Consistency & Sustainability. When you have no resources time’s our bargaining chip. It’s what we trade in on. It does the actor no good to under value their times worth. In trading our time we often give up consistency and sustainability for the opportunity to work. Which comes at a life cost.

I think it’s important to define what we are getting in return.

During The Maids I was trading my time for three things: to join the most loving artistic team I’ve ever worked with, to learn everything I could from those artists, and to make important theater.

Which was a no question trade. I would (and will) always make that trade. But the cost was still high. Those new resources didn’t make paying my Con Edison bill any easier. IN FACT. It made it harder. You have to have difficult conversations with your bosses. You have to make up for lost income. You have to buy less of your basic needs. You have to sacrifice.

But when you articulate what you’re trading you can budget what you need to thrive.

I don’t think enough schools, studios, or friends talk about the life cost of creating theater work. It’s uncomfortable to talk about how you can’t afford to go and see theater, or to lie to your friends about not being able to go out, or how your data got cut off. If we don’t talk about what we lose we can’t fully understand what we gain.

I know we both have zero interest in being a starving artist. We live in a world where 6 second video stars make more money than teachers so clearly we have to work differently now. Even at the beginning of our careers, we have to be equally creative and business driven.