Local theater director LaRayne Watts called me up one day, in desperation, asking me to take on a role in her play. At first, I was hesitant. I hadn’t acted in a play since I was 13, as a part of the Willapa Player’s Summer Youth Plays. As soon as I read the script, I knew I had to give the part a chance. I was to play Victoria Van Roth, an artistic bohemian; some felt that I was at least slightly type-cast.

The play Death By Design was promoted as “a comedy with murder.” I thought the play was hilarious and I’m so glad that I had the opportunity to participate. The play ran 2 weekends for a total of 5 performances. We had great crowd turnouts at the performances and everyone seemed to truly enjoy the absurdity of the show.

It was a nice shift for me to push myself as an actor in a play rather than a director in a movie. At first, I was extremely nervous and intimidated by learning all my lines; I had 90 of them, which seemed like more than plenty! With this achievement under my belt, I am interested in pursuing more opportunities to act or to study the craft. As a director, the more I can learn about acting, the better! It can never hurt to improve communications between actors and directors on sets and in rehearsals and I feel that the basis of the communication stems from an understanding of what each party is going through.

The full cast at curtain call for our second weekend performance on Friday, November 15th, 2013

[From Left to Right: Gracie Manlow (Alice), Chris Winrich (Eric), Ashton Winrich (Jack), Linda Anderson (Sorel Bennett), Curt Harris (Edward Bennett), Me (Victoria Van Roth), Dave Lund (Walter Pearce)]