Spotlight on Stanley Woo - Bowman and Beldon in Wyrd Sisters

What is your role in. this production? I have two roles in the show. The first is a very disagreeable soldier who gets a marvelous death scene. Don't blink or you might miss it. The second is an actor playing the role of the Duke--yes, that means I'm an actor playing an actor playing a duke--and I get to pull focus in that scene, so watch for me!

What brought you to this production? I like doing fun shows at Walterdale, and I like doing large-cast shows, and Wyrd Sisters is both! I get to meet a lot of people with different performing backgrounds and we get to have fun putting on a play. Isn't that what theatre is supposed to be all about?

What is your background in Theatre? I took my first Drama classes in junior high. I was a very shy and insecure child, and performing was a great way to become someone else for a while and have people applaud you for it. I went to Vic Comp for high school (now the Victoria School of Performing and Visual ARts) and got a whole lot more experience in singing, acting, even dancing and music composition. I was in four different choirs, a performance class, a music class, and a dance class while I was there, and performed in three main stage musicals. I even did improv with Rapid Fire Theatresports for a couple of years.

Since then, I've tried to find other opportunities to perform or help others perform. I was a board member of an independent company, have performed with or for countless others, and have performed at one stage or another at each of the last 18 Edmonton Fringe Festivals. Throughout my performing career, I have done one-acts, Shakespeare, musicals, two-handers, revues and classics, and had roles large and small.

I first got involved with Walterdale in 2003 (I think), with The Taming of the Shrew. It was such a neat experience and I met so many fun and wonderful people that I wondered why I didn't join the community sooner. From there I went on to productions like Cyrano de Bergerac, The Skin of Our Teeth, and Lend Me a Tenor, and I'm not planning on stopping. Walterdale is a great fit for me, and I hope it won't ever get tired of me hanging around.

What is the most challenging thing about being involved in this production? Trying not to be envious of all the great lines that other actors get to say. Wyrd Sisters is such a funny show, and we have some truly hilarious actors. I want to share scenes with all of them, all the time! Thankfully, Nelson has given me some fun things to do on stage too, like my aforementioned death scene and focus-pulling.

What is the most enjoyable thing about being involved in this production? It's a Walterdale show! There is no one part of it that's more enjoyable than any other. I love the show, the cast and crew, the rehearsal process, and the theatre itself. But I suppose, if I HAD to pick one thing, it would be that I get to carry a crossbow with me on stage! Seriously! A crossbow!

What do you think audiences will experience if they come to this show? I think audiences will be a little confused by some of the context, if they haven't read any Terry Pratchett, but then they will start laughing and forget everything else. Some people will laugh so hard they won't be able to breathe, and some will laugh so loudly that we will be able to hear them upstairs. But I think everyone will come out of the show satisfied, perhaps teary-eyed, and having had a great abdominal workout.

* Stanley can be seen on stage regularly with the #YEGprov improv troupe and with a cappella group Apocalypse Kow. He also sits on the board for the Pure Speculation science fiction and literary festival, Edmonton's premier sci-fi and fandom festival.