Someone may walk into a workshop and leave with a new idea about where a theatre career can lead. 

You cannot manufacture those moments. But you can put yourself where they are more likely to happen. 

“Oh Yeah, I Went to SETC in College” 

We hear this a lot. 

College is often where people first find SETC. Schools bring students. Professors encourage them to audition, attend workshops, show portfolios, and explore graduate programs. 

But graduation is also when that built-in network begins to disappear. 

Your classmates scatter. Your professors are no longer down the hall. You may move, take a job outside the field, or simply make theatre less often than you expected. 

Those first few years can be some of the hardest in the business. Not because you lack talent or drive, but because the community that once came to you now takes effort to find. 

That is when staying connected matters most. 

The early years of a theatre career are not only about landing a job. They are about staying part of the field long enough to write the next chapter. 

SETC should not just be something you did in college. It can be one of the places you keep coming back to. 

Connection Is an Investment 

A professional conference takes a real investment. The mistake is thinking the return must come right away.  

Professional relationships are more like investments than transactions. Their value grows when you stay in touch, pay attention, return, and let acquaintances become colleagues. 

There is another kind of investment, too. 

SETC is built by the people it serves. Artists, educators, students, technicians, and administrators volunteer, serve on committees, and step into leadership. 

So do not only ask what the network can offer you. Think about what you can add to it. Volunteer at the convention (and bonus, come for free if selected). Join a committee. Raise your hand to lead. Make the field you want to work in by building it.  

Staying in the Conversation 

At SETC, auditions happen alongside workshops. Colleges meet future students while companies search for talent. Designers share portfolios. Educators exchange ideas. Early-career artists reconnect with mentors and meet people far beyond the places where they trained. 

The larger opportunity comes from having all of those things in one place. 

The most important opportunity at a theatre conference may not be the one you came looking for. 

Careers are not built only through the visible milestones: the job, the role, the contract, or the next line on your résumé. They are also built in the stretches between, by learning, staying curious, and keeping relationships alive. 

From March 3–6, 2027, the Southeastern Theatre Conference will bring thousands of members of the theatre community together in Lexington, Kentucky. 

Come with a résumé, an audition, a portfolio, or a plan. Know what you want the trip to accomplish. But leave room for the unexpected conversation. The unfamiliar company. The workshop you almost skipped. The person you did not know you needed to meet. 

The return may not be clear before you leave. 

Theatre careers rarely work that neatly. But years from now, when you look back at the people and choices that shaped yours, the path may make much more sense than it did while you were walking it.  

The Author:

Joanna Sheehan Bell is Executive Director of the Southeastern Theatre Conference (SETC), where she works to connect theatre artists, students, educators, and organizations with opportunities across the field. Her career has focused on building programs, communities, and pathways that help people make and sustain a life in the arts. Her own career has taken a few unexpected turns. When you meet her at convention, ask how a pair of stilts sent her to business school.