USF School of Theatre & Dance Stage Manager helps students find confidence to share their stories
For College of the Arts stage manager Amanda Clark, no production she has been involved with can be compared to the emotionally charged student showcase This is My Brave.
鈥淚t鈥檚 like the Super Bowl halftime show, you don鈥檛 know what鈥檚 going to happen because you鈥檝e never done it before,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 this sort of electric energy in the room, which makes it more fun and more alive.鈥�
This is My Brave is a live event that gives students the opportunity to share their personal stories pertaining to mental health through mediums such as poetry, essays and original music.
Clark graduated from the University of Richmond in 1995 with a degree in both theater and history. After a recommendation from a professor, she packed her things and traveled across the country to become an intern at the Globe Theater in San Diego.
Before she knew it, a three-month internship turned into a three-year job. Clark continued to work around the country at various theater companies, but made her way to Tampa when her husband found a position at USF. Now as a teacher of stage management, she said she鈥檚 learned that finding her weakness has made a way to show her strengths.
鈥淚 always tell my students to figure out what they do and don鈥檛 do well and then figure out how to compensate for that,鈥� Clark said.
鈥淭here will always be things you don鈥檛 do well. I can鈥檛 remember anything, I鈥檓 a terrible multitasker. I have to be clear with people that there are some things I鈥檓 just not going to remember. I also discovered my willingness to step in and help others. Even if it鈥檚 not something I know how to do, I just jump in and figure it out as I go.鈥�
Now a veteran stage manager, Clark has been working at USF since 2006. As a national nonprofit organization, This is My Brave uses the arts to help reduce stigmas surrounding mental health.
The production will return to USF this April after its first showing in 2021. USF is just the second university to bring the show to a college audience. Working with non-actors who are reading about their personal struggles with mental health is something Clark said she admires most about the production.
鈥淭he people who are auditioning aren鈥檛 actors, they鈥檙e telling their story,鈥� Clark said. 鈥淎uditions were amazing and raw, and I cried. It鈥檚 a different thing to watch people who aren鈥檛 actors audition, it鈥檚 an act of bravery.鈥�
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