My journey with MCT began when I moved to Missoula after graduating from Southern Utah University at the beginning of 2024. I didn’t know anyone, and I cold emailed the lovely Sarah Thornton (Box Office manager and director extraordinaire) about getting involved with MCT’s community production of The Play That Goes Wrong. Miracle of miracles, she answered this random email from a stranger and took me under her wing as an assistant director. We bonded over our shared love of Shakespeare (I grew up in Bozeman watching Montana Shakespeare in the Parks and went on to study classical acting in college) and we became fast friends.
From that first MCT community show on, I was in love with the welcoming, fun, hardworking community that is the Missoula Children’s Theatre–and by summer 2024, I was a Tour Actor/Director touring the Midwest with Robin Hood. Since then, I’ve worked with Sarah again on A Midsummer Night’s Dream and toured The Snow Queen for the Winter/Spring tour. Now, I am happily working in the Tour Logistics office, helping communities prepare for residencies and striving to bring the joy of theatre to as many kids as possible.
If working for MCT has taught me anything, it’s that the kindness of strangers can change the course and shape of your life. What would I be doing now if Sarah hadn’t answered that email? Not only that, but how would MCT’s model work without the legions of kind homestays who allow two people they don’t know to stay in their home? Or the willingness of Tour Actors to be partnered with someone they may have never met?
As a Tour Actor/Director, every week begins in a room full of strangers. And through the magical alchemy of the arts, by the end of the week that room of strangers has become a team that’s made lifelong memories together.
From a young age we are told about “stranger danger”. What if instead of looking at strangers as a threat, we looked at every stranger as a potential friend, mentor, or teammate? Of course, not everyone is destined to be the best of chums, but working with MCT has shown me the power of the arts in turning strangers into fellow human beings full of laughter, feelings, and stories. It has turned me into a more optimistic person, and a greater lover of humanity.
Not only has MCT been the catalyst for millions of strangers to become something greater to each other, but it also asks something of the people that participate in it. It’s often difficult to find things that challenge us to open ourselves up to new places and people. MCT’s model demands the kindness of strangers, and I believe this is a large reason why it is so successful. Expecting the best of people helps them to live up to their potential for kindness.
As I work, I trace the route of each tour team, and I imagine the friendships that bloom and spread as a result of two strangers that roll into town. And as I read evaluations, I see the ripple effects of kind words, hard work, and open minds. Strangers connecting, turning into friends, colleagues, lovers, enemies. Through the arts, the monotony of anonymity is erased, and the world is made richer and more colorful. If that’s not worth being a part of, I don’t know what is.