Isidora Kecman
Interview Highlights
There is power in representing real, raw human experiences onstage.
Being a woman can mean speaking out for those who don’t feel comfortable doing it themselves.
It’s important to be genuine and respectful and have the confidence to ask for what you want.
To make real change in the theatre industry, we need to build diverse production teams and creative teams, and we need to address systemic racism at its roots.
Find Isidora Online:
Instagram: @isidorakecman
Isidora’s Current and Upcoming Work:
Check out Isidora as Bella Chagall in Daniel Jamieson's The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk at the Winnipeg Jewish Theatre this June.
Bio
Isidora Kecman (she/her) is a Serbian-American, Toronto-based performance artist. She graduated from Sheridan College's Music Theatre Performance Program and has worked in numerous theatres across Canada. Some of her favourite credits include Tiff in The Louder We Get (Theatre Calgary), Hunyak in Chicago (The Globe Theatre) and Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz (The Lower Ossington Theatre).
“I feel so lucky to be a woman. I just want to be a woman all over everything and everyone.”
Meet Isidora
Hayley: We are here today with the amazing Isidora Kecman. Isidora, please introduce yourself, share your pronouns, and tell us about what you do in the theatrical space.
Isidora: My name is Isidora Kecman. I use she/her pronouns, and I am an actor/creator based in Toronto, Ontario - soon to be New York City! I graduated from a musical theatre degree program at Sheridan College in 2019 and since then have been working my way through the Canadian theatre scene and hopefully into the U.S. theatre scene.
Hayley: Can you tell us about how you came to theatre?
Isidora: My family is very musical, and my dad is a professional musician. He’s also a doctor, but before that, he was in the National Folklore Band for Serbia, so I was raised with a lot of music in my life. I saw Swan Lake when I was three, and I was like, “That’s me!” My mom put me in ballet, and that was my first introduction to performance. Then I started taking piano lessons too. And I quickly learned that if you sing and you act and you dance, those are the building blocks of musical theatre.
I moved to San Francisco, where I went to an arts high school in the musical theatre program. I have always loved musical theatre, but at that point, I felt like, “I can’t do that professionally.” I think a lot of children of immigrants feel like our parents come to these countries to watch us have stable careers and be financially set and happy long before they’re gone. They were always extremely supportive, but the idea of musical theatre being my career - it just was not a thing.
But the more performances I had, people would say to my folks, “She has a strong work ethic, and she could have a career in this.” In junior year, I was doing Lady of the Lake in our production of Spamalot, and that was when it became a reality that I actually could pursue theatre as a career. So then I auditioned and went to theatre school and haven’t looked back since! I really do love it, it is incredibly fulfilling.
Isidora’s Creative Work and Mission
Hayley: Tell us about what you’re working on creatively right now.
Isidora: What I’m super into right now is writing music, creating songs, and storytelling. I initially started writing on the piano, and then I got into ukulele and wrote some songs for that, and then I got really into guitar. I find that there’s something super exciting about when actors create. There’s something really magnificent about someone who is always bringing someone else’s work to life, when they get to turn their vision and ideas into something that they create.
Hayley: So often, actors are told to pick a lane, and I couldn’t disagree more. I started as an actor, so for me, it’s very natural for actors to create things. I think that the more well-rounded you can be, it just fuels you as an artist.
Isidora: It makes you a better person too, having different interests, skillsets, and passions.
Hayley: How do you balance your creative life with the other aspects of your life?
Isidora: I went back to school during COVID for public relations, and I’m now working as a publicist at a PR firm. One day, I would like to do freelance PR work for the arts, because I think that’s an untapped part of our industry that could make it more accessible and exciting to people who aren’t traditionally musical theatre people.
I’ve also always been very good with time management. I like to be able to make my own day and schedule so I am not at the mercy of someone else’s clock. My time management has very much helped me find balance.
I also think that because we as performers are so invested in what we do onstage, it translates to literally everything else we do. So I can be so invested in all work that I decide to dedicate myself to, even in an unpaid internship. It’s been a learning curve for me to understand that you can’t give 170% in a million different areas because you’ll just get too burnt out.
Hayley: Totally. When you go so hard at everything, you completely drain yourself. Isidora, what is your creative mission? What are you aiming toward with your creative pursuits?
Isidora: I love theatre where nothing happens. I’m obsessed with human life being taken and put on a stage, because we as human beings are so intricate, and everything we do is so interesting. I could watch someone pick their wedgie and be like, “Incredible.” Because there’s just so much going on, so many thoughts, gestures, isms that we all have. I truly do love humans being humans in front of humans. There is so much power, and it’s so enticing to watch those kinds of stories come to life. So that’s what I like to do when I create, whether it’s music or a dance piece or anything. My mission is to bring real, raw human experience to a greater audience and into the limelight.
Thoughts on Womanhood and Mentorship
Hayley: How does womanhood fit into your identity? What does being a woman mean to you?
Isidora: What does it not mean? I feel so lucky to be a woman. I just want to be a woman all over everything and everyone. I love it. I’m so proud to identify as a woman and feel that strength, because we’re fighters and are just so strong.
I’m dedicated to speaking out when other women don’t feel comfortable. I have no problem with being seen as overbearing or crazy or a bitch or scary or confrontational, I just don’t have that issue. If that can help someone - if I can say something that other people are thinking but just can’t say in that moment, if I can make them feel more comfortable in this world, that’s my thing. I know I always learn best from example. If I can take an action that makes someone comfortable, maybe one day in 20 years, they’re like, “Hey, I saw Isidora do that, I can do that too.” That to me is the number one. Whether I’m creating art, commenting on art, being art, seeing art - I want to speak out for everyone who doesn’t feel comfortable to do it themselves.
Hayley: One of the things I love most about you is that you make every space a more comfortable space to be in, where people feel safe to be themselves.
Isidora: I really appreciate that, thank you.
Hayley: Let’s talk about influential mentors. Who in your life has shaped you to be so confident?
Isidora: My mother is a powerhouse, and I think that has rubbed off a lot on me. I find that the way a lot of men command spaces and rooms is how I strive to be. I’ve had a lot of teachers who have shown me what it means to have power or to dictate a room or control something or have your voice be heard. I’ve taken those experiences and clocked how they made me feel, and I try to take that undeniable power and formulate it in a way that works but doesn't bully or encroach on others. I know that I deserve the same amount of respect, so there’s no reason why I shouldn’t request the same things or use the same tactics - the good ones…
Hayley: Asking for what you want and being clear about what you need.
Isidora: Absolutely! People will listen to someone who is genuine and authentic and respectful. The most important thing is respect, because it makes an equal playing field. Being respectful, but asking for what you want and showing that you deserve it.
Hayley: That’s a big aha moment I’ve had recently. What would an average white man think that they deserve? I’ve had some networking experiences recently where I'm terrified to press send on an email that’s really non-pressured, average, professional. I find myself feeling that terror of, "What if I'm offensive?" I think I've been trained to feel that way, and I want to reframe that as “This is being an ambitious person, and there's nothing wrong with that.”
Isidora: 100%. It’s a sad reality that we as women are petrified to ask for the simplest things. Our male counterparts haven't been taught to feel that way. You just have to have the confidence to ask for what you want and not be apologetic. I am also trying to step away from beginning any messages with any sort of apologetic language, like “I’m just trying to…” or “Unfortunately…” - just completely eradicating that from my vocabulary. Because there's no reason to feel like that. You’re not “just" saying something, you are saying it! That's another thing that I want women to help each other with, because you need people to support you in saying what you want.
Hayley: I was recently asked to present about a show I’m working on, and when I started to speak, I felt myself not taking up space in the room. I needed to appreciate, “This is my time.” It’s okay to be proud of what you’re working on and not apologize for it. My mentor said to me, “I know this is hard for you, but you need to practice, because your work needs to be heard, and you need to take up space for it.” I appreciated it so much because as women, we need to hold each other up. We need to remind each other.
Isidora: Absolutely. When we speak, we fear what other people are going to think about us. But whatever they say or think says a lot more about them than it does about you. Whether that’s positive or negative. It’s just their opinion based on the lens through which they’ve been raised to view things. We need to be less worried about what other people think and just know that they will think. Period. There’s no use being concerned because it actually doesn’t matter.
Hayley: You don’t know who you are going to impact with what you’re doing. I’ve had people come up to me, whether about Women & Theatre or the art that I’m making, and say, “You being here and doing the work that you’re doing inspires me.” That wasn’t something I was thinking about when I was doing it. I was doing it because I feel it’s important and because I love it. You just don’t know what kind of impact you can make if you stand in your power. And it’s hard to do.
The Benefits and Limitations of Womanhood
Hayley: Isidora, how do you feel your gender has limited you and how do you feel it has been a benefit to you in your art and in your life?
Isidora: Honestly, I feel like in my artistic career, I have not had any hindrances specifically because I'm a woman. I feel very lucky to be able to say this, because I know it’s not been the experience of all women in our industry.
In my personal life, however, I do think I’ve had negative experiences because of my gender. The way I present in the world - confidently, taking up space, speaking out - can be off-putting to others, because women who act that way are often seen as being “bitches.” In hindsight, these experiences have all helped me learn more about what I choose to accept and let impact me. Because I know that the people who really matter and who have something to say that I actually respect, both positive and negative, are always going to be the ones in my circle. They say, “Your vibe attracts your tribe.” That’s such a cringe statement, but it’s so true.
In terms of the benefits of being a woman, I think people trust women more. I have often been given more responsibility than some of my male counterparts, and that has helped me to show myself, my skills, and my accomplishments. People look at me, and at many women, and are like, “There’s our girl. There’s our trustworthy matriarch.” Which is cringe-y, but through that, I’ve been able to show what I can do.
How to Improve the Theatre Industry
Hayley: If you could change the theatre industry, what would you do?
Isidora: I had a really interesting conversation with my former teacher. He was saying that diversifying the casts of shows is great, but real impactful change cannot be made until your creative team and production team are diversified. Because those are the decision makers, the power holders, the influential folks. I saw a video recently of Belle being played by a plus-size Black woman - which is incredible. But watching that, I wanted to know, is she being supported? Is she being respected? Is she being listened to? Is she being heard?
Hayley: Right, what does that room look like and what does it feel like?
Isidora: If you have a wonderful plus-size BIPOC person leading a show, that’s amazing for someone in the audience watching and saying, “Wow, I see myself on that stage.” And if, by incredible chance, that experience inspires that audience member to pursue performance themselves, what if they finally get into the room and realize that our rehearsal spaces have not been accommodating enough to enrich and support the experiences of BIPOC artists? That the actors who came before them were not surrounded by people who understand and empathize with their experience, who respect them and are willing to learn from and listen to them. That is really where the change comes from, and I think that is truly the most important shift that needs to happen in this industry.
The people who assemble shows need to be vigilant about their decision making, because it has a massive ripple effect on everyone involved, including the audience. We feel in the audience how the actors feel in the rehearsal room. That is the number one aspect that I’m hoping to see shift, diversifying creative teams and production teams.
Hayley: Totally. And people want to work with people who they know. We all feel that way. Like you said, your vibe attracts your tribe, and sometimes you find your tribe and you’re like, “I want to work with that person over and over again.” And that is great.
And also, when you diversify your production teams and creative teams and the people who are holding the purse strings, those people have a whole community of people that they know. And that creates a more diverse pool of thinkers and gives opportunities to people who have not always had opportunities. We need diversity in every aspect and the intersections of identities too. People in every community deserve to have an opportunity to hold power. And it does trickle down to the shows. We need diverse theatre owners, producers, artistic directors…
Isidora: People will say “Well, maybe women aren’t interested in those positions. Maybe people of color aren’t interested.” Okay, but WHY are they not interested? It's not like they are any less creative than others. What in the school systems, in learning institutions, in early childhood education - what has made it so that they're “not interested?” Because it all starts from systemic racism, from the ground up. It’s rooted way down.
That’s another thing in the theatre industry; I wish it was more accessible. When I was growing up and the teachers went on a strike, the only thing that got cut was arts funding. Meanwhile, there was my brother kicking a soccer ball down the school field every day, no problem. The older I got, I started wondering why have we decided the arts are less developmentally important than sports? Don’t get me wrong, that’s great too, but I don’t understand who decided that we’re going to put all the money there and no money there.
It’s giving developing minds the opportunity to explore lots of different avenues. You don’t have to like the arts. But how are you going to know if you like it or not if it’s not being offered to you at a young age? I’m passionate about early childhood education and giving that opportunity to developing minds. A lot of my friends who did musical theatre summer camps didn’t go into theatre professionally. But you learn so many skills from the arts, like how to take direction, how to be communicative, how to be a team player. I think that if we valued the arts in elementary schools and after-school programs, we would see a dramatic shift over time in the people that are “interested” in those various leadership positions.
Hayley: And we’d have a more empathetic world too. Empathy is one of the biggest things you learn from the arts. How to step into somebody else’s shoes, how to embody a character that you don’t think is like you, all of those things are so valuable. For the theatre industry, it would help us be a more inclusive and diverse and equitable and beautiful place to be, and also I think it would help the world. Society - especially in the United States, but just in general - undervalues the arts. And when it's prohibitively expensive for kids to participate in this kind of stuff, they learn, “This is not for you.” That needs to change.
Final Thoughts
Hayley: What are you most proud of in your life and in your career, Isidora?
Isidora: That’s such a good question. I feel like I don’t often ask myself that question, and I should. We all should! I’m proud of the fact that I’ve made the conscious switch to celebrate my accomplishments when they happen and really experience the moment. Whether it’s little things, getting a callback that I really wanted or finally finishing a project I’ve been mulling over at work, I’m proud that I have grown enough to really be proud and excited about those things when they happen. Not get carried away, but not ignore it, really celebrate those little victories. That's my career pride thing.
In my life, the thing I am most proud of is that I have been able to surround myself with people who make me proud to be me. I feel so supported and so loved by my friends, and I try my hardest to always give that to others as well. I’m so lucky that I have a support system that has allowed me to pursue lots of different avenues and enjoy every moment. I'm really proud of my community.
Hayley: Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us.
