Q&A with....Clay D. Goodpasture

By Andy McDonald / Photos by Kristina Juodyte

Spining into Butter

Clay Goodpasture is a senior theatre major at Berea College. He will make his directorial debut with The Beauty Queen of Leenane, by Martin McDonagh, which runs November 12-15 in the McGaw Theatre at Berea College. A veteran of several college productions, Goodpasture also co-founded the John Goodfriddle Theatre Company with fellow actors Jonas Friddle and Greg Johns.

BereaOnline: Where are you originally from?

Goodpasture: “I'm an east Tennesseean - Oakridge.”

In directing The Beauty Queen of Leenane, what's it like making the transition from actor to director? Maybe a little scary?

“The transition isn't too hard. Knowing a little bit about acting helps you know what to tell other actors to help them do their job. The only thing scary about the transition is that there's a lot more responsibility - organizing everything and making sure what you're doing for rehearsal.”

The play has been described as a love story that takes the audience down “a terrifying and appalling chain of events.” What was it about McDonagh's play that intrigued you? “I liked all the elements of it. Martin McDonagh is a very young playwright - he's 29. He's very influenced by the stuff my generation has been influenced by. I can relate to it, but it's also very well written. The story just draws you in.”

She Stoops to Conquer

Beauty Queen seems like a really challenging piece of work to pull off.

“It is challenging. It's a contemporary Irish play, and we're doing it in dialects, so that's our first challenge. But also there's the subject matter. There's comedy in it, but it's a dark comedy, so at one point, it's going to turn tragic. I realized through rehearsals it has a lot of hard moments, so I've said 'Let's just stop this and we'll get back to it tomorrow, because I'm not really sure how to approach that.’ That's just being a beginning director.”

Orphans

You're working with a cast of new faces, aside from Professor Deborah Martin, who has also been cast in the play. You're all testing new waters. How is that going? “I cast all first year students (two freshmen, one sophomore transfer) and then there's Deborah. They're very new, but it's also a great working environment, because I don't have any expectations of them or preconceived notions about them. We're just starting from the base and building up. It's a cool thing.” How does it feel to be directing Martin, a professor in the theatre department?

“We have a great working relationship. It's a different environment than it is in the classroom, and anything I do, she takes very well. She's doing a great job, so there's not a whole lot of directing I have to do with her.”

I've seen you in at least two funny roles (The Memorandum and Spinning into Butter). Do you prefer comedy to drama?

“I definitely love comedy more than I do serious drama. I think comedy takes more talent, but it's somehow always perceived as being as less legitimate than drama (in theatre circles). I love comedy and I love making people laugh. This dark comedy includes both of these things.”

You are one of the founding members of the John Goodfriddle Theatre Company, along with fellow actors Jonas Friddle and Greg Johns. You’ve had some great success with it. What inspired you guys to form a theatre group?

“We started talking about it in the spring of 2002. We just put on a series of one-acts and short scenes in JAR (James Activities Room, James Hall) and it went off really well. We found out a lot about theater," Goodpasture laughs. “That's been the best part: learning about every aspect of it. Before, we didn’t have to worry about things like advertising or paying royalties to the playwright. You learn about technical stuff in the theatre lab because you work there, but you don't learn about all the little logistical things.”

Christmas 209b

This being your busy senior year, will Berea see anymore of the John Goodfriddle Theatre Company?

“We have one big project for this year - a musical. We'll probably do it next February or March. We're in the process of writing it right now. All I can tell you about it is that it involves a rubber chicken factory.”

Where will you go after you graduate?

“It just depends on which way I'm going to go. Probably somewhere I can do something with what I have - in a film or theater city. But I definitely want to stay with the performing arts.”

Clay Goodpasture

Of the roles you've played at Berea College, what's your favorite? “Otto Stroll in The Memorandum. I just threw myself into that character. I shaved my head for the role. We just had a whole lot of fun. We laughed through the entire time for that show.” Do you have an all-time favorite play? “I really like The Beauty Queen right now,” Goodpasture laughs. “Actually I like a lot of different things, and I'm not sure I could tell you one favorite of those.” Do you have an actor or director you especially admire?

“Robin Williams is my favorite actor. He's the funniest person I've ever seen on film or stage, but he also has a very serious side. He's had to work his way through comedy to get to where he's recognized as a serious actor. I love anything he does, for the most part.”

There's a common complaint that there's not enough to do in Berea. Do
you think this community could support a theatre group?

“I don't know why people wouldn't go out. There are so many opportunities to see live performances here. Especially since nearly everything around here is free, and you're never going to find that anywhere else.” In the age of cable, DVD, pay-per-view, etc, (i.e. entertainment that comes to people in their homes) do you think theatre will have challenges ahead in maintaining an audience?

Memorandum

“I heard a funny answer to this question from one of my friends. She said that people come to the theatre because there's always that possibility that people might make a mistake. I don't agree with that, but I thought that was an interesting response. It's hard, because cinema is big and flashy, and you can do anything you want on the silver screen. The theatre is limited in that respect, but it can be much more exciting, because you're right there and you're in the middle of it. On the silver screen, every time you see a given movie, it's going to be the same, but in the theatre, it's never going to be the same as it was the night before. There's something extremely exciting about that.”

Has your experience at Berea College been enriching?

“Berea College is a very unique place. There's so many different kinds of people here - different ethnicities, international students, different sexual orientations - all these different people coming together. It's like the ideal of America - this big melting pot, and somehow we all get along. I'm not saying it's perfect harmony, but I've learned so much about different people and opened my mind up to so many different things. Berea College has also given us the opportunity to have these venues to start our own theatre company and they supported us. They don't limit you.”

Since this is the Halloween season, I have to ask you the same question I've posed to a few other local folks: What's the scariest movie you've ever seen and why was it scary?

"Stephen King's "It." My brother made me watch it as a young kid and it scared the hell out of me."

Editor's note: Tickets for The Beauty Queen of Leenane range in price from $5 to $10. Call the Box Office at (859) 985-3300 from 1-5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and one hour prior to each performance. Performances start at 8 p.m.

Written by Andy McDonald - BereaOnline.com Contributing Editor