Theatre for Lifelong Learning Artist Interview: Lynn
Text: Linda Lau and Rae Mansfield with Lynn
TFLL: We are Rae and Linda and this is Theatre for Lifelong Learning. Our guest today is Lynn. Lynn has taken several different theatre-related classes with Linda and we’re here to discuss her perspectives on theatre as lifelong learning.
TFLL: Please tell us how you got into theatre.
Lynn: I was always involved in plays in high school and enjoyed that so much, and so I majored in theatre in college. After graduation, my first actual experience on stage professionally was in Cape Cod with a summer stock company. Then, of course, I had to return to the reality of earning a living. So I got a teaching job in high school, and there I was in charge of the drama club where I also had to direct all of the plays at the school.
At my age I’m no longer involved in active theatre, so I was really happy to find the improv course and have the opportunity to pursue my interest in a fun way.
TFLL: What was your favorite show that you directed with the high school drama club?
Lynn: The Mousetrap by Agatha Christie. Also, there was one by Barrie, which I really loved. I had some very talented young people to work with. That was really the joy of my time at that high school. I was only there for two years, but it was working with the students in theatre that I really loved.
TFLL: How has taking the courses helped you?
Lynn: It’s been a wonderful way of enjoying my interest in theatre in a very unchallenged way. Alright, well I shouldn’t say “unchallenged.” An unthreatened way. And also, being with people, especially during this pandemic experience. It’s a time to really relate with other people who are enjoying the same thing I am and that’s been very, very important to me and very valuable.
TFLL: How do you think theatre courses and theatre help older adults?
Lynn: I think it’s a way of enabling older adults to be with other people, to interact with other people, to have their mental and physical being challenged, which is extremely important. You know we all realize our memories are drifting and that’s been a big help for me that I’ve been able to take improv classes and have my imagination and my memory challenged. It’s been a good exercise for me.
TFLL: What’s your favorite type of theatre class and why?
Lynn: Classes that I’ve taken in the past where the instructor gives us certain exercises to do to improve our abilities. I took a class at the local junior college that was a lot of fun, where we were prepared to create a piece to try out for a play. That was really neat because I actually used that audition piece to get into a play.
TFLL: What was the play that you got into with your audition piece?
Lynn: Oh, we did Lillian Hellman’s play about the two young women that had the girls’ school.
TFLL: The Children’s Hour.
Lynn: I played the older woman that was kind of a bad person.
TFLL: “Everything’s horrible. Guess I’ll just go on tour now.”
Lynn: Yes, it was fun. The most challenging show that I ever did was Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf. I thought I would never survive that one because you have so many lines and it goes on and on and on. Even though some of the lines were cut for the production, it was still very challenging.
I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve done. There were years and years of working with a local company, and I did work in every aspect of theatre, from painting sets to acting to getting volunteers, the whole gamut that’s involved with little theatre.
TFLL: How have you applied skills you developed in theatre to other parts of your life?
Lynn: I was interested in storytelling and there are a group of us that actually put on storytelling events and that was where I use my theatre background. In my teaching elementary and high school, I could ham it up and have fun with the kids. That was all part of my theatre background.
TFLL: What’s the most memorable moment that you’ve had taking a theatre class?
Lynn: It’s hard for me to say. I could tell you about a memorable moment when we were doing the Wizard of Oz and I was the Good Witch. I was supposed to get a message. The message was coming from a balcony in the theatre on a fishing line.
So you can envision this message coming on this fishing line from the balcony down to the stage to me and it got stuck. So I was there and I said, “Well, I think it’s coming…Oh yes, here it is…I think I can see it now…” I had to do all this ad-libbing until it finally got to me. That’s the kind of thing that you just relish. Things that you remember.
TFLL: That reminds me of a show that I was working on once where there is a mini helicopter that was supposed to fly across the theatre. It got stuck halfway and all the entering characters were supposed to be “on the helicopter.” It’s very exciting when those things happen.
TFLL: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received or given about theatre?
Lynn: Staying in the moment is the rock bottom most important thing. If you’re staying in the moment you’re always safe, in a sense, on the stage.
TFLL: What would you tell someone who’s never taken a theatre class before?
Lynn: I would say go for it! You’re going to enjoy it and even if you don’t become a great actor, you’re going to come out with some skills that will be valuable to you for the rest of your life.