If You Want to Change Theatre, Stop Auditioning and Start Producing

by Chris Peterson

Here’s something no one tells theatre students: if you want to change this industry, you probably shouldn’t be chasing roles. You should be studying producing.

Not as a backup plan. Not as what you do when the casting tables stop calling your name. But as the real path to power. The real path to impact. The way you can actually fix the things you’re constantly frustrated about.

Because here’s the truth. Actors don’t change the system. Producers do.

They are the ones who decide what stories get told and who gets to tell them. They choose the season. They hire the team. They raise the money. They build the budget. They make the calls that shape entire careers. And most of them have no idea what it’s like to be on the other side of the audition table.

That’s where you come in.

If you’ve spent years studying performance but deep down know you’re not booking the roles, or you’re always the friend, the ensemble, the understudy, maybe it’s time to pivot. Not because you’re giving up, but because you’re waking up.

Theatre needs producers who understand what it means to be overlooked. Who have been in the room. Who have felt the sting of rejection. Who know how this system leaves people out. Theatre needs producers who are tired of gatekeepers and ready to become them with better values, more vision, and a real commitment to equity.

And producing isn’t just a business degree with a playbill stapled to it. It’s creative. It’s artistic. It’s problem-solving and world-building and advocacy all rolled into one. You get to shape the kind of theatre that exists, not just hope to be in someone else's version of it.

So take producing seriously. Study it. Learn how seasons are programmed. Learn how to fundraise. Learn how to write a compelling pitch. Learn how to support artists, how to manage egos, how to balance a budget and build a team and actually get a show on its feet.

Talk to your professors. See if your school offers producing courses or ask why they don’t. Volunteer to help line produce a student show. Sit in on budget meetings. Intern in the production office. Read about nonprofit boards. Learn what a 501(c)(3) actually is. Read contracts. Ask questions.

Because once you do, you’ll never wait for permission again.

We need producers who don’t just want a credit. We need producers who want to change the rules. If you’re someone who looks around at this industry and thinks, “This could be so much better,” then congratulations. You’re already thinking like a producer.

So stop trying to squeeze yourself into a casting box. Step into the role where you can actually make change. Theatre will always need great performers. But the future belongs to the ones who build the stage in the first place.