Hi there! I coach actors toward integrating this truth into their work:
You are enough.
What do you mean, ‘I am enough’?
‘I am enough’ is an affirmation I use to resist harmful acting industry narratives.
For decades, the acting industry has suggested in subtle and overt ways that in order to succeed as an actor, you must sacrifice and assimilate into their expectations. In other words, your voice, your body, your culture, your accent, your energy input, the color of your skin, your learning needs, your (dis)abilities, your boundaries, etc – all of these, in subtle or not-so-subtle ways, are not ‘enough,’ and you need to change, push harder, and lose your boundaries, if you want to experience success.
So says the acting industry’s ‘grind culture’ narrative, one which is fed by dominator cultures like white supremacy, patriarchy, and capitalism (more about this on my blog).
But ‘grind culture’ is getting pushback.
I’ve spent the last eight years developing approaches and techniques for actors that contribute to this resistance. My coaching centers you; I offer guidance and support as you develop and clarify your creative process. Foundational to my work is my belief that rest and space for imagination are not ‘luxuries’ as grind culture may make them out to be, but rather cornerstones of sustainable, joyful, creative careers.So when I say ‘you are enough,’ I mean:
- Your voice, your body, your culture, YOU, are welcome.
- Your boundaries, consent, and ‘no’ are welcome.
- Your learning needs, rest, and imagination are welcome.
Ready to play? Let’s get started.
Coaching available online or in-person.
Payment plans available at no extra cost.
Cultivate a joyful, sustainable creative practice.
Quick! Help me with my audition.
Got an audition coming up, and need a pair of outside eyes before the big day? Use the adjacent button to schedule a 1.5 hour session. Investment: $50 / session. Payment plans available at no extra cost.
Actor Coaching Packages
Two or more coaching sessions packaged together along a theme.
College Audition Prep
These three coaching sessions are focused on supporting students to cultivate presence, calm, and joy within the audition process.
Layering Technique
Embodied Text Analysis
College Audition Prep
These three coaching sessions are focused on supporting students to cultivate presence, calm, and joy within the audition process.
or
$29/week for 5 weeks
Layering Technique
In two coaching sessions you can learn ‘layering,’ a technique that you can use at home to rehearse, learn lines, and invite creativity back into your work.
or
$23.75/week for 4 weeks
Embodied Text Analysis
Whether you are brand-new, love it like the air you breathe, or avoid it like the plague, these four coaching sessions are designed to help you create an approach to text analysis that works for you.
or
$32.50/week for 6 weeks
A Bit About Me
Hi, I’m Caitlin, pronouns she/her and they/them. I’m a teacher and an artist, gathering wisdom on how we can build nourishing, sustainable creative lives in the midst of a white supremecist capitalist patriarchy.
I’m a white, queer, American theatre educator and practitioner, as well as the co-founder and Artistic Managing Director of Enso Theatre Ensemble based out of Portland, Oregon. I’ve taught, directed, and performed with a variety of companies in the U.S., including the Utah Shakespeare Festival, the Ashland New Plays Festival, Third Rail Mentorship Company, and Enso Theatre Ensemble.
I'm back in the U.S. after completing my MFA in Actor Training and Coaching at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London. While there, I researched socio-cultural contributors to student burnout in actor training, focusing on scarcity mindset and the Human Giver Syndrome framework, as articulated by Kate Manne and Emily and Amelia Nagoski. I argued for the integration of a 'love ethic' in higher education actor training as one possible response to the pervasiveness of student burnout. I also taught devising and resiliency skills to B.A. acting students as part of a class called 'Performing the Self' at Rose Bruford College.
My work intentionally straddles the boundary between creativity as an art form, and creativity as a therapeutic practice. Supporting my ability to traverse this boundary with care and responsibility is my 10+ year mindfulness practice. This includes years of self-study, as well as a 6-month yoga teacher training at Yoga Refuge, and the Mindfulness for Youth-Serving Professionals course with Peace in Schools. I also hold a certificate in Mental Health First Aid.
Outside the theatre, I'm an avid lover of table-top role-playing games like Dungeons and Dragons, tea drinking, ritual, and history, and enjoy long walks through the forests of the Pacific Northwest.
CONTACT
I work and live on the unceded lands of the Clackamas people, the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, and the Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla people, known by its colonial name of Portland, OR.
© 2022 Caitlin Lushington
Rest & Love in Creative Living
Let's chat! In this email "newsletter," I respond to your questions on finding sustainability and creative fulfillment in our wild and challenging industry. I'll also send along stories, musings, and other bits of inspiration. Submit your questions to caitlinlushington@gmail.com.
