As written in response to a class assignment (three-page directing manifesto) in the MFA directing program at Brown/Trinity Rep.
I have no idea how to write this manifesto because I have no idea what I want to say anymore. These days, it feels like I don’t want to say anything at all. One month ago, I wrote a different draft of this manifesto that asked whether it was possible to balance personal relationships with the pursuit of professional success in the theatre industry. I’m not ready to share that now. I’m sure that somewhere in there was a sufficiently interesting discussion about how the industry is structured to favor individuals who are willing to work punishing hours for negligible pay, on top of other invisible costs. But that version of my manifesto doesn’t fully account for the choices I’ve made — and if nothing else, the past two weeks have shown me that I may not have thought my priorities through, well before all this shit started hitting the fan, and now I have to confront the life I’ve actually been making, the life that’s left after work has been stripped away.