Thursday, October 19, 2006

Thorns of a Dilemma, or, it's a Nice Problem to Have

This is the dilemma I’m currently facing. Not high drama, but a sort of questioning…thing. I’m working for a huge company, and I like my job. I don’t love it, but I like it, the people I work with are nice, the work isn’t too taxing, the commute is bearable, etc, etc, I have money for theatre tickets. I have discovered that I enjoy the stability of a every-day working job, with steady hours and duties and, yes, a reliable paycheck. But. It’s not theatre. I’ve been writing, going to see, but not getting involved, and that is going to be a problem at some point in the near future. Now, I hear rumors floating around that I am going to be offered a full time position here, which would be nice because it would mean (in addition to all those other nice things) that I would get to stay in London. And living in London has been my life’s goal since I was about sixteen. The problem then becomes, could I live in London if there was diminished theatre involved? Obviously this is IF I’m offered a job, but I want to have a think about it so I can give an answer soon-ish. If I’m not offered the job/don’t take the job, then I’ll have to leave London at the end of February. I’m already scheming about what my next move is going to be: I’ve learned for me to be happy it must be something that is challenging and involves both stability and theatre. And a dog. I think about coming back to the States, but there’s no concrete reason for me to be there. There’s no reason for me to be HERE, really, or anywhere. I think I have the nomadic spirit upon me again, because I think about moving somewhere else and how easy it would be. I’d like to settle down somewhere and start a garden, but I don’t want to do it by myself, so until then I guess I’ll keep wandering. The important question is: do I stay here for a little while or a little longer? I can do anything. So what next?

3 comments:

Peter said...

hmmmmmmm, quite a conundrum I say. Well, here is what the younger brother who people always say does the best in the long term. I say take the job there. You can stay in the theatre loop by hanging out in all the local spots and you can start your theatre career kinda like a hobby. At night you can write, go see plays, direct plays, whatever, and on the weekends you would be free to do whatever you wanted, especially now that you will have money. So even though I am saying stay like a million miles from me, I think for you it is a great choice, I mean, I don't have options like that at all. If you want more on this, email me. I would like to hear from you and thank you for the gifts. But by getting a full-time job in London doesn't mean you have to get out of theatre, it provides you with a means to pay for things.

Chris said...

Nicki-
I hear you on the wandering thing. Its hard to find that place espeically when you're in our crazy ass business, just know if you want a wandering buddy I'm game. I've been dong this nomad thing for awhile. Its nice because in a short time you see and learn so much, but at the same moment it lacks the stablity. But anywho I here you on the not theatre job thing. There have been several places I've lived or visited that I wanted to stay but no theatre. I'm still not sure if sacfricing stablity and normal life was the right choice, but at least its been interesting.

Unknown said...

I do want to point out there is no such thing as stability in theatre unless you are teaching it.