AMERICAN THEATRE: She was cast as Sister Alice, a sweet, illness-plagued member of a Pentecostal sect of snake handlers in the rural South in Robert Schenkkan’s Handler. It was Bill’s first directing assignment at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and both the project and his relationship with Catherine would change his life.
2 comments:
One thing I noticed while I was reading this article was how fiercely type cast Ms. Coulson was. Now, maybe I’m just being pessimistic, but type casting can potentially be a really awful thing for an actor. Imagine being told you can only do one thing everyday for the rest of your life, and this judgement in solely based on your hair, skin color, nose, eyes, and the shape of your face. Actors are aware that they are constantly being judge on their appearance, but working outside a type is a lot of fun, and most actors never get the opportunity to explore different types of characters. The thing that’s so amazing about Catherine E. Coulson is how little she let this type of thing affect her. She was obviously such a strong presence in the community and she was clearly an enthusiastic actor (aka the best kind of actor.) An artist’s enthusiasm for their art is what makes them a sharp, compassionate artist.
It’s always hard to lose a member of your community, especially when that person has been around for 20 something years, it’s like losing part of your family, a symbol of the place, which is hard for everyone. I never know this lady but reading her memoir she must be really loved by people of her community.
But one thing that is coming out of my brain after the sad part was that how wonderful a person can stick to the job she loved and did it for a lifetime until the day she passed away. For all of us isn’t it the ideal goal of our life? To be able to stick to the job we love no matter what and be able to do it over and over every single day until your body and soul return to God (as if someone might say)? Doesn’t have to be the top of the business but be the one whom at least your family and community members cherish and remember.
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