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A Practical Guide to Starting a Career in Technical Theatre: Section 2

The Preparation Toolkit

At this point – while considering the choice between a continuation in the educational world or to "go professional" – it’s worth considering what life outside of an educational environment actually looks like.

If you’ve been in school continuously since childhood, you’ve learned how to function very well within an educational structure. But the rules of life beyond that protective cradle are different – and often far less forgiving. If you have little or no experience outside of academia – no summer stock, no professional internships or apprenticeships – the professional world can feel entirely new, and more than a little intimidating.

Before making this leap, if you have any doubts or reservations, talk with friends and trusted advisors. Seek out opinions. Listen carefully. But understand this: The final decision must be yours. You’re the one who will live with it, and you’re the one who answers to yourself at the end of the day.

Keep one important thing in mind: This is not the most consequential decision you will ever make. Getting married. Choosing to have children. Those are life-altering commitments. This decision is better understood as a change in direction – a turn on the path, not a point of no return.

One final thought: This may not be the last career you have, and it will certainly not be the last career decision you ever make. You might spend one, two, or five years in this field and then decide it’s time to reassess. You may decide to return to the educational world to pursue further training, possibly for the goal of acquiring an advanced degree.

As someone once told me, "If you don’t like where you’re at, either change your attitude or change the situation."

Changing course is not a failure. It’s the discomfort of honest self-examination – and the courage to acknowledge that a choice made at one point in your life may no longer serve you. If it’s not working, change. Evolve. Grow.

With all that said, for the purposes of this book – after careful self-analysis and a clear-eyed understanding of the risks inherent in freelance employment – you’ve decided to leave the educational world and pursue a professional career in technical theatre.

Welcome aboard.

Now… get ready to duck.

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