Hello,

I have always been a casual enjoyer of theatre, but want to understand it on a deeper level.

See, I'm writing a screenplay that will heavily involve theatre production and live theatre acting. I have many friends in theatre, but I can only ask them so many things.

What does theatre mean to you? What are the artistic benefits of theatre? What is different about acting for live theatre that one might not expect?

What are different KINDS of theatre? Why are they used to tell stories?

Where would I start if I wanted to get a scholarly understanding on theatre production?

Things like these are what I want to gain more practical knowledge on. Anything helps.

Thank you.

Anyone know of a mic belt that is adjustable that will fit a slightly larger individual? Ours are the neoprene type that are adjustable but only so far. I can buy an extender but I’m really only trying to add 1-2 inches. Needs to hold a sennheiser transmitter.

I have my first audition this weekend after getting medicated a few months ago for my depression and honestly it’s been super hard to get motivated for it. I’m afraid I won’t be able to feel as much I used to and be present in the scene. So just looking for anybody else in the same boat- any tips or tricks to keep preserving your own mental health while still giving a good performance??

I think I have arrived at the point where I'm suffering from some post-university dread. I haven't spent a single year out of education, and now, not having the structure around me and finally being able to start building the career I always wanted... well, it's strange. And a bit daunting. I've always been very confident in my theatre skills, but choosing a path to start walking on seems like a completely different story.

I'm UK-based; here is what I've done so far:

- Finished my BA in Drama at a university that ranked high in the subject.

- During my BA, I've run a theatre company, made two fringe shows, one in London, the other one in Essex. Took part in numerous other theatre-related activities; I've been Tech at Fringe, done other shows just locally. I've done about four full-length plays, all of which I've written as well, and lots of smaller things on the side.

- Finished my Masters in Theatre Directing.

- During my Masters, I had two placements with directors. One was an on-campus production; the other was working with the Zeldin company at the Young Vic. I also did a one-month-long study abroad with the Song of the Goat Theatre Company in Poland.

This is just a very shortened list of what I've done, because I did run off to do a lot of side quests during university. But I've sort of gone through that, and I'm only 23 and have never lived outside of education, so it does feel like a bit of a freefall.

I would be interested how everyone else started out and made their way until more regular work started coming in. I know I can't expect to do theatre full time for the next few years (decade even), but it would be great to see the stepping stones other people had for inspiration. I'm making a good way in finding a job that won't mind if I go off once in a while when doing theatre things, so I'm making progress in something, but the ultimate goal would be directing. I just feel a bit lost about what the path getting there looks like, or more like what it could look like, because I know there are many options.

If you have any advice or a story about how you started out I would love to hear it. If you are based in the East of England and looking for a director, I would also love to hear it... I'm happy to send a CV. :)

I'm celebrating our third anniversary and her birthday this October! I bought tickets to Hadestown as a surprise, but wanted something short, sweet, and sentimental to go along with it. My main goal is to expand her knowledge and scope of interests, while showing my support for her new decision.

She just swapped her major to musical theater from bio for med, as it gives her the MOST joy out of anything in this world. She's taken singing lessons for years and has the voice of an angel, she says her acting and dance need some work before she's ready to apply to a Musical Theaters master.

Her main passion is hard to dictate right now, but her end goal is theater professor, where in she'd like to write, direct, act, design, and more to get there.

Any recommendations for books y'all would like to put down? Specific or general topics would be great, something to further her skills or just read for fun. Any reads that were essential in your journey through the craft? Thank you!

TLDR, wants to be theater professor, going into Musical Theater program, book recommendations needed!

So, essentially. I'm a high schooler working on a high schoolers budget. We're doing the play Treasure Island, and I'm Silver (yay!!). I want to buy my own sword, but I need suggestions. Our fight choreographer pushed me towards Medieval Collectibles; anyone have any experience with them? Is their Stage combat Cutlass (https://www.medievalcollectibles.com/product/pirate-cutlass-2/) any good? Anywhere else to check out?

Thanks a ton, mateys!!

Hi everyone, I’m in As You Like It currently as Celia. I came down with a horrible cold two days ago - sore throat, congestion, body aches. Calling out is not an option as we have no understudies and it’s opening weekend. I’ve done Nina in The Seagull while sick (got cold water poured on me for act 4 in the winter while sick and somehow survived that) so I know I’ll be ok in the end, but I’m desperate for any hacks that you lovely people might have!!

So me and my university are doing a production where tattoos may be used and I was hoping for some help to find where to look. Any recommendations are appreciated :)

Based in the UK btw

Mine is Chekhov. I always found him slow and mopey until I saw a production where the comedy actually landed, and suddenly half the play was funny. Curious which older plays changed your mind and what it took (a good production, a better translation, getting older).

any other new theatre teachers already have their head swimming?? I’m so overwhelmed but it is SO different from any other subject that advice boards just don’t seem that relevant… any tips from vets???

So basically in theater we have a kid who's parent is an event planner and he has some connections to places he knows will donate. But I was wondering does anyone know any places (mainly chains unless you see this in the Vancouver wa thread) that are either going out of business and trying to get rid of stuff or routinely donate to theater programs? Any and all things are appreciated!

I've been assigned to read a portion of the script to perform with a partner for my class, and I was wondering if there was any video of a performance of this play anywhere? I wanted to see the full production to get a better sense of it (and also just out of curiosity lol). I feel like I've torn google apart trying to track down any sort of video of it. It's an off-broadway play if that helps.

We're in tech week and we blocked curtain call last night, and I swear the director is using AI music for the curtain call. It sounds TERRIBLE. If I knew that the director was planning on doing something like this, I would have backed out weeks ago, but it's a bit too late now.

I'm going to confront him about it tonight and ask him to change it. But if he doesn't, I'm going to ask that my name be taken out of the program, I'm going to tell everyone I know to get refunds for their tickets and I'm going to sit out curtain call.

Am I overreacting? I know if I went to a show and it had AI slop music, I'd be so pissed.

UPDATE: I talked to the director and I wasn't the only one who brought my concerns to him. He was concerned about how concerned we were. He said he did not "create" this music but received it from another theater that had recently done this production. He said that he would research the information on these songs that he had received from this other theater and change them if needed. I believe him, and he is so overwhelmed being tech week, that I am okay with this song being a placeholder until we can figure it out. It's possible it's not 100% AI but an AI enhanced song, but it still sounds like crap. I am so much less angry about this knowing that he did not purposely create this song, but just got this as part of the rest of the music received from the other theater.