My Job is a Dementor.

It's sucking my soul out. Little by little, piece by piece.

I love working in theatre. I love working for my non profit theatre for young audiences. So when I took a job at a much larger, grown up theatre in the area, I thought I would just get to do what I love, but for an older audience. I couldn't have been more wrong. At Big Theatre, it's not about the people coming to see the shows.

Well, it is. But it's not about what they think of the show, and that they had a good, enjoyable experience. It's that they paid us to come see the show. Yes, the production values of the shows are top quality, and yes, I've enjoyed everything I've seen there this season, but that doesn't seem to be what matters. It's all about making the money, winning the awards, and making the money.

At my Little Theatre, we share stories with coworkers about the little kids we saw at the performance, or taking the class, who were absolutely beaming with excitement. Work is encouraged to be a fun place, in addition to a place where you do your job. Every couple of weeks, I see emails about ice cream socials that take place in place of formal staff meetings. Yes, of course, it's still about making the money to come out above our budget line, but sometimes getting the money is allowed to come in second to making the customer happy, and keeping them coming back. Big Theatre is just so corporate, that sometimes it's hard to believe they still fall under that not-for-profit heading. It seems like the art, and the experience are secondary. All they're out to do is make the buck.