by Julia Dossett Morgan
I was 22 years old when I moved to Chicago to take an apprenticeship at Steppenwolf Theatre Company. I worked 28 hours a week in the marketing and publicity departments and at least 20 hours in the theater building itself, house managing, and bartending. It was a time of many firsts for me: living on my own in a city of millions of people, showing up every day to a professional work environment, and learning to take feedback on my work, which would set me up for the growth and opportunities I hoped would come with my career.
What I could never have anticipated was how deeply I would be shaped by being in the presence and orbit of Martha Lavey, the artistic director of Steppenwolf. There are so many words to describe Martha that I almost hesitate to start. She was brilliant, collaborative, intuitive, and brave. She was one heck of an actor, but I only witnessed those talents a few times because she usually preferred to stay behind the scenes, creating opportunities for other theater artists to do their work.
While her artistry inspired me, what has stayed with me all these years is the intentional way she endeavored to know everyone at Steppenwolf. Our apprenticeships were only nine months long, but that didn’t matter to Martha. She wanted to know us anyway — what we studied in college, where we were from, what we thought about the plays, and what we liked and didn’t like about our positions. Because she saw me bartending and helping patrons find their seats during performances, she would occasionally stop by my desk and ask how audiences were responding to the latest production. She took my insight seriously and showed me that even feedback from the bottom of the ladder mattered.
Martha was forthright and honest without being unkind. She took us as we were and expected the same in return. Through her actions, she showed me that boots-on-the-ground employees can have valuable insight into where an organization is headed, not just those in leadership.
I believe that to be an effective theatre artist, you must be interested in people. Martha embodied this belief. She didn’t just know me; she knew my boyfriend’s name, which apprentices shared apartments, and about the bar we went to once a week because we could afford the cocktails. It wasn’t until years later that I understood how deeply valued I felt at the time to be seen and known by a leader whose responsibilities spanned the globe.
There are many parallels between theatre and the work of the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute. (Ask me about this – it’s a favorite topic!) We must stay curious about the people we work alongside to pursue transformational change. Closing ourselves off, refusing to listen, or insisting on “my way or no way” never works in theatre, and it doesn’t work at the Institute.
Martha showed me that life is more beautiful when you live with a heart open to others. She died way too young at age 60, just like Winthrop Rockefeller. If you have a moment, I encourage you to read what her collaborators had to say after she passed.
If I can inspire even one-tenth of the people Martha Lavey did, I will have lived a rich and wonderful life.
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