20 years ago this month, I became active with a local all-volunteer theatre organization. I loved this group tremendously, and they shaped the person I am today. I won their scholarship when I was a senior in high school, and when I returned home after college I immediately began volunteering with them again, in many different capacities: actor, director, set design, painting, teacher, scholarship chair, tech meals coordinator, etc.
Many of the same people are still involved, and though they mean well, there is a specific faction of them that is tearing the organization apart. It is no longer what it was, and I feel like something has been stolen from my childhood.
I have three options.
- I can stay on the board of the organization and accept things the way they are;
- I can stay on the board of the organization and try to change things; or
- I can resign my position and let this chapter of my life end.
My heart is voting for #2, but my sanity is leaning towards #3. I just wish there were a clear answer… To stay and work towards a change would be a huge effort and emotional commitment, and I wonder if I’m at a good place in my life for that. But to leave? I want this organization to be there for my children, and it won’t survive what’s happening to it. I don’t think it will, anyway — not and be any recognizable version of what it once was. I don’t expect it to be the same, but I’d hate for it to be run like an adult theatre group. It’s not an adult theatre group.
And it’s dying. I’m very sad today.