Saying Goodbye: Rituals and Reflections for the Post-Show Blues

Love’s Labour’s Lost, SBTS, 2025

Love’s Labour’s Lost (LLL) closed yesterday. My experience with the show was deeply joyful from start to finish. My heart is full and I am so very proud. We built something generous, alive, and silly in all the right ways.

But here I am on Monday and the heaviness of post-show blues has arrived right on cue.

We don’t always talk about or process endings in theatre. We rush head first into the next thing. But I think endings are important and how we say goodbye matters.

In a very meta turn of events, to help me say farewell to LLL, I’ve created a post-show reflection guide. It's designed to help artists process the end of a project and honour their experience.

Curtain Call: Post-Show Reflection

For the Joyful Shows

1. What surprised you?
What did you not expect to love as much as you did?

2. What made this process joyful?
Consider people, values, structure, setting, tone, or anything else that felt nourishing.

3. What did you learn about yourself as an artist?
How did this process affirm your skills, growth, or the way you show up in the room?

4. What do you want to carry forward?
Name something you want to bring into your next project.

5. Who are you grateful for?
List names. You don’t have to share it. Just notice what you notice.

6. What’s one memory you never want to forget?

For the Difficult Shows

1. What was hard?
Name it.

2. What do you wish you had known sooner?
What would have changed your choices or boundaries?

3. What was not your responsibility?
Name it and release it.

4. Where did you show up for yourself?

5. What do you need to leave behind?

6. What boundary do you want to carry forward?
Put this is your notes app!

Suggested Closure Rituals

Write a letter to the cast, the show, or yourself.

Create a closing playlist.

Archive the moment. Make a folder: photos, reviews, inside jokes, something you can revisit.

Say it out loud:

• “I loved this. I’m letting it go.”

• “This was hard. I’m leaving it behind.”

• “This changed me. I’m carrying it forward.”

What’s Next?

How will you show up for the next project?

How do you want to feel?

What do you have to offer?

What kind of room do you want to be in?

What kind of art do you want to make?

Who do you want to be in community with?

A Note from Me

Much of this closure work is personal, and I’ll be keeping most of my reflections private. But I will offer this, LLL affirmed something I continue to learn: To do my best work, I need to be in a room where values are aligned.

I’m also leaving this process with a renewed love for community theatre. I think it is the most important kind of theatre we have. It builds connection skill and empathy in a way that is deeply rewarding and unparalleled in “professional” work.

Much love, LLL. What a gift you were and are!