We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Meaghan Simpson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Meaghan below.
Meaghan, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you tell us about a time that your work has been misunderstood? Why do you think it happened and did any interesting insights emerge from the experience?
One moment that comes to mind was my first meeting after signing with a NYC agent. I felt like I was going to finally have the “in” you need to be seen by the theatres, producers, and casting directors that can make a career. I realized soon after sitting down in his office that I was way off. Sure—he could get me into great auditions at great theatres, but I would have to trade in my dignity.
The critical moment of the meeting was when he asked me what roles I thought I should be auditioning for. I gave him a short list of female characters from commonly produced plays. One of the roles I suggested was a strong female character that happens to be the object of desire for many of the men in the play. When the agent heard this he laughed in my face for a while and finally said, “You???!”
Okay. Sure. It’s not the cruelest thing that someone can say. I get that. But in the moment it was devastating. There were a million questions bouncing in my head. “Am I unattractive?” “Why am I putting myself through this?” “Who the heck does he think he is?” “Am I delusional?” I was going back and forth frantically from self-righteousness to utter embarrassment and shame. The other voice in my head was yelling: “Think of your mentors. This is not how they treat people. It is possible to be kind and also have artistic integrity.”
After that meeting, the one thing I knew for sure was that I was no longer willing to be driven by the desire to be bought, sold, and traded by anyone unable or unwilling to see my value. It was that moment that changed me from someone needing to be wanted to someone needing to make others feel wanted, and more importantly, recognize their own value.
Being here at the Texas Shakespeare Festival, I work with artists and students that are in the midst of the same struggle that I went through on and off for ten years. I empathize with their insecurities and see them as an opportunity to empower and build instead of devastate and squash.
It’s vitally important to nurture the minds of artists so they have a healthy and realistic view of who they are and what their strengths are. They need these skills to address the subjective views of others almost in equal proportion to the skills of their craft. My goal is to show artists that you can be a theatre-maker and not be arrogant and bitter. You can write your own rules and create your own path, and it may not be the path you thought you’d take–it might be even better.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I started my career as an actor. I studied at the University of Illinois and the University of Delaware’s PTTP for my BFA and MFA actor training, as well as an internship with the Milwaukee Repertory Theater.
Over the course of those years, I began to form a vision of the kind of theatre that I wanted to be a part of: repertory theatre with resident acting companies, heightened language plays, the works of William Shakespeare, and investing deeply in the artistry that those things inherently bring. After a few wonderful gigs at the Utah Shakespeare Festival, Delaware REP, and Milwaukee Rep, I began to find an artistic home at the Texas Shakespeare Festival in Kilgore, Texas where I have been for 14 years.
What started as a summer rep acting gig became a full-time gig serving under the Texas Shakespeare Festival’s founder, Raymond Caldwell. Raymond worked to create an environment rarely found in regional theatre– one of humane treatment towards artists, radical kindness, and people before product This tradition of the Texas Shakespeare Festival is what drew me in and what continues to motivate me since becoming Raymond’s successor as Artistic Director in 2020.
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
The book I am reading right now is called “The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership” by Jim Dethmer, Diana Chapman, and Kaley Warner Klemp. There are many great things to extract from this book, but I think perhaps the most valuable is TAKING RADICAL RESPONSIBILITY.
Imagine if everyone in your workplace took radical responsibility for their actions, removing the need to blame and finger pointing. Problems will arise (they always do) but imagine the time saved if our leaders took a radical level of responsibility for their actions FIRST.
Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?
I think what I wish I knew earlier in my journey is that WE create our own career. You don’t have to wait for someone to give you permission to do your work. Draw it up. Dream it up. There is no rule book. For many years I thought I had to do what someone before me had done, and do it exactly their way. There is no path to follow. You must blaze the trail. And when you do–you will be all the more grateful and satisfied.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.texasshakespeare.com
- Instagram: @meagsimps