We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Beth Donohue. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Beth below.
Beth , so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.
Creativity has always been at the center of how I live and work. For over 30 years, I’ve worked as an actor, director, and teaching artist, but creativity isn’t just something I do. It’s how I think. It’s how I understand the world and how I connect with people in it.
Sharing the artifacts of our creativity, the performance, the jokes, the music, reminds us that we’re not so separate after all. And creating takes courage. It means building something out of nothing just because you feel compelled to. When I watch a play, a comic, or a band, I always start with respect. It takes guts to get up there and do it. It can feel like yelling into a void.
But I’m pretty confident that voids exist to be yelled into. And some of us don’t mind doing that.
I guess building something out of nothing has defined much of my life as a performer. I spent ten years with the phenomenal Shotgun Players, a company that shaped my craft and gave me a daily education in ensemble work, creative risk, and relentless effort. We performed in major theaters, warehouses, parking lots, even San Quentin prison—anywhere we could. Together, we built a company that became a lasting artistic home, Shotgun is still going strong today.
As an educator, I’ve designed and led arts camps and classes, including an inclusive theater camp for children on the autism spectrum. I’ve worked as a teaching artist with the Lincoln Center Institute and developed curriculum that blends creative expression with accessibility, education and empowerment.
I hold a BFA in Theater and, in 2012, completed a Master of Science in Creativity Studies. Since then, I’ve taught acting, improvisation, and creativity theory at colleges including SUNY Oneonta, Buffalo State, and Niagara County Community College. The courage, intelligence, and creative curiosity of students is fuel for anyone’s imagination. I loved the academic and artistic freedom I found in the Fine Arts and Creative Studies departments I was lucky to be part of.
Creativity has also shaped my work in advocacy. I leaned heavily on it while developing programs for unhoused women in Portland, Maine, and again while creating support structures for survivors of domestic violence here in Tacoma.
Most recently, creativity led me somewhere entirely new: comedy. After decades in ensemble-based theater, pivoting to stand-up was terrifying. Acting gave me partners, structure, and a script. Comedy gave me… a microphone and an opportunity. It’s just you and your ideas. In theater you craft a character detail by detail and inhabit that character. In comedy you just are. You don’t build a character, you peel away the bullshit.
I perform at open mics. Another interesting thing about comedy is every rehearsal happens in front of an audience and can be messy, unpredictable, sometimes brutal. But the lessons learned are worth it: timing, an authentic honesty, a sharper ear, and definitely a deeper resilience. Comedy demands the same creative risk I’ve always loved, but it also forces you to be fully yourself. No character to hide behind. Just your voice, your person, your truth.
I joke that I need to suck at something to really feel alive, but there is some truth in that,
The way I keep my creativity alive is to keep building something out of nothing. And here I am, at it again.
Really, though, a huge part of how I keep my creativity alive is through my family. I’m married to a bass player with a long and wide-ranging career. He currently plays in two local bands, SunRust and Ghost in Glass. SunRust just released their latest video, Crack the Code. Our daughter is the lead singer of Capala, a fantastic nu-metal band that just dropped their newest video, Herbature. Our son plays guitar and recently completed his associate’s degree in film. Creativity is our shared language. And showing up for each other is what we do. We are always in attendance at each other’s gigs Being surrounded by people who are constantly building, experimenting, and expressing keeps me working hard, too. And seeing my children explode out into the world making their own art is the best. It’s really the best. It makes my heart burst.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I feel lucky to be doing this work in Tacoma, where the arts scene is vibrant, gritty, and the ethos is DIY and anything is possible. The energy here is collaborative and fearless. There’s space to try new things, space to fail, and space to build again. It reminds me that creativity doesn’t belong in one discipline or one phase of life. It evolves.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Consistency: Work on your stuff every day, Show up, Practice.
Curiosity: Ask questions. Invent new ways to see things. Listen.
Courage: Do it. Say it. Make it. Be brave.
Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?
Every artist I’ve had the chance to collaborate, create and learn with has helped me build skills and develop my own creativity. I’ve had mentors and creative partners, students, audience members, reviewers and priests. I’ve learned from every one.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.tacomacomedyclub.com/shows/324155
- Instagram: @beth_donohue_
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