Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tia Shearer Bassett. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Tia, thanks for joining us today. Can you recount a story of an unexpected problem you’ve faced along the way?
When I turned 39, I formed an LLC to self-produce my own theatre work, after almost 20 years as a professional actor in other people’s productions. It had been a mostly-wonderful almost-20 years of work, but I was now a mom, and nearing middle age, and very ready to have more control over my career. I didn’t just want to practice my art when someone gave me permission to do so. I had too much to give, and too much yearning to grow. I had desire and imagination (and bills to pay) and PLANS. It turned out, I also had a rare cancer.
The diagnosis came about a month after my birthday and my big business-move. Everything came to a screeching halt.
I was told that my sarcoma was very rare and aggressive, but curable. We had to move fast, though. Thus began a year of intense chemotherapy, with a break for surgery in the middle.
I lost my hair, lost my LLC, lost a big gig at the Kennedy Center – a solo show I was supposed to star in; my chemo proved too grueling for me to have the energy or time to run around on a stage. I was in the infusion center for hours, M-F, every few weeks, and resting/healing/slogging through the side effects on the weeks between. (My family and community, “Schitt’s Creek” and Critical Role were crucial here!)
I am about 4 years into remission now, and so, SO grateful for it. But I’m not sharing this story to tell you about what I’m doing now that I’m healthy again. I shared about this scary and terribly unexpected and wildly challenging time in order to tell you that…I surprised myself with the art I made DURING and BECAUSE OF that time.
When I was feeling well enough during treatment, I would record myself performing brief scenes of a project I had been working on with two other artists for years, on and off. This was meant to just be a way to continue the momentum on the project, but to our surprise, our whole concept for the piece changed as we saw how well it worked on a screen. “Edward and Christine” is now a live Zoom show I’ve been performing and co-producing for a few years. It brings me joy, it delights and moves others; I can perform it on my own schedule; and it has ushered me into a whole world of unconventional theatre that I find absolutely thrilling and inspiring. I’m the creator and curator of a virtual/telephone theatre festival now – The From-Home Fest – and I’m working with a major children’s theatre to provide a live Zoom play to their audiences across the country from me.
I said that everything came to a screeching halt with my diagnosis, but that’s not entirely true.
That screech wasn’t a stop, it was a sharp turn.
And I’m so very glad that I found what I found because of it.
I am not someone who thinks that everything happens for a reason.
But I do very much believe that something wonderful can come from anything, anywhere. And many wonderful things came from my cancer time, including a new, enriching, and beautifully Tia-shaped path for my art and career.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I am a career theatre-maker. This usually, for me, takes the form of actor, producer, deviser or playwright, but sometimes it means one of my plays wants to be a graphic novel instead…so I find a great collaborator and make a graphic novel!
I devise nonverbal theatre for floor-seated babies and toddlers.
I perform very verbal theatre for auditoriums full of grownups.
I film a silly YouTube show with my leopard gecko; I stream live object puppetry theatre from my living room.
I write plays that can fit in the palm of your hand, about talking walnuts and singing moons, and rooms full of whispered prayers you can touch.
I have been called “Buster Keaton for babies.”
I have been called a physical actor. Even my fingertips tell a story.
I have been told my work is inescapably warm – there is always a sense of the human, the hurt, the vulnerability of joy, no matter how otherworldly or brutal the character.
Whether for children or grownups, my goal is unselfconscious theatre.
My goal is to find the most delightful way to invite you to open your mind and heart.
My work for children says,
‘You deserve beauty and sophistication. But also, you are totally right: silliness is FANTASTIC.’
My work for grownups says,
‘Remember when you used to play pretend as a child,
and you believed in it wholeheartedly?
You lived so fully in it, breathless from imagined chases
and heart thumping from the lava on the floor?
That time is now.
Sit on the edge of your seat.
Put down the program.
Feel whatever you feel.
We’ve got adventuring to do.’
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
I think it’s hard for people outside my field to know that a career in theatre can manifest in so many different ways. When someone tells you that they act, try not to ask them what you might’ve seen them in, and try not to assume that Broadway and/or Hollywood are their goals. Maybe instead, ask what that – their career as an actor – looks like for them! This is part of a larger and more general piece of advice I wish I could give the whole world. Not that I’m terribly wise, but I offer this insight from the perspective of a career empath and sensitive person: we can let ourselves off the hook regarding our knowledge of other professions and lifestyles, and instead, lean more into real and gentle curiosity.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
It keeps me youthful! By which I mean, my work affects the way I move through the world, so I tend to move through it with a ready smile and an easily-filled-with-wonder heart. Also, with lots of self-generated sound effects, silly voices and bad puns. I think all of this keeps me in touch with something beautiful that we all have as children, that harsh realities and societal ideas of adulthood try to squash. My career comes with downsides for sure – it’s inconsistent, and often missing typical financial benefits, among other things. So I’ll be real: my retirement savings is a sad affair. But that’s because our society is not set up well for people like me. I hope that one day it will be, but until then, I am grateful for what this work DOES give me — like that glint in my eye, and all these great smile-lines. And a community vast enough and loving enough and resourceful enough to help me and my family through a cancer battle.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://tiashearer.weebly.com/
- Instagram: @superfamoustia
- Other: The From-Home Fest is here: https://fromhomefest.com/
Image Credits
DJ Corey Photography LLC