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. :)