You in a Box Max Barton, 26 January 2014 Conversation involved, among several others who didn't get a chance to write their name: Jen Lunn, Caroline Dalton, John O'Donovan, Mary Price-O'Connor, Lavinia Hollands, Toby Tyrrell (war on terror) Jones, Holly Norrington, Teddy Lamb, Amie Taylor, Daniel York, Kevin Shen, Lucy Sierra, Jess Mabel Jones and myself, Max Barton. I started this conversation in order to discuss how we as theatre makers are often required to put ourselves in certain boxes when selling ourselves, applying for jobs, when choosing which work to make and indeed just giving an answer to the dreaded question ‘what do you do’. A man I know only as Ellis opened the discussion with a quick response before having to move on, but it was one that we came back to several times. Ellis has struggled a lot over the years with packaging himself but his ultimate conclusion has been a) package yourself differently for each project and more importantly b) try and find the passion that unites the strings to your bow, as it were. I.e. if you are a director/writer/actor/deviser/everything else then try to find the thing you do that sums you up - perhaps making work of many kinds that generally encourages people to reassess their value system for example. After Ellis' departure we talked round the subject in many ways, discussing how there are boxes within boxes. First you have to decide you want to make theatre, then you might have to decide what job you do within that, then decide what style you are interested in, then decide what subject matter etc. etc. Selling yourself It was pointed out that this is a particular problem for emerging companies and artists who may have to start defining themselves before they've even made any work, and there was a general feeling from the group throughout that doing is the best way of finding out. You quickly, and sometimes necessarily, have to choose your unique selling points (USPs) as a creative in this deeply competitive industry. Some felt that this is important, as you need to be able to justify why your work has a place amongst everything else. Others felt that this was soul-destroying and cynical. In the end I think the group began to find a middle ground, where boxing yourself for publicity makes sense, as long as you throw it out the window when you get in the room, and treat your box as an amorphous one, ever-changing and developing as you do. Career/art The conversation veered several times towards the disparity between a career-focus and an art-focus. We talked about dreams, aims and objectives in life, and how in some ways the idea of ‘making it’ has become the religion of a lot of theatre-makers - the antidote to existential crisis. Here Tim Minchin's wonderful speech made at the University of Western Australia was mentioned, a talk which helped me to start to unpick and reassess some of the dreams that I had subscribed to thoughtlessly. Check it out here. The point being, put all your energy into the thing your working on, package it with whatever USP you want in the end, but focus on the present goals not the eventual one. Then the whole box becomes less constrictive and more or a positive framework. The box is more for explaining your things to others rather than a guide for yourself. This seemed helpful for people in the group who have so far avoided setting up websites due to a fear of pigeon-holing, who now see that these can shift and change all the time, and that a bit of decision making in the present can be helpful. Stigma We also discussed at length the stigma that is sometimes attached to people who try to do too much - in this case there was a feeling that there may be good and bad ways of doing this, depending on the type of work you want to make and your skill set. Perhaps if you're working at a big traditional theatre where you are putting other creatives out of a job by taking too many slices of the pie, you are being selfish or unnecessarily uncollaborative, although there was some strong argument in favour of the idea that if you do this very well there's no reason you shouldn't be allowed to. Maybe the point is that you are putting your head rather higher above the parapet the more aspects you control, and so if you come away decapitated you've ‘asked for it’ - this was expressed both with resentment and favourable support. It was also suggested that in more form-pushing work this stigma is less present, as there may not be others who traditionally do what you are trying to. This was all torn apart and articulated fabulously by a member of Dumbshow, who said you just have to be Billy Big Balls (Fanny Fat Flaps was suggested as an alternative) about it in the end and just put your ass on the line. If it's great then people swiftly stop caring. 10,000 hours There was a caveat. Maybe be careful not to pursue your bow strings that are less brilliant. There was a lot of use of the phrase Jack of all trades, master of none, which some felt was valid and others less so. We talked about the idea that 10,000 hours is how long it supposedly takes to become ‘expert’ in something. In disciplines like ballet/instrument-playing/juggling/whatever this is clearly more tangible, but perhaps in theatre-making it's not such a concrete medium. Other experiences may well make you a better actor or director, almost certainly a better writer, and so 10,000 hours of practicing theatre technique is hardly the key to success (check out many young actors who are brilliant at early ages or young writers from other backgrounds who have something truly interesting to say, because they have a first hand relationship to the subject matter). The basic conclusion in the end seemed to be that you do have to box yourself in at many points during your career, sometimes constructively and sometimes negatively, but perhaps the key is to not give a fuck about it and just do it. Ultimately there are a whole load of ingredients that make up you, and perhaps CVs and websites can read more like recipes (I use the cooking reference as several people talked about how when people asked them what they did they kind of wanted to say that they loved cooking and were damn good at it as an answer, even if that's not their chosen career path.). Be an expert at being yourself and the box sort of forms around you. Tags: box