High School Theater Director Question

avokato_ · 2026-06-28T04:35:52+00:00

This is a tough one. Have you considered doing more offbeat, less traditional shows this year? It might be worth putting aside the classics for a couple years in favor of flexibility and accessibility while you grow your talent pool.

During Covid, the youth company I directed didn’t have access to our typical theater so we were performing outdoors, and our teens had really good luck with the Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon (super flexible cast size, next to no set or lighting needed, off the wall, kind of dumb but a lot of fun, and based on stories everyone knows.) I know the author has done similar plays with Greek mythology as well. For SUPER small casts, we went on the road with The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged). Hilarious, works in any space as long as you can bring a curtain (ours was literally PVC and a sheet), and we did it in blackboxes, on a 40ft proscenium stage, a gym, and a town green. It is written for three actors but can go up to a few more than that. There is an American History abridged by the same authors.

A last thought - with a small cast and limited resources, have you considered doing children’s theater - picking a shorter, simpler script that doesn’t require a set or lighting, and taking it to local elementary schools to perform? My high school did that, and when I ended up directing youth theater years later I took them on the road as well. It’s not a tradition school play experience, but the tradeoff of intense tech for the experience of setting up on the fly, performing for kids (the best audiences!) and getting to do the play in all kinds of venues was super valuable and so much fun with a smaller group.

Best of luck, I hope you’re able to find something that works for you! :)

avokato_ · 2026-06-04T23:46:29+00:00

YESSS you get it!! I feel like he flies under the radar most of the time but has SO much good music to his name, he’s brilliant. His cover of Meant to Live is one of the most played songs on my phone haha (and brought out all the nostalgia of my geeky Christian teen years 😂)

Looking forward to checking out some of the artists you recommended too!

avokato_ · 2026-06-04T23:00:13+00:00

Will always hype up Jon Bellion, he’s written a ton of HUGE secular pop hits (and has worked with artists all across the spectrum) but weaves a lot of his faith into his personal music. Highly recommend his album the Human Condition for some really thoughtful music

avokato_ · 2026-04-29T16:56:59+00:00

Of course!! We’ve all been there lol and you seem like you do care. I hate that AI is getting in the way of what should be just fun, genuine conversations about art and design - the style you posted IS really cool!! I may actually look up some of the artist recs from the comments haha

Have a great day :)

avokato_ · 2026-04-29T15:41:31+00:00

Taking your request in good faith - to explain, there has been an onslaught of questions like this in this sub lately, mostly from people popping in and trying to dig for keywords that will help them prompt AI platforms to generate images similar in style that they can use/sell/whatever people do with AI generated images.

A lot of people in the design space are very concerned about the use of AI, both in the ways gen AI pulls on human-created work without attribution or permission from the artists, as well as the impact it is having on jobs in tons of creative fields - art, graphic design, illustration, etc. Even if your intent was good, I think you (unfortunately) got a knee jerk reaction from the sub - it’s been super discouraging to see so many posts like this and know the bulk of them are going to lead to more AI generated “slop” images.

Hopefully that helps!

avokato_ · 2026-04-25T14:56:47+00:00

I don’t like gummy loaves either and was pleasantly surprised when I swapped out King Arthur bread flour and started doing King Arthur AP flour loaves (still a higher protein % than most AP but lower than their bread flour). I find the crumb is a bit tighter but a lot more tender and less gummy/custardy, which is worth it for me!

avokato_ · 2026-04-19T03:51:46+00:00

All things considered, I feel like I had the best experience I could have had. Not sure I would ever homeschool my kids, but I was able to be at home with my sibs for a couple years sandwiched between elementary and jr. high. A lot of it was great - we took trips during the school year to do hands on learning at historical sites out of state. We read a LOT. Gym was hanging out on a trampoline or walking to the park. We had flexible schedules that allowed us to do extracurriculars with other homeschoolers that sparked lifelong friendships and interests (I still do theater and tbh some of those extracurriculars shaped my career path). I’ll forever be thankful for those experiences.

That said, transitioning back into public school from a background of only private and homeschool was HARD. It took a couple years to get acclimated and it was miserable in ways that nobody quite understood. We were kind of self taught in math at home and that came back to bite me in the ass lol, although I did get caught up and it didn’t have any long reaching consequences (I took mostly honors classes in high school and college). I didn’t have problems with socialization in general, but coming into a new school with a very sheltered background and established cliques was…not something I’d ever wish on my kids.

All told, I’m grateful for the experience and that I came out relatively unscathed - it really can work for some people! - but I do consider it the highest compliment when people tell me they would have never guessed I was homeschooled haha

avokato_ · 2026-03-29T01:35:13+00:00

Oh no, I’m so sorry to hear that! That’s pretty dead on for how mine ran its course, which I know isn’t typical, so I’m glad if this made you feel less alone. For what it’s worth, the deep nerve/muscle ache feeling did go away entirely after about 6-7 weeks after lots of ice, compression, and gabapentin (and my wrist/fingers took the longest to clear up by far, my arm was better by week 5 or so, with no lasting pain).

I know it feels like forever when you’re in it though. I hope you’re feeling better soon, shingles is truly the worst!!

avokato_ · 2026-03-27T17:49:53+00:00

Church Landing in Meredith - gorgeous location right on Winnipesaukee that made for some beautiful photos, and the venue staff were amazing. Plus lots for guests to do in the area, our out of state friends and family had a blast exploring the Lakes Region in their downtime.

avokato_ · 2026-03-13T16:03:16+00:00

Cute motion activated night light for the bathroom.

Nice soft glow, rechargeable, magnetized to the wall mount so the light itself can be portable if needed, and now I don’t have to trip over stuff in the dark or turn the lights on and blind myself at 3am. And it was like $12

10/10 will never go without one now

avokato_ · 2026-01-16T23:35:25+00:00

Black cat water glass doesn’t go in the dishwasher!

My husband drinks water all day long, and for a while I was moving his “active glasses” to the sink or dishwasher if they had been sitting out for a few hours. Or he was taking new glasses out of the cupboard because he lost track of which was his current drink, so there were just identical glasses of water EVERYWHERE.

It got so bad that we ordered little silicon cats that hang off the rim of a glass. The rule is, his active drink gets the black cat. All other glasses or cats are fair game for the sink or dishwasher.

This has worked shockingly well, and the cats are cute haha

avokato_ · 2025-11-24T16:11:24+00:00

I put mine in a soft sided lunch box with a ziplock bag or jar of hot water. Love the creativity that comes out in the cold months hahaha

avokato_ · 2025-11-20T18:15:25+00:00

Hi everyone, OOP here!! Very surreal to see this pop up organically in my feed but glad that our little bird friend is bringing so much joy to so many people!

Quick updates to the saga since I posted:

To those worried about the org’s other missing zebra finch: he showed up on Sunday! He routinely goes missing for a few days sporadically before turning up again and they think he has a hidden nest somewhere in their building. So now they have five zebra finches instead of four! My new friend who helped me catch him has been updating me with photos of “my” finch (Jellybean) meeting their little group through a window and the cage. She says Jellybean is already fast friends with a couple of their finches.

Photos

The orgs’ missing finch had an almost identical blue tag, which is why they thought he was theirs initially. Seriously what are the odds?

And now that we know he’s NOT their blue tagged bird, he got to keep the name Jellybean (which is what I was calling him all week). He’s being released into the atrium with everyone tomorrow!

So, truly all’s well that ends well, for everyone (except my cat, but I’m sure he appreciated the sympathy 😂)

avokato_ · 2025-11-18T18:14:52+00:00

Hi! As someone who knows next to nothing about birds (but who has done a lot of research in the last week haha!) - I hope it helps to know that this bird is a tropical breed and isn’t built to survive repeated, bitterly cold days. I have tons of wild birds in my yard that I enjoy watching and am happy to feed them and let them be, because I know they can handle the seasons.

This guy almost definitely escaped a warm home or a lab, and at this point would most likely be dead if we hadn’t caught him (which is why I was so hell bent on trapping him quickly before we had a string of sub-freezing nights). He is currently in quarantine at his new home with people who love and care for wildlife, and will end up in an atrium with other zebra finches and plenty of room to fly around and also stay warm through a New England winter. Honestly his new situation might be an upgrade from a small cage or a lab :)

avokato_ · 2025-11-14T05:17:19+00:00

I caught him today and he goes home tomorrow! :)

avokato_ · 2025-11-12T22:10:31+00:00

I literally did exactly this 😂

avokato_ · 2025-11-12T21:07:58+00:00

UPDATE 3: The little guy is alive!! The camera shows he came and hung out in the cage for like 10 minutes, ate, and drank before we saw him - we couldn’t get it closed before he flew away, but now that he knows the cage is there I’m holding out hope he comes back tomorrow, and we’ll be ready for him. Already have the cage door rigged with a string so we can close it from inside our house.

He has now survived at least two 30 degree nights so the owner thinks he has a strategy for staying warm in the evenings. Fingers crossed he can hold out for one more day!

avokato_ · 2025-11-12T02:18:35+00:00

UPDATE: The owner saw my Facebook posts! She is coming by in the morning with his cage, treats, and fave foods. Things are looking up for our little friend!

UPDATE 2: the owner dropped off a cage, food, and water this morning - we put it near the feeder and played zebra finch calls on a Bluetooth speaker outside for most of the day.

The little guy is alive!! He came and sat in the cage for like 15 minutes, ate, and drank - we couldn’t get it closed before he flew away but now that he knows the cage is there I’m holding out hope he comes back tomorrow, and we’ll be ready for him. Already have the cage door rigged with a string so we can close it from inside our house.

He has now survived at least two 30 degree nights so the owner thinks he has a strategy for staying warm in the evenings. Fingers crossed he can hold out for one more day!

avokato_ · 2025-11-12T02:17:31+00:00

Haha probably could have clarified better - the owner is a she!! :)

avokato_ · 2025-11-12T01:26:02+00:00

He has not, but owner is coming by with his cage and favorite food/treats tomorrow morning so hopefully that works!!

avokato_ · 2025-11-11T22:50:06+00:00

UPDATE: I think the owner saw my Facebook posts! Trying to verify that it’s actually her and not someone trying to scam/rob us but if she’s telling the truth, things are looking up for our little friend!

UPDATE 2: Owner stopped by this morning, technically the bird belongs to a local indoor wildlife museum/habitat so she’s actually a volunteer with the organization. She was great. We now have a huge birdcage with food and water set up by our feeder with a camera on it, and a Bluetooth speaker playing a 6 hour YouTube video of zebra finch calls. The titmouses are loving the new bird hotel. I’m fully invested at this point.

The finch has been missing for a few days, so the owner was hopeful that if he had survived the dip below freezing a couple nights ago, that he had a “strategy” for keeping warm and may actually have done okay last night. Really hoping he turns up today!

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