Today we’d like to introduce you to Paige Conway
Hi Paige, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
So I started as an actor technically, I think most people in the theatre industry do. But I realized as I was pursuing a degree in it that I absolutely hated it and that I was much more of a director/deviser and physical theatre-maker. I grew up as a competitive gymnast (like, over 13 years in that world), and the discovery of physical theatre blew my mind wide open. While I was in school I also started working in prisons and unhoused youth shelters, teaching theatre workshops and devising pieces with the adults and students in those spaces, and it completely changed everything about how I experience and make art.
I graduated from Michigan State University in 2015 and basically walked out of school straight into an opportunity to join Actors’ Equity, the union, as a stage manager. Then I worked for about 8 years all over the state of Michigan as a freelance director, stage manager, and educator.
During the pandemic I was realizing it was time for a change, and looking for a little more stability, so I started looking for producing and arts administrator jobs out of state. I was looking for a space where I could move the needle on some of the negative aspects of this work that I’d experienced as an artist continuously. That’s when I found Cleveland Public Theatre, and it felt like things lined up with exactly what I was looking for – this idea of finding a space that was truly community-centered, I didn’t think I would actually find one. But when I got offered the job (Associate Producer), I relocated to Cleveland, and I’ve been here for about two and a half years now, working as a producer and director.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Is it ever truly a smooth road working in the arts, haha?
I’ve had a lot of luck in my career, but it’s been a lot of hustling, lots of long hours and working multiple shows and gigs at a time, lots of uncertainty, for sure. But for the years that I wanted that, I was able to piece together enough work to work as a freelancer full-time without needing the “survival job” to get me through. It was never a sure thing – I spent all of those years worrying about whether I was going to find the next gig so I could make my rent payment, but the work paid off. I was able to make some great relationships with people who continued to call me for jobs. I’m immensely grateful to those who saw the potential in my work, especially in those early years.
I think there were definitely the usual struggles of being a young woman playing a man’s game – I noticed it the most as a director. It was challenging to get people to take me seriously in that role, especially when I was in my early 20s. Even though I had the training and more experience than those who were twice my age. I think the industry still functions this way, but I can see it shifting slightly. I hope that trend continues.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Most of my career I’ve been known as an artist. Cleveland might know me better as an arts administrator, but I hope that perspective is slowly changing to include “artist” as well.
Primarily I’m a director. I work most closely with stories relating to womens’ experiences and the things society often blows past. When I think of the art I’m most proud of, it’s been with physical theatre and exploring the way bodies come into contact with each other and with objects. I’m always trying to understand the tension that exists in those spaces and how we can use it to our advantage. I use physicality on stage as a way to explore subtext and make the figurative literal – to explore what it means to experience a story both audibly and visually, and witness the space between those two versions of the story. I think maybe the truth lives somewhere in between those two. I like to give audiences the tools to make up their own minds about those truths.
My proudest show to date, I think, was a piece I directed at Cleveland Public Theatre in the spring called ‘Funny, Like An Abortion’. It was a stellar team, an incredible cast, a great script. And my collaborators brought such bravery to the table every day. Every idea I threw out, they found a way to take it and deepen it. It was an all-women creative team, and to get to tell that story with them was so special. It was a team who truly came in every day and just did the work with joy – which, how often do you get to say that about an abortion show? I don’t know that I’ll ever have another show that feels quite like that one did. And our set designer, Laura Carlson-Tarantowski, put like 500 coat hangers on the set – how amazing is that?!
The last few years I’ve returned to a writing practice, too, and I think “playwright” is being added to my multi-hyphenate titles more and more often. I’ve begun to explore women’s stories from this space as “creator” instead of “interpreter” and… it’s scary! But I think that’s why I keep coming back to it. I’ve always known that when I no longer feel nervous about something, it’s time to move on. So I know that when it’s scary, it means I still care deeply about it. It’s nice to stretch these muscles again – I used to write full novels ALL the time as a kid, and then put it down when I moved into theatre. I’m glad to be working in this space again. Even as a playwright, I’m playing with physicality in the script and playing with format.
My work with physicality is really deeply rooted in my body and my experience as a competitive gymnast. It’s been really eye-opening to bring that knowledge into a rehearsal room and a rehearsal process. In the US we put SO much pressure on actors to work from this cerebral place, but it’s not super healthy for most people. We can’t easily remove stress from our brains. But we can easily remove that stress from the body. The older I get, the more I see this truth playing out in front of me. And as theatres begin to do more and more art rooted in social justice, it becomes more important than ever that we’re offering our artists a way to get that stress out of their bodies so they don’t have to carry it with them every day. So I focus on telling stories in such a way that there’s not just a catharsis for an audience, but so that the actors on stage are also able to have that catharsis through movement. There’s something that happens sometimes – it really feels like magic – there’s this simultaneous healing that happens in those moments. We all walk out of that theatre a little different than when we walked in, at a cellular level. And I think that’s what I’m always striving for. If I could leave one legacy behind with my work and the artists I’ve worked with, I hope that it’s that.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
Oh man… I don’t know!
I’m kind of a huge science nerd. With the way I work with physicality, it’s probably not a huge surprise that I’m fascinated by how the body works, but I spend a lot of time learning about the actual science of our biology and the way it connects us to everything. When I was in high school, trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life, I almost went into microbiology. I’m so curious about viruses and bacteria. There are these artists who create replicas of well-known paintings (like ‘Starry Night’) out of bacteria in petri dishes… they’re so beautiful! If I had those skills, I would definitely do that.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.paigeconway.com
- Instagram: @paigemcon
