I’ve been thinking a lot about this thing someone said to me when I was in graduate school. I’d just performed a role I’d always dreamed of playing (Imogen in Cymbeline) and at the cast party was propped up on some chairs resting the ankle I’d twisted during the show. A faculty member came up and complimented my performance (those compliments are lost to my memory) and then said, “I don’t know why you’re wasting your time directing.”

Let me give you some context for this very odd compliment. I was there in that graduate program as a directing student. I was less than one year away from an MFA in Directing. My class had only one director and it was me. This particular faculty member, while not someone I studied with, was married to my advisor – that is, my primary directing teacher. In praising my performance, she was also dismissing my entire purpose in being there.

To keep reading "Why are you wasting your time directing?" please visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog.

This is Episode 374

Song: Compliments (Here's the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zi8ShAosqzI)

Image of me in Angela Santillo's Up, Up and Done, produced by The Motor Company - Photo by my mom

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Emily Rainbow Davis