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 next spotlight is Nancy Bernhard, a retired theatre educator in Salinas, California. Nancy was active on the California Thespians state board and helped us beta test the Community in 2013 before it was launched to the public. In retirement, Nancy spends time supporting current theatre teachers and exploring new hobbies.
What inspired you to become a teacher?
Like many high school students, I had aspirations of becoming a professional actor, but my parents, in their infinite wisdom as it turned out, nixed that idea. They declared that the only way they would allow me to enter the theatre world would be as a teacher. I happily embraced that idea. There were no jobs forthcoming when I got my credential, however, and I gradually drifted into other things. I was in my late thirties before I returned to teaching, inspired, interestingly enough, by the film Teachers, starring Nick Nolte. It took nearly six years in the classroom before I landed a theatre job, and I spent nearly twenty-four years steeped in high school theatre.
Why do you believe theatre is important?
Theatre is important in almost incalculable ways, as all theatre educators are aware. Theatre, as do all of the performing and visual arts, gives a voice to the soul, and “[it] is the mirror we use to view our universe (author unknown).” It never ceased to gratify me intensely to watch a student perform with confidence and self-assurance, who, only a few months prior, went on stage in great fear and trembling.
What is the best advice anyone has ever given to you?
I am a great giant sponge and have absorbed so much from theatre colleagues and mentors over the years, and I will always be grateful. However, there was one piece of advice I received as a new-ish theatre teacher, which completely overthrew the way I approached acting training. It came from a college acting teacher at a workshop, who told the young actors to work out for their characters: “Who you are, what you want, and how you’re going to get it.” So simple, so basic, yet such a REVELATION to me! I applied it immediately and have ever since, building on the concept. It gave my students an invaluable tool for breathing life into their characters.
What is the resource you most recommend to others in your profession?
In gratitude for all the help I received over the years, I work at giving back to my colleagues in my school district. There are two resources that I constantly recommend: the first is Gai Jones’ book Raising the Curtain, and the second is EdTA’s own Open Forum. Both have saved my life many times over, and I have lost count of how many times I have recommended them.
What is your favorite musical (or play)? What makes it so special?
If I may be indulged, I’d like to give a “shout-out” to three favorite plays, rather than just one. The first is Chemical Imbalance, A Jekyll and Hyde Play, by Lauren Wilson. It is an extremely witty play, has several women’s roles, and is such fun. And it was my final play before I retired. The second is The Women of Lockerbie, by Deborah Brevoort, and it is one of the most stunning and emotionally draining-yet-satisfying shows I have had the privilege of directing. Finally, there is The Trojan Women, by Euripides. It has reminded me time and again about the terrible aftermath of war. All three shows I would mount again in a heartbeat.
Everyone has at least one good theatre story. Tell us yours!
Of all the theatre stories that are at my beck and call, there is one that I return to, first. In 2010, I had the honor of taking The Dining Room to the American High school Theatre Festival in Edinburgh. We rented a dining room table and eight beautifully upholstered chairs. In one of the vignettes, a number of children race on stage for a birthday party. Mine did that with extreme gusto. One girl dove for her chair, which tipped over and, to our horror, snapped off one leg. She and the chair went sprawling. There was a stunned moment of silence, then the actor playing the hostess adlibbed something appropriate, then admonished the children to return on stage acting like “ladies and gentlemen.” I sent a mental message to the kids to remove the broken chair and leg, which they did. When they all marched back on stage like proper ladies and gentlemen, the girl who had inadvertently broken the chair came on with the chair leg… smoking it like a giant stogie. The audience came unglued. There was wild applause. It was a masterful moment.
Do you have any hobbies or interests outside of theatre?
I am now in my second year of retirement, and I am indulging in my other passion: American Saddlebred show horses. Last year, I finally bought my first horse, a sweet beauty affectionately known as Dylan. I spend the late spring, summer, and early fall months in training and showing him in the Midwest. I am gearing up for this season by biking and doing push-ups nearly every day.
Nancy Bernhard and Dylan
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?
Scotland continues to pull at me, and I want to return to her for as many extended stays as I am able. I also miss directing kids much more than I thought I would. Barring that, there are shows on my bucket list I’d very much like to direct. Wit, Kong’s Night Out, Something’s Underfoot, Return to the Forbidden Planet, Macbeth, and just about any Greek tragedy I can get my hands on.
I am grateful beyond words for my many years in high school theatre. The kids taught me just as much-if not more-than anything I may have taught them.
If you enjoyed Nancy’s interview as much as we 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.