Any theatre person will tell you different reasons for why he or she participates in this profession.
Actors may do it to step outside themselves, to see humanity as a something bigger than just one person’s point of view. Set designers may do it to craft a world that is different of better than the real. Directors may do it to bring to life the written text and develop a story through the tools of real people. Each of these points is valid and provides strong motivation for working in this art.
But what is my motivation? Why have I chosen to pursue a career that has no financial security, no promise for success, no health care coverage and no guaranteed employment?
I remember back to when I was deciding what to do after high school. Friends who graduated before talked of theatre majors, but the majority were applying to schools for practical majors, such as environmental engineering or pharmacy. I remember being torn between a legitimate career that would land me a job right out of school or indulging my artistic side by pursuing theatre. Even as I sent out college and scholarship applications I was split. When I made my decision to attend South Dakota State University my conflicting ideas had me enrolled as a double theatre and English education major.
As I continued through college, my second major fluctuated, and eventually disappeared altogether. Though a part of my brain kept telling me to pick up marketable skills by taking non-theatre classes, I continued my work in theatre. Even then, I couldn’t decide what I wanted to do in theatre. I was an actor, stage manager, lighting designer, house manager and even a costume designer — which ended very poorly.
Through my four years of school, I never could decide what to do. Though varied, my work in theatre was constant. Sometimes my passion for the art drove me to multiple overnighters a week and some lower grades in other classes. But I was constantly fueled by one emotion: passion.
My dear friend, Haley, recently wrote a one-woman show as a part of her senior colloquium that is deeply threaded by the concept of passion. Similarly, Haley has pursued theatre throughout much of her life and will (very soon) end up living in New York City to continue her career in theatre. But what is this passion thing?
Sure, I could be passionate about politics or math, but that would just be ridiculous. Perhaps it has been that passion that has motivated me throughout the years. In times of difficulty and uncertainty that love of theatre and desire to create art has continued to push me in the direction I am today.
Without that desire and passion, I certainly wouldn’t be living in New York City and working to create a career in such a great field.
Geoffrey Nixon is a graduate of Roosevelt High School and South Dakota State University. He recently moved to New York City.
