Reflect & Ask Why
Even if the show did not go exactly as you imagined, you need to celebrate yourself. You did something incredibly challenging and you should be proud of yourself. You took a risk, and no matter how it turned out you can learn and grow from this experience. Just make sure to take some time to reflect, dig deep, and ask yourself some questions. You can also ask your team some of these questions to get their feedback as well.
What did you like about the experience?
What parts made you miserable?
What went well?
What did you do well?
What could have gone better?
How can you fix those for next time?
Who would you work with (or not) again?
"What are you doing next?"
More than likely someone will ask you, "so what are you doing next?"
"I don't know yet" is an acceptable answer.
You do not need to be continuously producing shows or content to stay relevant or remembered. We are currently living in a world where we are continuously demanding new content, but do not feel like you need to produce something just for the sake of producing.
It is an extreme sense of accomplishment to put on a show, and that is something a lot of producers continuously crave, but they get trapped in the "progress paradox." This means that they are constantly producing shows, but they aren't necessarily growing as a producer or leader.
They aren't trying new things, they aren't taking time to build strategic plans, and they get stuck feeling obligated to their audiences to put out the same kind of content on a convenient season plan in order to appease subscribers. This is what leads to massive burnout, financial irresponsibility, and the theatre industry getting stuck without innovation or strong leaders.
This is us giving you explicit permission to take time to rest and be extremely intentional in whatever you do next. Even if that takes some time. Don't forget to revisit your goals from earlier, and stay true to your core values of why you produce theatre.
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