Time & Perspective Quote by Ann Macbeth

There is a quiet rebuke tucked inside Macbeth's matter-of-fact phrasing: prestige is not an economy. Calling it "our size" and "our being the drama industry" sounds like pride, but it lands as a warning to anyone mistaking cultural identity for infrastructure. The line works because it demystifies the romance of theater. Drama can be "an industry" in name, even in civic self-image, while still running on precarious labor, volunteerism, and seasonal hustle.

The repetition - "very very important" - reads less like ornament than like a pressure point. Macbeth is insisting on a baseline that audiences often take for granted: continuity. "Full time professional crews" are not just a staffing desire; they're the hidden machinery that turns sporadic productions into a reliable cultural pipeline. Without them, the craft knowledge that makes theater look effortless gets lost between gigs, and institutions can't build standards, safety practices, or artistic ambition over time.

Context matters here. Macbeth is speaking from a period when modern "creative industries" rhetoric had not yet papered over the realities of funding and labor. The quote hints at a growing scene that wants to professionalize but hasn't reached the threshold where scale creates stability. It's also a subtle appeal to patrons and policymakers: if you want a real industry, you don't just applaud the actors. You underwrite the crew.