Mission-Into-Action

I have a first draft of a mission statement.  I can sit at the bar and tell people about my mission, wine glass in hand.

But what IS a mission statement, or what is it supposed to be?  At its best, it's a sort of North Star, right?  The artistic equivalent of a moral compass.  It should be the thing against which I can measure the art I make, or the actions I take in pursuing work.

Once you've got a mission statement (or artist's statement) on paper, you've got a few options:
(1) Live Up To It (or try to)
(2) Change It
(3) Lie About Following It
(4) Throw It Out
Because a mission only counts if you follow it.

So.  The key question, once I've got a mission draft in hand, is: if I follow my mission, what does that LOOK like?

Here's what I've got:

- It means seeking out and/or self-producing free readings and production opportunities.  It means partnering with organizations that are committed to *truly* low-cost tickets.  That probably means smaller theaters, non-equity theaters, smaller stages at big theaters, site-specific opportunities, and readings.

- It means worrying more about getting my work on its feet, and less about chasing opportunities for it to be seen and/or read by "the right" influential people.  Not that I can't invite them to things, but that my energy can be aimed at the audience I want to reach, rather than the taste-makers.

- It means placing a primacy on good story-telling, breaking the fourth wall, embracing spectacle, embracing magical realism, fostering a connection between my audience members, and between my audience members and the material.  What that connection looks like?  That will depend on the piece.

- It means playing more with the aural tradition of story-telling, and pushing into the idea that making theater is connected to fairy tales, the bible, Sophocles, Homer...to all of our story-tellers, especially the ones who didn't write them down.

-  It means valuing what's TRUTHFUL above what's REAL or REALISTIC.  IT means a commitment to telling the truth, and to digging for some Big Truth With a Capital T.

- It means committing to writing for a long time, even when it isn't easy, even in the face of failure.

- It means screwing up sometimes, and embracing that too.

...or something like that.

That said, a mission is also a living document.  If I've got it, and I believe in it, I should WANT to revisit it, often.  I should WANT to make work that lives up to it.  And a mission SHOULD change, as I do and as my work does -- but it should change intentionally, rather than giving over to mission drift.