What it Takes to Be a Goodly Creature (and a Great Artist)

At Goodly Creatures, we cast shows differently. Namely, we ask why an actor would like to come on this journey with us as requirement of every submission.

Questions like this are usually reserved for job interviews, but in our minds, an audition is our chance to get to know you.

Goodly takes risks. Our shows are often original or contemporary adaptations that delve deep into understanding the human experience below the surface. To accomplish this, our artists must be brave, compassionate, and inspired. To be with Goodly, you need to prepare for a journey, indeed!

Why Brave?

As actors, we employ empathy deliberately and consciously. In our lives, artists tend to feel profoundly, and actors are the conduit for the expression of the deepest, darkest parts of our humankind-ness. We are living, breathing, moving artistic expressions, and to do this, we must be comfortable being incredibly vulnerable. We are the face of the hero, the villain, and everyone in between, and must be able to return to ourselves once the curtain closes.

Why Compassionate?

This seems like a no-brainer, but I’m not just referring to having compassion for a character. Compassion for the character we play is essential, but compassion for our cast members is just as important. To be vulnerable enough to create freely, we must feel safe. To feel safe, we must be surrounded by artists who also care about us. A cast, no matter how small, is a family. And, as a healthy family, we must raise each other up, and help each other to feel accepted, trusted, and appreciated. This means that no matter what happens outside our rehearsal, we enter a safe space to be ourselves and create from within, without fear of rejection, judgement, or isolation. The Dalai Lama said “compassion is the radicalism of our time,” and he’s right. Our compassion makes us radical, and makes our art all the more honest and inspiring.

Why Inspired?

Inspired is such a general term that it typically conjures an image of a lightbulb hovering over our heads, but we don’t just mean full of great ideas— we mean you have the fire to put them to use! Thinking and doing are two very different things, and at Goodly, we are a team of do-ers! We are eager and motivated to put thought to paper, and paper to performance. We don’t let an idea bloom and wither, we water it with our tears, and nurture it with our inner light. Everything we do at Goodly was once a seed of a thought that we nurtured as a team to help it to blossom. Inspired isn’t just one lightbulb, inspired refers to the passion and light that emanates out from our auras, and manifests through our hands and hearts.

We are so profoundly grateful for the brave, compassionate, and inspired artists we have gathered to create for you, and as we expand, we cannot wait to bring more incredible Goodly Creatures to our team.

By Katrina Syrris

Founder & Owner

Goodly Creatures Theatre

Copyright 2019 Katrina Syrris