Meet Zach Davidson of Coin & Ghost

Today we’d like to introduce you to Zach Davidson.

Zach, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I’ve always been a theatrical kid…and I’ve never been able to hide it. Until I was five, it was assumed that someday I would take over the family accounting business; then I started wearing Halloween costumes to little league games, and it’s pretty much a straight-shot from there to where I am now.

I was born and raised in Denver, Colorado. I attended an arts high school, and by the time I graduated, I was either a student or a TA in every theatre class that was offered. I studied acting, directing, playwriting, and stagecraft & design, with extra time spent in several areas that continue to strongly influence my theatrical practice — Shakespeare, dialects, stage combat, clowning, physical theatre work, and more. Throughout high school, I worked regularly in several of Denver’s small theatres. I knew I loved to perform. I knew I loved to make people laugh.

In 2011, I started at CalArts (BFA Acting). It’s hard to overstate the positive impact that CalArts has had on my career. It honed my tools and technique, not just as an actor, but as an overall theatre-maker; it opened up miraculous new worlds of thought and possibility; it taught me about my artistic voice and gave me agency over my own path; and most importantly, it introduced me to my favorite collaborator — my now-wife, Elisa.

One formative aspect of my time at CalArts was the New Works Festival — two weeks of original, interdisciplinary work at the end of each school year. Over four years, I created & produced fifteen New Works Projects, which helped me define my creative voice and artistic practice. One of these shows (2015’s “Too Faust, Too Furious”) ended up evolving into my theatre company’s inaugural production (2017’s “Fortunate Son: a Faust Myth”). In addition to my own projects, I spent three years on the committee that curated and produced the entire festival; in that time, I helped oversee 125+ projects, ranging from full-scale original opera epics to barbershop quartet residencies in the school’s elevator. This wild, free-range “anything is possible” mindset continues to permeate my work.

Since graduating, I’ve been working consistently in nonprofit arts administration. I’ve spent time with several incredible companies, focused on development & fundraising (A Noise Within, Heidi Duckler Dance), marketing (Not Man Apart, The West Hollywood Dance Festival, Shakespeare Santa Monica), and education (Conga Kids, Southern Colorado Repertory Theatre). With each new job, I’ve learned more and more about what I need to run my own company, Coin & Ghost.

Has it been a smooth road?
More often than not, I’ve been surrounded by extraordinary artists who make my job very easy. However, there have certainly been frustrating moments.

One that stands out: in 2014, I was offered an Associate Artistic Director position with a summer rep company that I had been working with for a few years. A dear friend and mentor of mine, the Founding Artistic Director, was leaving after a decade at the helm and asked three of the company’s young leaders to step in and take over as a triumvirate.

To say that I was thrilled would be a huge understatement.

I ADORED this company, I loved the ethos, the personality, and the work, and I was so, so excited to cut my teeth as an arts leader by stepping into an org with an established voice/mission/budget/audience.

Then, in February 2015 — just a few months before our summer rep was set to begin — the Artistic Director decided instead to retire the company, rather than handing it off to the three of us.

I was devastated. It took me several months to get out of that funk, and to rebuild my relationship with that mentor.

It wasn’t until after I got Coin & Ghost off the ground that I realized how truly NOT READY I was for that first opportunity when it presented itself. I didn’t know anything about running a company, about taking care of my artists. I was so focused on what shows we could do that I was blind to my own lack of knowledge/experience as an arts administrator; I didn’t even know how much I didn’t know.

All-in-all, I think there were four or five theatre companies that I tried to start before I started Coin & Ghost. I have failed more theatre companies than many actors ever get to work with. Each time I fail, I learn a new piece of the puzzle. I still fail with Coin & Ghost, but I’m learning where my blindspots are and am slowly filling them in; I’m surrounded by a remarkable team and extraordinary mentors; and I’m a tenacious motherf*cker. I don’t just want my company to be artistically excellent — I want it to be sturdy. Resilient. Able to withstand my elaborate and diabolical mistakes.

Coin & Ghost – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
In 2017, my wife and I — alongside a handful of our close friends — founded a theatre company to remix mythologies, to blend known stories with explorative mischief. We landed on the name “Coin & Ghost” as the most concise way to describe both the aesthetic of the company and our particular mix of permanent and ephemeral. We define “mythology” as “any set of stories that simultaneously SHAPES and IS SHAPED BY a culture.” So traditional Greek and Roman myths count, sure, as do any culture’s creation myths — but when viewed through this lens, Shakespeare has a clear mythology to it, as do comic books, American history, and other folklore. The sandbox we’re playing in is our collective understanding of the stories we tell ourselves as a society.

When the pandemic hit, we were a week away from opening our latest project, “Mama Mama Can’t You See,” which I was directing. The show — written by the REMARKABLE writing duo of Cecilia Fairchild and Stan Mayer — is based on Mayer’s real-life experiences as a Marine veteran. The play explores a particularly harrowing moment of his first deployment, and the implications of that moment across the boundaries of death, sex, and love. It’s a metaphysical journey in which the experience of war becomes a shared identity among four Marines in Iraq and four sex workers from the American Civil War, who find themselves crossing paths in the space between life and death. Our ensemble and design/production team are absolutely STELLAR, and we can’t wait to open this show once it’s safe to gather again.

As a company, we’re known for our blend of craft, aesthetics, and social commentary. We’re known for taking huge risks and attacking them fearlessly. Most importantly, we’re known for taking care of our artists. Every member of our admin team has worked on projects before where our work, our time, and our input have been disrespected, and we vehemently reject the notion that any theatre – including and especially intimate theatre – needs to be run that way.

To make the only kind of work we are interested in – risky, fierce, and dangerously imaginative – we must collectively agree to work from a place of bravery, trust, and gratitude. We take care of each other, and the artists who work with us have come to expect that. That’s the thing we’ve accomplished that I’m most proud of, and a reputation we will always strive to maintain.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
Until audiences are comfortable returning to full-capacity theatres, we’re going to see a lot of innovation when it comes to theatrical form. During this middle space – which, in all likelihood, could take a couple years – I expect to see more digital projects (of course), but also, more outdoor performances, more one-on-one shows, and other non-traditional audience/stage setups.

Contact Info:

• Website: coinandghost.org
• Phone: (818)925-4928
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: instagram.com/coinandghost
• Facebook: facebook.com/coinandghost
• Twitter: twitter.com/coinandghost

Image Credit:
Cody Skylings, Julián Juaquín, Kendall Johnson, Niki Armato, and Mae Koo

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