One of the main goals for our Theatre
Education Community is to help theatre students and professionals from all over
connect and identify with each other in order to build resources and support
the theatre education field. We shine a spotlight on a different member every
other week by conducting a simple interview.
Our latest Spotlight Member is Kristie
Bach, a retired theatre teacher and troupe director in Traverse City, Michigan.
Kristie is also a playwright, who started her own publishing company after
retiring, Purple Plays Publishing. With so much experience in our field, Kristie often has
the perfect advice and a solution to any problem.
Ginny: What is the most important advice you
can offer new teachers?
Kristie: The most important advice I could offer new teachers: Keep a balance between your professional life
and your personal life. Life cannot be
all work. As a teacher, it is very easy to become swallowed up by whatever is
happening with your students both in and out of school. In addition, as a
theatre teacher, any production has the potential of completely taking over
your life. The last few years of teaching, I realized that no matter how much I
worried or how much sleep I lost over problems with any given production,
everything had a way of working out - the production was always a great
learning experience one way or another. I have many regrets about time not
spent with my children (grown now), but I never look back on any production and
wish that I had spent more time working at the expense of time with family.
Ginny: What was the
first play you ever wrote? What is it about?
Kristie: The first original play I wrote was The Map Reader. After writing three adaptations of classics (Dracula, The Three Musketeers, Dr. Jekyll
& Mr. Hyde), I decided that I wanted to try coming up with a storyline
of my own. Because it was going to be performed by my advanced theatre class
the following year, it needed to have a large cast with doubling possibilities,
opportunities for extras (for the off-night doubles), and a balanced gender
cast. I settled on a Princess-Bride-esque genre that revolved around a magic
map. Three of the main characters had physical issues that were a potential
source of ridicule, and a third character was a gay man in a time and place
that made his sexual orientation unacceptable. Because the play had to appeal
to high school students, the plot included love, sword play, humor, drama,
secrets, magic, and plot twists. It turned out very well and the cast, crew,
and audience all loved it! This was the play that inspired me to start a
publishing company after I retired.
Ginny: Now that you
are retired, what do you miss the most about teaching? The least?
Kristie: What I miss most about teaching is the energy I got from my
students. I was able to keep up on current trends (important when answering
questions on Jeopardy!) and there was
never a dull moment. What I miss the least is that constant need for energy – there was never enough
time to get everything done. I love getting up at 7:00 am (instead of 5:00 am)
and realizing I can easily accomplish what I need to do and still have time to
go for a bike ride and/or sit down and read a book.
Ginny: Name something
on your bucket list.
Kristie: I actually have a bucket list written down and have just
completed number one – travel to the Galapagos Islands. I have wanted to go to
the Galapagos since I was 15 years old and am really happy that my husband and
I had the opportunity to experience such an amazing place this past winter.
Most of the rest of the bucket list items revolve around traveling so I won’t
list them all, but the two major trips that I hope are in my future are
Antarctica and New Zealand.
Ginny: If you could
have a different career, what would you choose?
Kristie: Whenever my advisory
class had to take the fall interest survey (an indication of a possible career
pathway), I always took it along with them. Every time, no matter which survey
I took, my career came out as a costumer. This is also the career I have always
said that I would have pursued had I not been a theatre teacher. I love the
whole creative process in costumes, whether it is reconstructing or
constructing them from scratch. One of the first purchases I made after I
retired was a serger (sewing machine).
Ginny: What is
something we would be surprised to learn about you?
Kristie: My first teaching
job was teaching riding. I taught for seven summers before, during, and after
college. After I retired, the first place I decided to volunteer was at
Reigning Liberty Ranch, a non-profit ranch geared toward helping veterans with
PTSD using horse therapy.
Kristie
is definitely making the most of her retirement and we love that she’s found
new ways to stay connected and share her expertise. If you enjoyed Kristie’s
interview as much as I did, add her
as a contact in the Community!
Do you know someone who deserves a
moment in the Spotlight? Tell me their name and why at gbutsch@schooltheatre.org. Want to read more Community Spotlights? You
can find them here.