When Theater Gives You the Comfort You Need

• Jennifer Butler

Community Theater has always been a supportive community for as long as I have been involved. Although that support has always been there, it was taken to a whole new level after sad events in my life. 

My great uncle, who I was very close to, passed away a couple of years ago. To say that I was devastated doesn’t even begin to cover how I felt.

It took one email and one Facebook posting for my community theater friends to reach out in support. Both old friends and people I just recently started working with for the first time, responded. What amazed me most were the people that I had just started working with as they reached out in support and offered condolences like we had been friends for years.

How I made it through that tech week, I will probably never know. Dealing with a life-changing event while putting on a show is no easy task but in the end, whether or not you are ready, opening night will come. In this case, there aren’t enough words of gratitude to thank those who went above and beyond their jobs to help me get prepared for the show’s opening. Both old and new community theater friends stepped up during that difficult time. They helped me to stay on track while still allowing me to grieve as I needed to.

Lending an ear means more than most people think. I know how lucky I am to know these people and that is something I am grateful for and wouldn’t trade the world for.

Photo: Drama Learning Center | Columbia , MD