What’s in a name?

It was recently suggested to me that I run workshops as a way of supplementing my income. I instinctively discarded the idea as unrealistic, before returning to question why I believe this to be true. At what point do we actually become professionals in this business?

I’ve run a number of workshops in the past and all of them have been free. But the main reason for this is that I’ve never even considered charging the participants a fee. In my opinion I don’t have the ‘professional experience’ necessary to justify charging. But then what really counts as ‘professional experience’ when so many of us gain it in this industry by doing work for free?

Most simply, you are a professional when paid for the work that you do, but in the theatre world where a vast majority are freelancers it seems the individual has more of a role to play in determining their own level of professionalism. So can I just start calling myself one?

Evidently being a professional also has a lot to do with the attitude that you have to your work. I would have no qualms as describing myself as professional in this respect and yet whenever I see ‘must have professional directing experience’ on an application form I instantly shy away.

In most perspectives I have had a fair amount of experience. I directed four productions as part of a university drama society – but although I was solely in charge of managing the budget and all production elements, I don’t consider this ‘professional experience’ due to its attachment to a university. I have recently established my own theatre company, through which I’ve run workshops and put on a production in a theatre in Brighton. I call myself co-artistic director of this company, which I am, and yet I still don’t call myself a professional. Why?

I suppose it has a lot to do with the way I see myself in relation to others working in my field; my limited experience compared to their vast amounts. But everybody has to start somewhere and maybe that somewhere is the labeling of yourself as ‘a professional’. (I am aware of the fact that whilst questioning my professional status I am writing for a publication entitled ArtsProfessional.)

Of course it is partly about training and the small matter of talent, but if we don’t value our own experience be that ‘professional’ or not then how can we expect anybody else to? Perhaps getting ahead in, or indeed into, this business is also about having guts. About having the confidence to call yourself a professional even if you haven’t been paid for any work yet – how many of us even get paid for this work anyway? If you have the confidence in yourself and the work that you do, and you come across as professional to others, then eventually you will become a fully-fledged professional.