Last week I wrote about loneliness and finding community outside of drama school, but what about in your rehearsal room… can’t you find community and real relationship there too?

Yes, you can. But to do that you have to become a culture setter. You can’t be passive. You can’t be apathetic. Real relationship is something you have to fight for. Some good questions to ask yourself, journal about, pray over are:

Am I someone my coursemates can trust?

Do I feel like I need to hide my weaknesses and mistakes?

Am I quick to encourage and celebrate others' successes, genuinely?

Be someone your coursemates can trust. Where they know that you’re not going to put them down in the wings. That behind their back, you’re not going to mask gossip with the veil of constructive criticism. It’s never constructive if it’s done behind their back. 

Be someone who is vulnerable and real: share your weaknesses, failings, and struggles as well as your joy, hope, and wins. You don’t need to feel like you have to have it all together all the time. You will find some days hard and that’s okay. You won’t always get it quite right. God knows you’re not perfect and there is grace in abundance for you. So if you know you haven’t honoured someone, apologise, learn from it, and get up again.

Be someone who is quick to encourage and celebrate others successes. People on your course are not your competition, they are, like you, one of God’s masterpieces who has their own life planned out. That’s massively freeing because it means you can actually celebrate others knowing that their success doesn’t highlight a failure in you. God’s got things lined up for you, he works all things together for good, and his timing is perfect.

To find real relationship in drama school, you have to fight to be the friend you're looking for. 

‘Love your neighbour as yourself.

Mark 12:31