So big plans on the horizon for me, and I'm a little scared to say the least. I will be taking a break from Stage Management, and working in the traditional sense, to move with my husband to rural Alaska where he has accepted a teaching position in the bush. This has been about 6 months in the making, and he just accepted the position this week. I had already signed on for next season with the theatre I work at, and according to my math, would be getting my Equity card by the end of next season. Now that is all changing. The super independent feminist side of me is freaking out a little bit, and I'm not going to lie; I totally cried when I wrote my resignation letter to the theatre. I have just under a week left on what is now my last show with them. After two years I had become extremely comfortable working with amazing people doing some really great theatre.
And it all comes down to one thing: money.
If the theatre could provide enough for us to stay we would. But it doesn't, and never will. I knew that when I got married, that once my husband found a full time teaching job (although it has taken almost two years of looking) it would trump any income I was contributing. Last year we worked 6 jobs between the two of us (stage management counting as one) and we still made less than what he will be making in one year as a teacher in Alaska. And that doesn't even factor in 100% covered health benefits and the fact that they subsidize our housing. We never weren't making it- in fact we were doing well, with a comfortable 2 bed apartment in the suburbs, nice things and not having to worry too much about money. But in the end I was consistently working 60+ hour weeks, with days off few and far between. When this teaching job presented itself it was very tempting.
There will be no work for me in the small village that we will get to by bush plane, but I plan on doing all of the creative projects that have been on the back burner because "I don't have time". Maybe this is my blessing in all of this. I'm not saying that I won't go stir crazy and accept a job touring or in a town that will pay to get me there, but at least for the beginning I am going to have a lot of free time.
We have talked a little about this before on here; compromising careers for family and such, so I just wanted to share my story. It's interesting that I'm really excited about having a break, and taking a couple years or so to really build a sustainable base for a family. Had you asked me a couple of years ago if I would do something like this I would have thought you were crazy. My career and theatre were the most important things, and I was okay living out of a suitcase and giving up everything for it. Now that is much less appealing. I got married. I want a family. I want a home. It's not wrong to want these things, and know that theatre has to take a backseat for a while to achieve that. I also read an article from another Philadelphia theatre artist having some of the same revelations. Charlotte Ford is a successful local actress/theatre creator, and what she wrote really resonated with me, and actually made it much easier to support my husband in this endeavor. You can read her story here:
http://blog.fringearts.com/2014/05/20/the-untenable-career-of-a-successful-philadelphia-theater-artist-interview-with-charlotte-ford/But for now, I'm in a sprint of the biggest logistical mess I've ever faced: disassembling our life that we have been building up, to ship over 4,000 miles to a town you can only get to by plane or frozen river. Here I go!
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