Meet Sasha Keefer

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sasha Keefer a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Sasha, so excited to have you with us today and we are really interested in hearing your thoughts about how folks can develop their empathy? In our experience, most folks want to be empathic towards others, but in a world where we are often only surrounded by people who are very similar to us, it can sometimes be a challenge to develop empathy for others who might not be as similar to us. Any thoughts or advice?

I consider myself an empath. I remember at a very early age, I would lay in bed and think about all the people in the world who were suffering. My family and I came from Russia when I was eight years old. I remember feeling very lonely in school because no one wanted to play with me. I didn’t speak English and wore strange clothes. I think that maybe this time set a foundation of empathy for others.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I am the founder and Artistic Director of Authenticity Theater. We are a very special theater company that was founded in 2021 by me and my husband, Scott Keefer. We are a non profit organization which strives to produce meaningful theater with depth and relatability. Our mission is to break stigma of many issues that fall under the umbrella of mental illness. Some of these include addiction, sexual abuse, family trauma, racial issues, divorce along with just basic real life topics the audience can relate to. Our tag line is “Real Life On Stage.” We feel that healing can happen in theater, as the audience sees themselves in the characters. This mission came from my own struggles with mental illness. I wanted to use my love for theater as a way to help people, because it made a huge difference in my own life. I’m also proud of the community we’ve built with artists both actors and crew. It’s very important to me to provide opportunities for artists to practice their craft. I do my best to cast actors in future roles if they did not get a part in a particular play. We’ve started a meetup group called “Authentic Circle.” Actors and writers meet up to share either scripts or performing for feedback.

We are opening our 5th show, running October 24-Nov, 2 at 7 Stages at Little Points. www.authenticitytheater.org

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

hope, compassion, manifestation

I think the most important quality is snot to lose hope. I’ve had very difficult times in my life, which I never thought would get better. But they did, even after many years. I learned to say “this is temporary” to any hardship I was facing.

Many people say that I’m very compassionate, which is not always a great thing since I feel deeply for people and tend to let things slide, But having compassion has helped me be a good teacher and an actress.

I read the book “The Secret” many years ago and I really connected with the idea of “Law of Attraction.” Since then, I’ve been making using this principle to make many goals happen.

All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?

Our number one obstacle is finding a space for our theater. We are renting 7 Sages for our shows but ultimately we would like to have our own space. This is very expensive and currently we are not in a position to make this happen. We just received a grant from Georgia Council of the Arts so we’re hopeful that this will happen in the next few years, as we apply for more grants.

Contact Info:

• Website: www,authenticitytheater.org
• Instagram: @authenticitytheater
• Facebook: Authenticity Theater