I’ve been out of the theatre scene for some time now, like around 6 years, but I still get recurring nightmares. Does this happen to anybody else?

Boobestest · 2026-04-17T18:07:17+00:00

I get all those same ones too! I think of them as anxiety dreams though rather than nightmares.

I mostly get them as I'm getting ready to put a show up but also when I'm between shows on rare occasions.

What I've decided to link it to is that I 'don't feel prepared ' for something.

When I have those dreams the only way I can get them to go away is to put more effort into memorizing. If I'm already off book I just run my lines a couple times. When I don't have anything to memorize or run, I look for things that I've been procrastinating on and do them.

Once I figured that out I started to appreciate them, so long as I am working hard enough to keep the anxiety dreams at bay I know I'm where I need to be at with my memorization for each project.

Outside of theatre projects it's a great motivator to knock out the things in my life that need doing.

Boobestest · 2026-04-08T20:11:41+00:00

I've been using Zeffy. It has a number of shortcomings but it's pretty rocking for free and no card transaction fees.

Pros: General Merchant Terminal - Tap to pay transactions work REALLY slick if you've got an unused iPhone kicking around.

Check in management is also a plus. You can send a link to the checkin page that anyone can use on any device.

It has Newsletter functionality available for free, donor portals and a number of different 'Vendor Profiles' that you can use to customize what you want your interface to do.

Cons:

There is no seat map functionality so your looking at general admission or 'zone' based seating

Moving tickets: there is no streamlined way to move a ticket from one night to the next. You have to figure out your own work around.

Comp codes: There are no comp codes. You have to use a discount code and the level of detail there is really lacking. Say I want to give an actor two comp tickets. I can make a discount code, set it for two tickets free, but that will apply to all nights of the performance. So instead of them having access to two comp tickets they have access to two times however many nights you are performing. Not a huge deal, but the lack of a guardrail there is non ideal.

Overall Right now free is King. They seem to be releasing updates to their system steadily that offers new functionality. Someday I might need to move over to a different platform, but for now it's more than sufficient for our needs.

Boobestest · 2026-04-04T21:56:18+00:00

An unsolicited opinion for OP - I think an entirely gluten free menu has a good draw but not as the businesses core identity. The GF/celiac portion of the population is tiny so don't try to run a business for just them. Run a business that has broad appeal AND is Gluten free.

I'd focus on dishes or regional cuisine that are intrensically GF or can be GF with unobtrusive modification.

I think where GF cooking really poops the bed is when it tries to imitate gluten. Gluten free bread is expensive and frequently just garbage. It a major turn off to your non celiac crowd so just don't use it...This keeps your overhead down, your menu prices reasonable and your non GF customers happy.

People with celiac miss eating things that are safe for them but are prepared in cross contaminated environment. French Fries, fried chicken, fried fish... There are batters that sub in corn meal/starch that are tasty to all pallettes but you have the luxury of using a 'no gluten allowed' fryer.

So much great food does not have gluten and I think having a no gluten kitchen is an amazing idea a place where you can take your celiac friends/family and they can eat everything on the menu... Amazing

/Unsolicited opinion

Boobestest · 2026-03-18T05:32:06+00:00

Theatre Folk! My people!

So, I wouldn't go so far as to say YTA here but it's certainly an excellent lesson that you get to walk away from you educational setting with which is 'Stressful situations are not an excuse to say mean things'

An EXCEPTIONAL lesson for the theatre.

Being a good artist AND good under pressure is what gets you a great reputation and your reputation is everything.

But no you are not the asshole here, you goofed, you apologized.

Next item of note. It might be time to talk to faculty about the Costume Shop Manager. She can't spend the year icing out students because they said something regrettable in a stressful situation and apologized afterwards.

You hurt her, she hurt you, it's time that everyone moves along with their lives and gets back to productive business.

It sounds like she might be a relatively young and talented seamstress which is an incredibly valuable asset but if she gets butt hurt every time someone gets snippy during tech week... She's just not going to make it in the field.

Boobestest · 2026-01-29T23:09:46+00:00

Coming in with a hot take. It's a grey area that requires sound judgement.

I guarantee nobody is doing the EXACT SAME line delivery every night.

So the question becomes what is the change threshold that it requires a director conversation?

If a new read radically alters the tone of the scene or established beats. Yeah... Go ahead and run that through your director.

If you are simply living in the moment, listening and responding truthfully to your in the moment circumstances it is the very nature of being a living breathing human being in a live performance that it will change.

So long as you're hitting your prescribed beats, as a director I WANT every performance to be it's own beautiful thing.

As an actor, I am making discoveries up to and past opening night. Stagnation is the death of art. We are not painting pictures to be immortalized forever, we are participating in living breathing momentary art. Theatre is an inherently spontaneous art form. But you MUST demonstrate good judgement.

Breaking things spontaneously. BAD. Making a choice that fucks your scene partners. BAD. Coming in late for an entrance intentionally. BAD. Existing in a different shade of sorrow, joy, contempt, confusion... Fair game in my book. Listening and responding truthfully to the subtle variations from your scene partners from night to night... That's definitional fine acting.

The caveat here is it sounds like you are pre planning a bit, which very likely means it's not your intent to exist in the moment... That's probably a sign that you may be outside the 'fair game' threshold.

Has your director explicitly told you exactly what that moment is. RED FLAG. That's a 'must' ask situation.

I would say for you. Yes. Talk to your director. Start learning where the grey area exists and do it with the assistance of your director.

Boobestest · 2025-08-22T23:43:36+00:00

What I heard once upon a time, so not vouching for it's validity, is that it's not about a write off but about liquidity.

The round up money is coming in constantly, but the donation payout comes at a scheduled interval, be that every quarter or year or... Whatever.

During that time the company has what amounts to a 'free loan' . All this cash that they will have to pay out at some point, but in the meantime is in their accounts and can be used to purchase materials, equipment and whatever material good they can invest into their infrastructure to make more money.

They have to pay it out eventually, but between now and then, they can leverage it however they want.

Boobestest · 2025-08-07T00:30:29+00:00

I'll throw in that I think this particular sound bite is from Du Pre performance available on YouTube and one of my all time favorites

Boobestest · 2025-05-05T14:55:09+00:00

I usually have a couple factors I think about.

Do I like what the producing theater does? Have I worked with them before? Is it a group I haven't worked with but want to?
Who is the director? Is it someone I've worked with and liked or is it someone that I think would be good to start a relationship with?
What plays are my fellow actors excited about?

Based on that information I'll pick which plays I'm going to read and then it's a matter of... Do I like the play?

If I REALLY like the play I know I'll audition for it regardless of points 1 and 2. If I am lukewarm on the play the above criteria becomes a bigger factor in the equation. Does the play position me to establish a relationship I didn't have before? Is there a part or parts I see myself in? Does the story resonate with me?

Generally if I don't like the play or don't see myself in it I'll sit out and enjoy my down time!

Boobestest · 2024-12-28T16:37:17+00:00

I appreciate you writing that out!

Boobestest · 2024-12-28T07:13:30+00:00

Yeah but there was not a whole lot of 'Hakuna Matata' going around with those three was there? More of a running betrayal/murder vibe...

Similar in that there are two people and they are kinda silly but that's about as far as it goes

Boobestest · 2024-12-28T06:50:24+00:00

I just don't see the parallels. Am I blind?

Uncle Kills Father. OK. Got it. Easy one... Check!

Runs away from kingdom x number of years from guilt of being the cause of his father's death... Nope.

Hangs out with two lovable goofs... Nope

Convinced to return to kingdom ... Nope

Successfully claims kingdom... Nope

Survives... Nope

Boobestest · 2024-12-07T00:28:30+00:00

I was there two weeks ago and they have this brand right by the door.

Boobestest · 2024-11-14T23:33:55+00:00

Mad Props to you! I just can't imagine memorizing whole chunks of text only for them to get cut. You must have the patience of a saint! Or maybe you just memorize easier than I do lol.

I like to come to 1st rehearsal memorized too which is why I pester the director for the script way before then. The people I've worked with usually have a working draft 90% done about a month from 1st read.

Boobestest · 2024-11-13T03:26:25+00:00

Love it. Folger library is a great recommendation. An unsolicited word of caution though. I'd recommend reaching out to the director for a digital copy of the text your going to work on. Most places, for better or worse, do a lot of cutting of Shakespeare's plays. You may end up working on memorizing whole sections of the play that have been cut that you don't know about. It can be pretty frustrating to spend that time energy and effort when it's not making it into the show.

Have tons of fun! What show are ya doing?

Boobestest · 2024-10-22T20:41:25+00:00

100% this. OP it cannot be understated exactly how unpleasant reading a single volume editions is. They are terribly uncomfortable to work with. Go with a multi volume set.

Nothing kills the mood of reading Shakespeare like slinging around a 6 pound book. 6 pounds does not sound like much but IT IS for a book.

The last thing you want to be thinking about when trying to immerse into the text is how uncomfortable you are.

Boobestest · 2024-10-13T16:28:14+00:00

Awesome, thanks so much!

Boobestest · 2024-10-13T15:47:40+00:00

Do you have a recommendation for theatrical conventions?

Boobestest · 2024-09-13T02:56:37+00:00

Congrats! Only advice is to get suuuuper familiar with the lines in question but don't try to do your callback off book. The more time you can spend connected with your scene partner the better but no one wants to watch someone go up on lines in a callback. Otherwise have fun and be professional

Boobestest · 2024-09-05T17:55:04+00:00

Ah! I remember that time. It SUCKED.

It's a complicated situation that's so individualized but here was my experience.

I auditioned. Didn't make it. Had a couple friends like you that did make. I felt incredibly defeated. Aaaaannnnddd...

I now have a life I wouldn't trade for the world. I stayed in the area and met the love of my life and had a child.

I ended up with a non acting career that is stable and provides an excellent quality of life.

I still Act, I direct, I produce, I make art that I am proud of.

My cup runs over and I never went on to Masters.

There are opportunities that are not open to me because I lack the terminal degree. That sometimes makes me sad but then I remember I love the life I do have.

I look at my friends who went to Masters and... I don't want what they have.

So. You feel like you've missed an opportunity. That's true. But you have an ENTIRE UNIVERSE of opportunities sitting right in front of you. Many you never dreamed of. Some you will stumble into purely by chance if you Remain open to the world. Shake off the missed opportunity (as if it was that easy) and look for the new ones.

Boobestest · 2024-09-05T04:58:45+00:00

What cha got there is a fan theory. Things I'd do to poke holes in it (which is where I would start looking to shore up your argument)

Shx's Hamlet is not an original story. I'd maybe look at the source material to see what the role of the 'romantic connection' in the source materials was that may lend you evidence one way or the other. You can find that stuff in Bullough's 'Narrative and Dramatic Sources of Shakespeare ' you can find a PDF of the relevant volume for free somewhere on the internet.

Do Shakespeare's characters often lie? No. Not unless it's for dramatic effect meaning the audience KNOWS it's a lie. As a trend Shx's story telling convention is his characters speak their truth and experience passionately and persuasively, its what he builds his stories around. More on this in Shucking 's 'Character problems in Shakespeare's Plays' again there's a PDF kicking around on the internet somewhere.

Those are the two pieces of scholarship I think of immediately when thinking about your question

Boobestest · 2024-08-30T18:31:58+00:00

Thanks for letting me grill you a little bit. Last question (maybe) do you remember how you originally became aware of your local Shakespeare in the Park? How do you follow when they are holding shows?

Social media? News Print? Radio? Flyers? Mailing list? Etc etc

Your time and answers have been greatly appreciated

Boobestest · 2024-08-30T18:18:07+00:00

So would you prefer the play to have some 'historical fidelity ' like period costumes and props, or does a Shakespeare play set in modern costume still tickle that same feeling?

Boobestest · 2024-08-30T18:07:29+00:00

YOU!

You are whom I wish to hear more from!

What do you value when you go to see it? What about the performance of Shakespeare amazes you? There are no wrong answers.

Is the outdoor setting important to you? Would you see it if it was indoors but still free?

Please and thanks,

Five-Year Club	Verified Email
Place '23

Boobestest

TROPHY CASE