Transcript
What inspires you from WFSU Public Media? Here's this week's Voices That Inspire. I am Laura Johnson, the executive director of Southern Shakespeare Company. I had no clue, I think, until high school. From that first moment that I stepped on the stage, I knew that this was home. Acting in theater, it was just in my blood. But it also helped me, I think, to come out of my shell. I think that there's a confidence that grows from that. There's a better sense of self and self awareness that comes from theater and being a part of a theater community like that. Southern Shakespeare is the only professional theater company here in town. What we don't have in telehassy is an equity company. And that's for folks who are trying to build equity points become part of what is the union for actors. And so they want that, they have to go, I think, at least two hours outside of telehassy to pursue that. So having a professional theater company, that is an equity company that draws theater artists from around the nation and around the world to telehassy to pursue professional theater is what I really want for the company. There's so much about theater that from the moment I wake up and to the moment I fall asleep, it's what gets me going and it's what keeps me inspired and it's what I am so incredibly passionate about. There's an opportunity to use art to raise social awareness to heal a community, to inspire a community, and to move it forward. And so I think that's what I would wish for, that we can use art for that and continue to grow our arts community, not for arts sake, but for some greater purpose. I am Laura Johnson, the executive director of Southern Shakespeare, your company. You're listening to voices that inspire.