Holler is a monthly advice column for theater artists trying to keep it all together. Email holler (at) howlround (dot) com with your questions, life-changing or trivial, professional or personal, hilarious or depressing, or all of the above! Expect straight talk, tough love, and the occasional war story from someone in the know - a bona fide (albeit anonymous) theater professional. Dear lovely, hardworking, passionate, innovative, beautiful-inside-and-out Theater Community, Why are you so effin crazy!? Reading the pages of this blog (and through extensive conversations with friends and colleagues), I've come to recognize some alarming patterns in what we're saying and writing about theater. More often than not, despite the fact that ours is such a collaborative art form:

• We often seem to feel alone in our travails
• We complain that we lack consistent support or mentorship, and
• We remain unconvinced that this field will nurture and sustain us throughout our careers.

Emerging artists feel shut out from the (possibly imagined) power structures and established artists hold their breath waiting for their support to be inevitably diverted to the Next Big Thing. Institutional leaders, meanwhile, struggle to reconcile noble mission statements with the practical reality of running a nonprofit during an economic slowdown. All of us seem resigned to the fact that a life in the theater is unsustainable at best, and at worst, will simply drive you crazy: all around, a bad idea. We've practically given up making theater a profession through which you can raise a family, work consistently, and create opportunities for the generation of artists that will come after us. We take ourselves seriously when we could be light, and we take ourselves lightly when the situation might be dead serious. It doesn't have to be this way, you know. The work we all do today will determine what the field will look like tomorrow. In the meantime, let's get a few things straight. Theater in America could be a fulfilling, stable, sane profession, not just for the lucky (or privileged) few, but for anyone truly willing to devote themselves to it (and willing to possibly look beyond the job title they started out with). The healthier and happier we are as individuals, the better our chances are of doing that important work. And, the more we claim our own power to architect our happiness, the sooner we can achieve it. So, let's try something different. You send me your questions, complaints, rants, or raves. These could be big issue subjects or not so big:

• Is there hope for the American theater?
• Should our theaters be run like the rehearsal room?
• I'm a playwright and I want to direct my own work. Bad idea?
• Sleeping with my collaborators. No sex in the rehearsal room?
• Should I read my reviews?
• My girlfriend says it's her or my career. Can't I have them both?

I'll offer strategies, common sense advice, and maybe a few inspired insights. I will answer one or two questions per month in HowlRound, and as many others as I can get to individually through email. I'm staying anonymous for the duration of this year, at the end of which I'll reveal my identity and pass the torch onto someone else. (Of course, I suppose you could spend a lot of energy trying to figure out who I really am now, but let's all play the game. Don't try to bribe Polly Carl at the next convening. She'll probably take you up on it, and then I'll be out of a job.) Let's find out if an ongoing dialogue between you all and me will help in some small way. Let's talk about our problems and solutions, let's share our strength, offer strategies, and help one another feel that there's someone out there who's listening, not judging, critiquing, evaluating, or deciding whether or not to offer you a job or produce your play. Keep I mind that I don't have the power to make you successful, because I won't know who you are. Send me your questions, don't send me your resume. Speaking of which, who the heck do I think I am, anyway? Here's what I think you need to know about me. I am a freelance theater professional in a big city. I have had multiple jobs within the theater, and this is my first foray into formal advice-giving. I'm here to answer questions from writers, actors, directors, producers, designers, dramaturgs, audience members ... if you've ever even sat in a theater, you are welcome to write me. While the main focus here is professional, as we all know, in our field the personal often is the professional (and vice versa), so bring it on. And of course, your anonymity is of utmost importance to me. Feel free to make up a fake Google address to email me from, or use your normal one - either way, your secret is safe. OK, friends, let 'er rip! With love and admiration, Holler.