A theatre prompts self-discovery
Tucked away in Columbia’s North Village Arts District is an old warehouse painted purple with an orange façade on the front.
This is home to the Talking Horse Productions theatre that Ed Hanson created almost two years ago. Hanson had not always worked in the realm of acting and theatre, and he never imagined the changes acting would bring to his life.
He began his professional life as a music teacher in various schools throughout the Columbia school district. Hanson always found interest in theatre after attending summer theatre camps at the University of Missouri during middle school, but after getting married and having children he put acting on the back burner.
Teaching gave Hanson a great foundation for his family life and finances. “But it wasn’t artistically satisfying for me in the way that acting was,” he said.
After 28 successful years of teaching, Hanson was eligible to retire with pension at age 53. At this point, Hanson stopped teaching and began his professional acting career.
“Career wise, I’m supposedly retired,” he said. “But I’m working at something that I kind of created for myself, and it’s just very exciting to be able to do that.”
Unlike many actors his age, Hanson is not “burnt out.” He has embraced each new experience and quickly learned a lot about his new profession.
“He truly loves what he does,” said Dana Bocke, an assistant with the children shows Hanson produces. “He loves theatre, loves entertaining people and loves making people feel comfortable with who they are and what they are doing.”
Because there were no professional theatres in town, Hanson traveled away from home for long periods of time to perform in various productions. After working in six different states, he decided to come back to Columbia.
“In 2011 I was gone from home a lot and my marriage was not doing well,” Hanson said. “I had my opportunity to take over a theatre space that was already developed, and I just made some changes in my life at that point. I got divorced in 2012, started a theatre company and discovered I was gay.”
In many ways, being away from home allowed Hanson to do a lot of self-reflection and discovery.
“I had worked so hard for so long to be who everybody else wanted me to be that I was really out of touch with who I was,” he said. “It wasn’t really until I allowed myself to get away from such a regimented schedule and get into the artistic world of theatre that I came to realize that there were parts of me that were buried and that I had not allowed to be recognized by myself.”
In between two shows Hanson was home for only two weeks. With the help of a therapist, he decided this would be the best time to come out to his family and friends.
“My kids were great,” he said. “They were very supportive and very understanding. That’s not to say they weren’t upset. Overall, I think they were upset more with the divorce than my coming out.”
His wife, on the other hand, did not react as well, but Hanson knew there was no way to separate the divorce and his coming out. The two things needed to be discussed at the same time, and there was no easy way to do that.
After coming out to his wife and children, Hanson immersed himself in the musical he was working on in Pennsylvania and put the theatre company together from his hotel room during his free time.
Coping with all the changes wasn’t easy at first. Acting and the new theatre company helped distract Hanson, and he was slowly able to fully embrace his new life.
“I got out of the autopilot mode of living my life and found out that life is a whole lot more interesting when you know a little bit more about yourself,” Hanson said.
Putting together an entire theatre company in the matter of a few months was truly satisfying for Hanson. As with most of his friends, the community has really embraced the theatre and Hanson’s life changes.
“He’s very passionate about what he does,” said Jacquelyn O’Brien, a close friend of Hanson’s. “He is so dedicated to theatre and making this company work.”
Although at times Hanson must pay the theatre to let him work for it, he loves the idea of giving Columbia something unique. The theatre has given him a new platform to begin the second chapter of his life.
“In a lot of ways, redoing many portions of my life all at the same time- shifting my focus in theatre to being just solely acting to a broader scope and fully embracing a new personal life- has been a very interesting experience,” he said. “I really feel like I’ve given myself a chance at a do-over.”
The small, purple warehouse of Talking Horse Productions has played a major role in Hanson’s happiness and self-discovery. Not only has it given him happiness in his career but in his personal life as well.
“Everyday is something fresh and new,” he said. “If it is getting too stale, I can figure out how to make it fresh again. I feel like for the first time, I’m really controlling my own destiny on things.”
Maggie Angst 