Can LGBT professionals be “out and proud” in technical theatre?

[Jivemaster]

My main concern about this project topic is that IMO it will make you unemployable.

 

You will turn up to interview, and end up having to discuss your final year project which will be so contentious that no-one will continue the interview to find any real skills which you may have. IMO your college should realise that you will have a hard time entering the industry with this project (which also counts against them - there are tables of successful leavers)

 

Your final year is there to set you up for employment, you must play your part by making yourself as employable as possible, especially nothing contentious should be in your mind, writings or thoughts -it makes employers uncomfortable.

 

Realistically a project about the "colour palette for Arthurian costume" qr "the permanence of flame retardence in synthetic fabrics" (just two spurious ideas of mine) would be seen as on topic and non contentious and maybe get you a better interview.

 

Beware that a mature interview board may also contain closet LGBT (etc) members who do NOT want outing til they chose.

[scjb]

You will turn up to interview, and end up having to discuss your final year project which will be so contentious that no-one will continue the interview to find any real skills which you may have. IMO your college should realise that you will have a hard time entering the industry with this project (which also counts against them - there are tables of successful leavers)

Jive has hit the nail on the head here. You are forcing yourself to talk politics at interview... that's never an easy one.

[OllieDuff]

I responded to the OP's request and we had a very interesting conversation on the subject of out LGBT people in the workplace. As well as being intellectually interesting to compare the theatre to other industries, it also highlighted instances in my own experience where the industry has not been even-handed in its treatment of straight and LGBT people - the most extreme example being a venue crew chief referring to a drag act as a "freak show", within earshot of the incoming production. Food for thought, when people talk about the theatre as a welcoming and open-minded environment for LGBT people.

 

My main concern about this project topic is that IMO it will make you unemployable.

 

Perhaps those with more experience in recruiting for theatre may feel differently, but my gut instinct is that if someone goes to a job interview and is deemed unemployable based on the topic of their dissertation title, they probably don't have the knowledge or transferable skills to have got the job. There are people in my cohort at uni who wrote dissertations which are, based on their title and subject matter, of no relevance to an employer (pure mathematicians, theologians and philosophers, stand up) but are now gainfully employed, because the fact that they could write a well-structured dissertation is indicative of the ability to commit to a project, to organise one's time effectively, work independently and to apply a rational, methodical approach to a problem.

 

You will turn up to interview, and end up having to discuss your final year project which will be so contentious that no-one will continue the interview to find any real skills which you may have. IMO your college should realise that you will have a hard time entering the industry with this project (which also counts against them - there are tables of successful leavers)

 

Your final year is there to set you up for employment, you must play your part by making yourself as employable as possible, especially nothing contentious should be in your mind, writings or thoughts -it makes employers uncomfortable.

 

Realistically a project about the "colour palette for Arthurian costume" qr "the permanence of flame retardence in synthetic fabrics" (just two spurious ideas of mine) would be seen as on topic and non contentious and maybe get you a better interview.

 

I'm not intimately familiar with the course towards which the OP is studying, but a quick Google search shows that the final year consists of the aforementioned project, a six-week work placement in the industry and two terms as an SM/PM, DSM or Costume Supervisor of in-house productions. Looking at the way the course is composed, it seems to me that the project offers an opportunity to demonstrate more cerebral, analytical skills in contrast with placements and production roles which are tailored (no pun) to showcase practical, on-the-job SM and costuming skills. Surely an interviewer who's uncomfortable with the subject matter of a project has plenty of material to talk about aside from this? If the interviewer views the OP negatively simply because they are uncomfortable with discussing LGBT people in the industry, they have demonstrated why attitudes towards LGBT professionals in theatre may need to be looked at more carefully - though I'd like to think that as a society we've moved on from the days when a person with strong opinions on LGBT rights/feminism/race relations/contentious-topic-of-your-choice is immediately seen as a subversive or potential troublemaker.

 

If any recent Guildhall alumni would like to chime in and correct some of my guesswork and wild conjecture, this is your cue.

 

Beware that a mature interview board may also contain closet LGBT (etc) members who do NOT want outing til they chose.

 

To the best of my knowledge, there is no rule that says that a closeted person is required to out themselves before participating in a discussion about LGBT individuals - am I missing something obvious in this statement?

[paulears]

I'm beginning to believe that in fact, our assertion that it doesn't matter is actually a comfortable shield we use to make sure the issues have no impact on our job, or public attitude, when the reality is that for people we know and respect, it doesn't matter - while for those we do not wish to know, and have little respect for (for whatever reason) it does matter, but we ignore it.

 

I don't wish to trivialise the issue, but there will always be people we don't wish to associate with - and there are many traits that kind of annoy us. I've got to say that in terms of simple association, I avoid sport centred people, heavy drinkers, and minority religious groups far more than LGBT groups.

[Jivemaster]

It's a perfectly good project, and I guess that given enough respondents the OP can show powers of getting facts and organising them to a logically justifiable conclusion.

 

However IMO turning up to interview with a project like this may not be a positive experience, part of the interview will be to assess technical knowledge and skill, part will be to determine whether the interviewee will fit in with the team. When the aim of the interviewee's interview is not to rock the boat why poke holes in the boat.

 

Worthwhile jobs are hard enough to secure these days, the final year at college/uni is there for students to place themselves in the real world and everything should be chosen to support this.