The Dramatists Guild is a wonderful organization that supports playwrights all around the world and protects their rights. I would suggest joining the Dramatists Guild to anyone seriously trying to work in playwriting. Anyone in performing arts education can join it.

It wasn’t always like this. Playwrights didn’t always have such protections. Arthur Miller used to tell a story about how he went to the offices of a Broadway producer, and the producer had all of these books on his shelf that he had co-authored. Miller said to the producer, “Oh, I didn’t know you were a writer, too.”

The producer said, “Oh, I’m not. I just buy the copyright from these authors, and then I put my name on it as co-author.”

Thanks to changes in copyright law, that doesn’t happen anymore. And thanks to the Dramatists Guild, there is enforcement around these kinds of things.

When you write a play, a theater or a producer can license it from you, but they don’t buy it outright. They don’t own it. They can’t make themselves the co-author. They are paying you for the use of your work. You still own the copyright.

The Dramatists Guild has what they call the Dramatists Guild Bill of Rights. It says that the playwright has the right to be involved. It also asserts that unauthorized changes cannot be made to a script without the playwright’s permission.

A lot of people in online performing arts education don’t know that. They may have grown up with drama teachers doing cuttings of things. The teacher might take out a word or a scene that’s inappropriate for young people, and they think that’s totally legitimate. It really isn’t, and playwrights are allowed to — and have — shut down productions that have deviated from the script and made changes that nobody asked their permission for.

Sometimes the changes are really big, like changing the gender of a character. Other times, it’s just a word, and sometimes the playwright doesn’t care as much or finds out about it later.

But, in general, if you’re putting on a play, it is in your absolute best interest to check with the playwright before you make any change, no matter how small. Otherwise, the writer does have the right to shut down your play. Also, of course, you should always begin by getting permission to do the play.

A lot of people in performing arts don’t know that, and a lot of places have been shut down.

Many times, acting from an objective, external perspective seems simply like role pretending or mimicking other people. It’s easy to focus on the distance between you and the role. But in truth, being an actor is really about finding a way to reveal yourself through a given role in a screen or stage production.

For too long, acting meant one thing, or the kinds of acting, the kinds of stories, that were being told were only one kind of story. It’s vitally important at this moment, and it’s late in coming, that we find ourselves really encouraging newcomers to find their voice as an actor in the performing arts. It’s important to understand the way your own experiences, your unique point of view, and your individual identity offer something to your playing a role. It isn’t about you ignoring who you are or your story but bringing your perspective and experiences to the part. A quality performing arts education can help you to appreciate the challenges and opportunities of putting yourself into each role.

Your work is important and valued if you bring yourself fully to it and are given permission to do that. The more you are enabled to bring yourself to a role, the more your voice as an actor will be understood and heard. Nothing could be better for the profession or for you as an artist.

For too long, the stories that have been told in the theater, in TV, and in film have been the stories of white Europeans and particularly white European men. Those were the writers whose stories were produced. Here in the United States, it was white people and white men whose stories and plays were told and who were hired for the acting jobs.

Currently, we’re at an important moment of transition where Black artists, persons of color, and indigenous artists are finally, after far too long, being recognized as the vital storytellers they have always been. It’s important to them, as we encourage greater inclusion and people to bring their own identities into their work, that we recognize a unique voice is part of what needs to be valued in the performing arts process. It’s not enough to bring diverse voices into a room. Those voices have to be valued and their stories need to be told. Coming along with that can’t be a request for someone to set aside personal experiences or an untraditional point of view in order to transform into something else.

As you explore your work as an actor, what’s really important is that you give yourself permission to look at a role. Even when you see distance from it, recognize and really believe that your experience, your identity, your point of view, and your history are vital for the way you are going to be able to tell the story in a unique and meaningful way. You can study this process further by pursuing an online performing arts education. Learning all you can about inclusion and diversity in the performing arts will prepare you to make your mark in the industry.

If you’re interested in performing arts education, you need to learn the business side of it all. Take the business courses along with your regular online performing arts education courses. If you don’t want to deal with a spreadsheet or with numbers, consult an accountant or talk to an attorney. A lot of CPAs and attorneys — especially entertainment attorneys — have free panel discussions or some other networking event that you can attend and just sit and listen. Take notes because a lot of the business is just knowing the stuff you really don’t want to know about.

For example, you might not have space in your head to learn business law. I’m not saying to go be a lawyer, but I am saying that as artists, we’re already open. We’re creating. We’re taking the truth and putting it on a higher scale. The work that we are creating is elevated, wherever we’re creating it.