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Hello, Friends, Friends of Friends, Strangers, Countrymen, etc.
For those of you who haven’t met me, I’m Jenna May, and I am an actor, director, teacher, and dialect coach in Western Massachusetts. Over the years I’ve had the pleasure of working and teaching in many incredible arts communities, including Seattle, San Francisco, and New York City. The constant thread running through and beneath my growth as a teacher and an artist was my connection to Shakespeare & Company, here in the Berkshires. Training with them spurred me to a new chapter as an actor, a director/midwife-to-new-works and an increasingly thriving practice teaching and coaching voice and text. Despite Shakespeare & Company being a catalyst for me finding what I most wish to do and making breakthroughs in my skills at doing them, I struggled with finding a home to do them from. I spent a few years in San Francisco, and a year in New York, and finally realized that I desperately wanted to live more sustainably, closer to nature, and nearer the teachers and mentors that meant the most to me. I took a great leap of faith and moved to live in the Berkshire countryside, and immediately felt the positive impact of being part of a physical community, and making art/teaching in direct response to that community. I recognized with the move that my work teaching for Shakespeare & Company would not completely support me, so I began pursuing further teaching work amongst the many universities approximately an hour away from where I live, and was subsequently offered an adjunct theatre faculty and dialect coach at SUNY Albany (50 minutes away by car). It truly seemed that this move was shaking out just as I’d hoped!
(Teaching with Dennis Krausnick in San Francisco, CA, and with Tina Packer, Rory Hammond, and Martin Asprey, in Lenox, MA)
As I had spent the previous five years in major cities where car ownership was optional, (and I had spent my savings on my leap-of-faith move), I knew that I would need to use all my resources to find a car that I could afford, taking on only the limited debt available to me as a hustling artist without traditional full time employment. I knew my new vehicle couldn’t be anything fancy, or even nice, but I hoped for a good old sport that would last 3-5 years, until I was afloat enough to replace it. After scraping and borrowing and no small amount of shopping and research, I acquired what seemed a dependable enough clunker, and breathed a sigh of relief. It had problems almost immediately, granted, but nothing that seemed too out of the ordinary, considering that it was an old car, and so I scrounged still further, made repairs, hoping each one would be the last. Then, after its fourth breakdown, a checkup revealed not just a string of bad luck, but that having this newest expensive repair done was gambling, at best. Even the mechanic, who would directly benefit from completing this repair, suggested that buying another car would make more sense. I had ended up with a lemon.
(How clown me, and a few other clowns, feel about this...)
I have never crowdfunded before, and would fervently prefer to ask support for some wildly inspiring artistic project. However, I cannot continue supporting myself, (or my current students at SUNY), without a reliable vehicle. I love this area deeply, and have already seen and felt the effects of my teaching at work, but I cannot survive without work from multiple institutions at once. All the schools and theatres in this area are spread out across the countryside, which I love, but which also makes driving a non-negotiable necessity.
(How else could I keep doing my wacky, hybridized work, which has included teaching an Irish jig to the same amazing cast I was also dialect coaching on NCTC's For the Love of Comrades?)
Unfortunately, it isn’t as simple as me taking out a loan to buy a new car, as I am still paying back the debt I incurred from my sad little lemon. After seeking advice, and doing more research on the cost of a dependable car, (that will last at least the 3-5 years I had hoped for from the lemon) I have decided I need to come up with about $8,000. This is where, as much as it crushes me to ask, I am truly in need of your help. Here we go:
I need a trusty metal steed to make it possible for me to keep teaching, and making art, in the place that I have finally found to be home, amongst the community that supports and needs the Teacher and Artist I am and am becoming. Would you consider donating to my cause?
Truly, any amount, no matter how small will be hugely helpful and gratefully appreciated. Not up for a financial contribution, for whatever reason? Social media boosting, good vibes, and general encouragement are also so very gratefully accepted. Thank you for your consideration, and helping me get back on the road!
(...a visual representation of how I will feel, once I have a dependable car.)
For those of you who haven’t met me, I’m Jenna May, and I am an actor, director, teacher, and dialect coach in Western Massachusetts. Over the years I’ve had the pleasure of working and teaching in many incredible arts communities, including Seattle, San Francisco, and New York City. The constant thread running through and beneath my growth as a teacher and an artist was my connection to Shakespeare & Company, here in the Berkshires. Training with them spurred me to a new chapter as an actor, a director/midwife-to-new-works and an increasingly thriving practice teaching and coaching voice and text. Despite Shakespeare & Company being a catalyst for me finding what I most wish to do and making breakthroughs in my skills at doing them, I struggled with finding a home to do them from. I spent a few years in San Francisco, and a year in New York, and finally realized that I desperately wanted to live more sustainably, closer to nature, and nearer the teachers and mentors that meant the most to me. I took a great leap of faith and moved to live in the Berkshire countryside, and immediately felt the positive impact of being part of a physical community, and making art/teaching in direct response to that community. I recognized with the move that my work teaching for Shakespeare & Company would not completely support me, so I began pursuing further teaching work amongst the many universities approximately an hour away from where I live, and was subsequently offered an adjunct theatre faculty and dialect coach at SUNY Albany (50 minutes away by car). It truly seemed that this move was shaking out just as I’d hoped!
(Teaching with Dennis Krausnick in San Francisco, CA, and with Tina Packer, Rory Hammond, and Martin Asprey, in Lenox, MA)
As I had spent the previous five years in major cities where car ownership was optional, (and I had spent my savings on my leap-of-faith move), I knew that I would need to use all my resources to find a car that I could afford, taking on only the limited debt available to me as a hustling artist without traditional full time employment. I knew my new vehicle couldn’t be anything fancy, or even nice, but I hoped for a good old sport that would last 3-5 years, until I was afloat enough to replace it. After scraping and borrowing and no small amount of shopping and research, I acquired what seemed a dependable enough clunker, and breathed a sigh of relief. It had problems almost immediately, granted, but nothing that seemed too out of the ordinary, considering that it was an old car, and so I scrounged still further, made repairs, hoping each one would be the last. Then, after its fourth breakdown, a checkup revealed not just a string of bad luck, but that having this newest expensive repair done was gambling, at best. Even the mechanic, who would directly benefit from completing this repair, suggested that buying another car would make more sense. I had ended up with a lemon.
(How clown me, and a few other clowns, feel about this...)
I have never crowdfunded before, and would fervently prefer to ask support for some wildly inspiring artistic project. However, I cannot continue supporting myself, (or my current students at SUNY), without a reliable vehicle. I love this area deeply, and have already seen and felt the effects of my teaching at work, but I cannot survive without work from multiple institutions at once. All the schools and theatres in this area are spread out across the countryside, which I love, but which also makes driving a non-negotiable necessity.
(How else could I keep doing my wacky, hybridized work, which has included teaching an Irish jig to the same amazing cast I was also dialect coaching on NCTC's For the Love of Comrades?)
Unfortunately, it isn’t as simple as me taking out a loan to buy a new car, as I am still paying back the debt I incurred from my sad little lemon. After seeking advice, and doing more research on the cost of a dependable car, (that will last at least the 3-5 years I had hoped for from the lemon) I have decided I need to come up with about $8,000. This is where, as much as it crushes me to ask, I am truly in need of your help. Here we go:
I need a trusty metal steed to make it possible for me to keep teaching, and making art, in the place that I have finally found to be home, amongst the community that supports and needs the Teacher and Artist I am and am becoming. Would you consider donating to my cause?
Truly, any amount, no matter how small will be hugely helpful and gratefully appreciated. Not up for a financial contribution, for whatever reason? Social media boosting, good vibes, and general encouragement are also so very gratefully accepted. Thank you for your consideration, and helping me get back on the road!
(...a visual representation of how I will feel, once I have a dependable car.)