Interviewing to ‘Work’ at the Grimm Hotel

After emailing Cahoots NI[1] regarding a placement, I received a response from the Creative Engagement Manager, Emma, who suggested a zoom interview on July 2nd at 3pm. The zoom meeting was only about an hour long, and after initial introductions, Emma asked me what I was planning on doing regarding my degree once I graduated, and I informed her that I ultimately hope to work on the West End and then go home and work on Broadway, but to have Belfast be my home base.

I told Emma that I hoped this placement would help give me the skills to better understand how theatre companies work, especially since I have good experience knowing how the work from onstage, but very little experience of how they work backstage. Because Cahoots is primarily children’s theatre, she wanted to know if I had any experience working with or performing for children; I informed her that my primary experience regarding performances for children comes from working with Reno Dance Company[1] as well as my years in Young Chautauqua[2].

              We talked for a while about the type of children’s theatre Cahoots creates, and Emma told me a bit about the new show they were working on putting together for Halloween, The Grimm Hotel. She asked if I’d ever hear of Grimm’s Fairy tales, and when I told her that I had, she said that this show would be a twist on Hansel and Gretel, Red Riding Hood, and The Shoemaker and the Elves, combining magic and music to tell the famous children’s stories in an interactive, walkthrough setting. She said that most of the work I would do would primarily be helping her behind the scenes and asked if there were any questions that I had regarding what the placement would entail or how Cahoots was run.

Honest about Anxiety

            I had a couple of questions but struggled to word them accurately and apologized for stammering, stating that I tend to suffer from anxiety when it comes to interviews of any kind, and Emma merely laughed and said that it was all right, she was the same, that I was doing fine so far and to relax. Hearing that I wasn’t the only one to suffer from interview anxiety helped me to relax more and focus better on the interview and my answers to the questions Emma asked.

            She mentioned that I communicated very professionally over email, and I informed her that I often have an easier time expressing myself in writing than I do in words. Emma informed me that part of why she requested the interview was the fact that I was very professional in my emails when I wrote to them asking if they would be doing placement with Queens students, and that the amount of work on my resume in regard to children’s theatre had peaked her interest.  

            Throughout the interview, I was able to not just reflect on my experiences in theatre so far, but to also understand how speaking about my experiences not just performing in children’s theatre but working in it and with children in my dance company back home showed my amateur expertise of working with children and putting productions together, even though I tend to massively doubt my own knowledge in the skills I’ve learned[3] and that with this placement, I could help to fine tune my skills as well as gain more confidence when it comes to perfecting those skills.

Balancing Act

            Over the course of the interview, it became easier and easier to talk with Emma. Ironically, once I admitted that I was diagnosed with Lupus SLE in 2016, it was easier to relax and truly focus on the interview, especially when Emma told me that she understands the ‘balancing act’ because she suffers from Crohn’s and knew what it was like to have to balance everything enough that it wouldn’t affect her life. When asked how I was able to work around my diagnosis regarding performing, I told her that I must pick and choose the everything I do to avoid becoming overwhelmed[4], and then fit what I choose to do around work and classes.

             I informed her that I try to keep my flares to a minimum, but they sometimes appear suddenly, and unfortunately, I have no control over them[5], but that I make sure to let those I’m working with know my diagnosis and if I’m in a flare and if I get to the point where I’m feeling like I need to rest, I take everything in bite-sized pieces until I feel as though I can get back up to speed. I also informed her that I do tend to get overwhelmed and work with a goal of perfection, something that is not always attainable[6], and can add much more stress than I need. She informed me that they would be willing to work with me regarding my lupus as well as my classes, and for me to keep them informed on my health, of which I agreed that I would.

            Once the interview ended, I reminded myself that I had clearly done well in the interview, and that Emma had suggested I come by the first week of September to meet everyone and see the office and fill out a bit of paperwork. Realizing that I had seemed to pass my interview and that I’d start at Cahoots in September improved my confidence, even if slightly, and that maybe I would be able to do well in my placement, something I worried about. Realizing that the work I’d listed on my resume had also helped me get the placement, made me feel more confident that I had communicated properly with Emma regarding my placement and that my own skills not just working in children’s theatre, but my resume had helped me secure a placement.

Bibliography

Cahoots Northern Ireland. https://cahootsni.com/  

Daskal, Lolly. How to Perform Under Tremendous Pressure and Succeed Anyway. https://www.lollydaskal.com/leadership/how-to-perform-under-tremendous-pressure-and-succeed-anyway. 2015.

Great Basin Young Chautauqua. https://www.nevadahumanities.org/great-basin-young-chautaqua

 Lupus UK. When an Employee Has Lupus: An Employer’s Guide. https://www.lupusuk.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/When-An-Employee-Has-Lupus-V2.0.pdf. 2012.

Reno Dance Company. https://www.facebook.com/renodancecompany.

Schon, Donald A. The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action. Basic Books, Inc. United States of America. 1983.

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Footnotes

[1]https://cahootsni.com/ Cahoots Northern Ireland

[2] https://www.facebook.com/renodancecompany Reno Dance Company, Reno, Nevada.

[3] https://www.nevadahumanities.org/great-basin-young-chautaqua Great Basin Young Chautauqua, Reno, Nevada

[3] Schon, Donald A. 1983. The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action. Basic Books, Inc. United States of America.

[4, 5] Lupus UK. 2015. When an Employee Has Lupus: An Employer’s Guide. https://www.lupusuk.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/When-An-Employee-Has-Lupus-V2.0.pdf. Accessed 24 November 2021.

[6] Daskal, Lolly. (2015) How to Perform Under Tremendous Pressure and Succeed Anyway. https://www.lollydaskal.com/leadership/how-to-perform-under-tremendous-pressure-and-succeed-anyway. Accessed 24 November 2021.