We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kyle Clark. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kyle below.

Kyle, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

My decision to become an Artist, I would say, started with a rather large risk. Growing up around Flint Michigan, there weren’t that many creative outlets aside from a few theatres across the majority of the state. And I had spent eight years working as a Janitor to help pay for Undergrad as well as bartending/concession gigs at this theatre in town. And both of these jobs were helpful, but I couldn’t put away the feeling at night that something was missing or there was something else I should be doing–I just had a complete lack of fulfillment and content-ness in my life. And no matter what I did, I couldn’t shake that rock in the pit of my stomach. This feeling went on for a long time until I decided–really as a lark–to take a couple hundred dollars I had saved and drive down to Chicago for MFA Grad School auditions, because I figured why not? The worst that could happen is every school turns me down and then I end up back in the Flint area where I was already. Thankfully, I found a Grad program that I thought would suit me. So I packed up everything I could store in my car and drove 23 hours across the country to attend the University of Houston.

Kyle, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m obsessed with stories. I care not what kind of story, whether it’s Fantasy, Theatre, Movies, Podcasts, Sci-Fi, Opera, Ballet–you name it. Any story being told is a story I want to enjoy. To me, stories are how we elevate the magic of our world into something tangible and sharable with others. Stories are my religion, they’re my church. And through that, any place I work to craft these stories becomes a save haven or a lifeline to keep me afloat. As an artist, my goal is to create stories. Primarily, I am a Teacher, Actor and Fight Choreographer. I also participate in Playwriting, Voice Over work and Musical Composition on the side. I started out writing–my undergrad degree is in Technical Writing from the University of Michigan-Flint. My mission has always been to build and conduct challenging work within a safe environment that elevates the performers and students. It’s about giving people the space to be open and vulnerable while providing support and learning opportunities to grow. They need to know it’s okay and actually encouraged to fail, make mistakes, try again and fail again. Only in the repetition of failure do we tend to find the hidden gold on stage and in the classroom. Funny enough, I never had much interest in acting until I saw my brother’s production of “Our Lady of 121st Street” and for whatever reason, that story affected me in a certain way and I started playing around with the craft–taking classes, auditioning for ten-minutes and one-acts at the university when I could find them. Seeing shows as often as I could. I got a job as a bartender at a local theatre just to be around the environment. Eventually I was cast in “Romeo and Juliet” and not only got a hand in acting but in stage combat as well and that was it for me. I fell in love with Shakespeare, Eugene O’neill, Stage Combat, Richard Greenberg, Suzuki, Intimacy Choreography and pretty much anything I could get my hands on. However, I couldn’t make a living doing all of this in Michigan, so I relocated to Houston. I’ve always loved teaching. In High School I tutored middle schoolers, in Undergrad I taught Shakespeare in the Genesee County Juvenile Justice Center for several years, I’ve taught Kindergarten all the way through Grad School and I never get tired of it. Now, I instruct actors and students of all calibers in acting techniques and stage combat. I’ve taught at the Univ. of Houston, Univ. of Michigan, Rice Univ., Lone Star Montgomery, The LaVilla School of the Performing Arts (Jacksonville, Florida), The Douglas Anderson School of the Performing Arts (Jacksonville) and several other middle and high schools within the Houston school district. As a Fight Director, I’ve choreographed violence for venues such as: the Alley Theatre, Rec Room Arts, Unity Theatre, Dirt Dogs Theatre Co., Houston Shakespeare Festival, Univ. of Houston and Univ. of Michigan. As an actor, I specializing in Clowning, Shakespeare, Classical and Realism and Naturalism. I’ve performed with Rec Room Arts, Dirt Dogs Theate Co, Unity Theatre, Riverside Theatre, Houston Shakespeare Festival, Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre, Michigan Shakespeare Festival, Water Works Theatre Co. and a handful of other venues.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

For me, theatre is about the “others”. What I mean is, your scene partner and the audience. As a performer or choreographer, we are making these stories for the audience but we find the real truth between the scene partners. So what becomes the most rewarding aspect for me, is when an audience member or scene partner is affected by my participation. They’re forced to broaden their horizons or they begin to look at the world, another person, another situation differently than they had before. A broadening of empathy which to me, really comes from a broadening of understanding. So when I see someones world grow a little bigger because of a story I helped put in front of them, that is the highest reward.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

This is probably going to sound a little therapy-ish, however, I think the big thing that I’ve had to learn, is that you are more than the childhood you had. You are more than your home town. You are more than your past mistakes, you are more than your failures, you’re even more than your successes. While those things may help shape you, they do not define you. You are who you choose to be. I do believe people can change and change for the better, this is something I’ve seen. And I do believe that you are capable of doing for more than you think you can. After all, life is short. You might as well do your best to push past your limits. For me, I never thought I would leave Flint. I assumed I’d be a painter and remodel houses or be a janitor for the rest of my life because that was what the city around me offered and I thought I could only rise to meet the challenge of what the city offered. What I learned is that Flint is only one small city and so many other cities offer so many more challenges to meet. I had to leave my home town in order to grow. I don’t think everyone has to do this but I think everyone has to realize that the only bar that is being set for you, is being set by you. Everything is temporary and everything changes. But you have to survive in your own body and mind for the duration so you might as well furnish that mind and body with everything you can. Furnish it with everything that makes you light up and love the world around you.

Contact Info:

• Website: kylerclark.com

Image Credits
Tasha Gorel Pin Lim Rob Merritt