When I try to think of recent trends in community theatre not a lot comes to mind. The only trends that I can think of are in my own experience in the community.

And in my experience I’ve been experiencing a trend where I take up a bigger role in the production process of the shows we put on. The last few shows I’ve been a part of I’ve taken up new roles like backstage manager, sound technician, lighting technician, and most recently stage manager, who takes on the role of director and oversees the whole production once performances start.

This trend for me has come from my 11 years of experience working as a part of the cast and crew, and watching previous technicians and stage managers run the show and direct me and my peers. As I watched different higher ups leave this community as I got older, and watched younger members join that I could empathize with, I came to the realization that for some the natural progression was to transition from cast member to director, not necessarily those two extremes. So it felt right for me to take up positions with more responsibility as I gained more experience.

This is a trend that is recent for me but I imagine one that’s been around for a long time and becomes a trend for others as they gain experience in the community. This is a hard one for me to come with with more examples of. I feel the experience I have in this community has been pretty static in the sense that I haven’t noticed and new trends coming up .