Selina Thompson: I wish I’d known…

I wish I’d known… Our series of interviews with theatre makers sharing their experiences of working in the industry

MGCfutures speaks to Performance Artist and 2016 Bursary recipient, Selina Thompson

When did you decide on your current career path?

I’ve sort of vaguely always known I wanted to perform or be in theatre, since I was at school, really, but I was, understandably, put off by the idea of not being able to make a living. I think things really sort of solidified for me in my last year of university when I was being an annoying student and observing Invisible Flock make a show at the Crucible in Sheffield. It was the first time when I got a sense of what a whole holistic life as an artist – with a company and a structure, and one project leading to another – could look like, and once I’d seen it, it felt easier to go for it.

What prompted your decision?

The circumstances above, but also seeing lots of one person theatre shows, cabaret and live art, and feeling really empowered and excited by the notion of making what I wanted to make, not having to wait around for the phone to ring, or hope that a playwright would write a play with a part I wanted to do, that a theatre wanted to put on, that then wanted to cast me! I could just build what I wanted to build and get on with it! Also, I could have performance as a political outlet, I could write and perform: and I did love writing.

What was the biggest challenge you faced in the beginning?

What has been one of the greatest rewards?

I think it is one of the great privileges of my life that I am engaged in work that is meaningful to me. Not all day every day, but some of each day. So many people work jobs that are dispiriting, or which do not nurture their entire spirit, and my job does, from time to time. This is a huge reward in and of itself. Also, not to be all Ethel Merman about life, but Theatre People are great. Annoying. Weird. Wonderful.

What advice would you give the younger you just starting out?

Nothing career specific. All artists have to make a new way, because so much of practice is defined by context. But I would tell her to learn how to swim earlier, and get into the habit of going three times a week, and also to build a daily meditation practice. It can really help, and building those habits from the start is easier than trying to build them on top of messy maladaptive habits that you’ve formed in a way that is not mindful.