Post Show Blues

Why is it that the closing of a show brings about such wild, intense emotions? No matter if the show was the most difficult or liberating experience, it seems to always be a shock the next day when I realize that its all over.
Let me see if I can break this down - you rehearsal for over 20 hours a week for 4 weeks, you get emotionally close to your fellow actors, you get to know them as individuals, you get to be creatively expressive, and then after a few performances its all over and you're reminded of the million things you neglected to do while your head was wrapped around the show-
Calls to your grandmother you never returned, emails from your roommates you ignored, the pile of dirty laundry in your closet, and the empty fridge that hasn't seen groceries in who knows how long.
And of course you have to go back to work. The day job. Being in a show gives you a reason to ignore all those things for just a brief moment in time. More importantly, being in a show gives you purpose. It gives you a reason to be doing things, and reminds you of why you love the work of acting. Its scary when it ends, especially if you don’t have that next creative endeavour lined up because then you're back to the old grind again. 

Oh well. The holidays should be enough of a distraction, and then hopefully the new year will be chock full of new projects!

-- Dominique

Comments

[Justine]

"More importantly, being in a show gives you purpose. It gives you a reason to be doing things, and reminds you of why you love the work of acting. Its scary when it ends, especially if you don’t have that next creative endeavour lined up because then you're back to the old grind again."

Yeah...I can relate. Whenever I am doing a play, I always have that feeling of 'I am an actor.' The rest of the time I unfortunately get that 'I'm a part-time actor/I do some acting...' mindset when meeting people & telling them about what I do. Because I know they'll say 'Oh what are you working on right now?...' and then I don't have an answer for them.

But, I also love that right after I do a show, I feel inspired and motivated. Confident that I will get my next project soon. It doesn't always happen, but I love the confidence that comes with working on something and knowing that someone picked me for this one so it can happen again.