Student Blogger: Zach Rivera

Something that every artist needs to learn is how to effectively collaborate. This could be anything from new work, to acting with a scene partner. Theatre is an extremely collaborative craft. Even the biggest one-person shows have a creative team, and many hands pulling many strings. This isn't a bad thing, however, because truly thought provoking work requires many different perspectives. Nothing is done alone, and if it is, then fix it.

This past week has had ups, and downs. Highs and lows. That's just the way it goes sometimes. The ups have been real up, and the downs have been total rock bottom downs. What I've happened to discover is that the downs are a permanent part of life, and artistry. They are constant. They can be lessened, however by the ups. The ups work a little different, though unfortunately.

When we think about hunger, we usually hear it preceded by the word world, or mass, and in the context of food. When people say they're hungry it's usually because they're craving food and wanting to eat. Out of this context, many artists and even those who aren't, tend to describe people who are scrappy and fighting for opportunity as hungry, and I never actually thought about the implications of this statement. That is until this week.

I think we all know as theatre artists, that an important part of our craft is paying our dues. We all start out with our first audition, or maybe helping out a local theatre backstage, and through hard work, experience, and time, we figure out what we want to do, and get the opportunities we strive for.