Artist Spotlight: Logan Toftness
Photo above: Greyscale stage makeup research for a black and white stage production of “The 39 Steps” based loosely off Hitchcock's movies.
“You can’t do it alone, so find your people. Find people who support you and who you connect with and who inspire you. If you don’t feel like you belong somewhere, then work at building your own community and invite others to a new place where they can belong, too.”
Logan Toftness is a playwright, director, and producer. She is the artistic director of Speck of Dust Theatre Company, the board president of Performance Anxiety, Inc and has self-published several of her plays (available here). Speck of Dust focuses on self-produced original works, improv, and live radio shows, while Performance Anxiety and its board are working to foster a more inclusive theatre experience in the Chippewa Valley by including more new actors, writers, directors from all sorts of backgrounds and experience levels. They have a virtual show coming up soon! You can find both groups on Facebook.
1.) Tell us a bit about your “art origin story”? When did you first fall in love with your art?
I hadn’t actually thought about doing theatre as anything more than an after school activity until I was well into my freshman year of college. Two things changed that: the UWEC theatre department’s production of Tony Kushner’s “Angels in America” and writing a short play for the UWEC Player’s 24 Hour Project. “Angels” changed the way I thought about what theatre’s language, format, and purpose can be. My (pretty limited!) experience of theatre up until that point was some dusty old words written years and years ago that people get kind of bored sitting through (unless it is a musical!). Kushner made theatre relevant and conversational and a little experimental for me. 24 Hour Project made something click where I could see how I fit into making theatre. Seeing an absurd play I wrote brought to life in such a short time with such energy was infectious, to say the least. I wanted to be a part of making that happen again (and again).
2.) What role have teachers played in your development as an artist? Any one stand out?
I was very fortunate that in my public high school, I had some very supportive and encouraging English teachers and a very good school play director for the last couple years of school. I never really felt like I had one specific mentor, but simply being encouraged on a basic level from a few of the people in charge of me was enough to not be discouraged and that, for me, was pretty big. Never underestimate the impact you might have on someone, even if you don’t feel like you have a close relationship or major role in their lives.
3.) What advice would you give to young folks thinking about pursuing an education or career in the arts?
You can’t do it alone, so find your people. Find people who support you and who you connect with and who inspire you. If you don’t feel like you belong somewhere, then work at building your own community and invite others to a new place where they can belong, too. No matter what sort of path art takes in your life, you need other people to read it, to witness it, to hear it, to experience it. And it is totally, totally okay to ask for help!
4.) Describe how you use art and creativity in your craft as well as your everyday life.
To me, creativity has always felt like an organic force--something that is there when it is there and not present when you try to force it. Thinking about it as a tool that you always have access to is hard for me, because that’s not how I experience it. The way I use creativity in my art and my daily life is to let it come when it is there and listen to it, but to not let it overwhelm me. My creativity sometimes makes me lose my focus and run away with a million ideas instead of working on one small step at a time. For me, it is all about the baby steps.
5.) How can art make the world a better place? Can you share a personal example?
Art increases empathy. Empathy helps us try to understand those who are different from us. I think trying to understand--not fully understanding, but trying--is an important part of communicating with each other. And communicating with each other, especially when there are differences in experiences and opinions, is an extremely important part of building and belonging to a functioning community and society. At least, that’s what I think.I am a theatre maker. One small way I have seen the theatre I create change the world for the better, one tiny middle school student at a time, was after the last (pre-pandemic!) school show I directed. After the last performance, one of my actors’ mother thanked me for giving her child a place to feel like they belong in the rough terrain of middle school. She said her child really needed that experience and the friendships she had made by being part of the school play. That is totally the whole point of doing theatre in middle school.