Stage management and education: an empathetic approach

From a young age, Davis was always considered an emotional and caring person. When she finally began her work in the theatre world (specifically Stage Management), she saw many different styles of stage management. From those different styles she found that some were more effective than others, with empathy being, in her opinion, the most impactful to being a well-rounded stage manager. From her work and experience as a stage manager it eventually led her to use some of her empathetic techniques as an educator. This thesis describes the three years Davis was a Graduate Student at the University of Iowa in the Theatre Arts Department for Stage Management. Throughout all three years Davis had vastly different opportunities which brought many experiences and challenges. Through it all, she was able to reflect on the benefits and drawbacks of being an empathetic stage manager and educator while also dealing with the impacts of a global pandemic. Davis acknowledges that every stage manager and educator is different, but it is still extremely important to have levels of empathy through every step of the way, and more importantly, she learns that sometimes it is better to just lets things go.