It’s been a week and a half since Edward II closed, and I’ve been in a bummer mood.  When you’re with an awesome group of people day in and day out for a long time, you definitely get attached to them, and you get used to always having fun people around.  Then you’re back to life, back to reality once the show closes, and the doldrums can set in.  I’ve written about post-show blues before, and I’m definitely feeling it again.

If that sounds familiar, here are some ideas to help pull yourself out the post-show dumps!

• Allow yourself time to reflect and relax.  You’ve probably been go-go-go for awhile now, between final rehearsals and performances.  Now is the time to sit back and rest, and allow yourself to rejuvenate.  Do something nice for yourself, such as getting a massage for those sore muscles (especially if you’ve been in a strenuous show with lots of stage combat or dancing) or a facial (especially if you’ve been wearing tons of stage makeup!).
• Spend some extra time with family and friends outside of the production.  They’ve probably been very patient with you while you were off being an ACTOR (pronounced “ACK-TOR!” with lots of emphasis on the “TOR!”) and have been missing you.  Spend some time doing something with them unrelated to the show, and don’t bring up how much you miss your old castmates.
• Think about what you learned and what this production meant to you in terms of career/fun/whatever.  Did you make new friends?  Learn a new skill?  Don’t forget to update your resume!
• Thank your fellow cast and crew members, and keep in touch with them.  Send them an email or a tweet, or drop them a message on Facebook, or for heaven’s sake, pick up the phone and call them.  If you’re really missing them, arrange a reunion.  A bunch of us E2 people met up on Sunday night for an Oscar party, and it was great to see everyone again.
• Don’t necessarily jump right into another show right away.  I feel like a hypocrite for writing this one, because I’ve been working on The Little Mermaid at OKTC concurrently with Edward, and have been making plans for [THEY FIGHT!] at the same time as well!  You may think it’s a good way to distract yourself from feeling lonely or bored without a show in your life, but it’s a good way to lead to burn out.  Your body and mind need to rest!  Instead, why not…
• Print out those cast photos and add them to your scrapbook.  Or upload them all to Facebook.  Oh, the memories!

Got any suggestions on how to deal with the post-show blues?  I’d love to hear them!
Leave them in the comments!

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“The Post-Show Recovery Checklist,”
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