​Colleen McDermott: Embracing the Positive Side of Failure in Theatre

“The path to moments of greatness in your life will be paved, in part, with your spectacular failures.” – Leslie Odom Jr.

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Looking back on one's life and accomplishments is never done in a vacuum. I made the dean's list three semesters in a row before graduating with my associate's degree, I transferred to a conservatory program where I excelled in my studies, earning honors upon my graduation, and excelled both on and offstage, and I started graduate study at NYU, pursuing my master's and possibly beyond. Yet, on my way to these accomplishments, there have been missteps. I struggled with my classes in high school, leading to many questions about my prospects with graduation and college, I failed multiple courses in my first year of college, ending with a C grade point average, and I didn’t have my pre-screen materials ready in time for applications, putting me a year behind on my transfer. If I look only at my successes, it seems that I have soared through my education, racking up accomplishments along the way. If I look only at my failures, I look like a troubled kid who never seemed to find her footing. It is only when I look at both in conjunction that I can see the journey. I can see how every failure allowed me to learn and grow, which directly led me to my next success.

As a theatre educator, I don’t see failure as an obstacle to success. Instead, I see it as a crucial part of the creative process. Risk-taking, experimentation, and vulnerability are a few of the core tenets of theatre and in one way or another, failure is interconnected to all three. If our students fear failure in the classroom, they will avoid taking risks, playing, and experimenting, leading to less growth and discovery, and a far less dynamic work of art.

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In the United States, Broadway is the highest level of theatre one can be involved in. When viewing a Broadway performance from the outside, it can seem perfect and I think in many ways, it sets this precedent that to excel in theater, you have to be perfect in every way; the perfect actor, dancer, singer, or have the perfect look. That is a notion I want to break in my classroom. Of course, the end result is important, but I feel that real learning can be found in the process of creating that result. When a performance or project doesn’t go as planned, I want my students to view that as an opportunity to dig deeper into the material and enhance their collaboration with their classmates. Failure is a catalyst that challenges students’ understanding of themselves and the world around them. By teaching them to embrace failure, we are not only helping to create more dynamic and authentic performers, but we are also helping to create human beings capable of compassion, empathy, and critical thinking. 

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I think as educators one of the most important things we can teach our students is how to fail. By teaching this lesson early, we can help to take the shame out of failure for so many of them and in doing so, open up a world of discovery, opportunity, and authenticity. 

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Ultimately, my goal is to help my students develop the confidence to fail boldly, and in the face of this failure, stand back up and try again. I have been a part of theatre for 20 years and I have failed countless times. Many times, I would feel embarrassed or frustrated and I would want to give up, but I had a teacher in high school who wouldn’t let me. She would pull me aside and remind me to embrace my failure and find the beauty in the imperfection. I hope that through my class, my students will learn to not only be better theatre artists but also self-aware and resilient individuals who are unafraid to take risks both on and off stage. Moreover, I hope they learn that beauty and merit can be found in the imperfect moments. 

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“Success is like failure. It’s how you perceive it. It’s what you do with it, not how you achieve it.” – Stephen Sondheim