It’s September 2024. I just left a show.
During tonight’s performance, I made several mistakes: I knocked a prop piece off a table during an emotional exit, in an attempt to save another actor from skipping too much dialogue, I got her even more off track, and I missed some lines that my castmates had to jump in and say for me.
I’m on the subway platform with one of my castmates.
He agrees we all “had an off show” and we’re venting about what we could have done better.
After a few minutes, he says, “Why do we do this?”
I nod and think, what a wild career path we’ve chosen.
Then he says, “Not the industry – why do we beat ourselves up like this?”
I begin to craft various replies in my head: Well, we care about the show! We want the audience to get the best version of this story. We know we can do better – we’ve done better!
And then I think….Why am I being so hard on myself?
While I do believe theatre can change lives, ruminating on what has already happened is not helpful. This is not life and death. It’s not heart surgery. And thank goodness for that.
Being hard on myself won’t help me have a better show tomorrow night. What will help me is going over my lines. And you better believe I will be doing that several times before our next performance!
The reality is we got through the show. We had each other’s backs, and the audience seemed to enjoy the play regardless.
Actors have off days, we’re only human, and maybe when we do, we can be a little kinder to ourselves.
– Arielle
Upcoming classes with Arielle include Solo Show Workshop II: Performance starting 9/8, Teen Solo Show Class (ages 14-18) starting 9/8, Solo Show Workshop I: Writing starting 9/14, and Beginner Acting Class III: Business of Acting with Doug Goldring starting 10/22!
Check out TBG’s full schedule of classes, including youth options!