Project puts senior in director's chair

By Garth Guibord

The Sandy Post, Oct 11, 2007, Updated Oct 30, 2009

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Veronica Rickerd plans to run her own theater company when she gets older. But she’s getting a taste of that now, thanks to her senior project: a one-act play she wrote, directed, produced and will perform in this weekend at the Boring Grange.

“What better to do in a theater company than original works?” said Rickerd, the 18-year-old Gresham High senior, who will graduate early and plans to earn a degree in cosmetology from Mt. Hood Community College to help put her through business school before she starts her theater company.

The play, “Behind the Crowd,” is an ensemble piece with nine characters and takes place at a high school. It centers on a topic that so many students are too familiar with: stereotypes.

“I wrote about high school stereotypes,” said Rickerd. “I have a very wide range of friends: football players, cheerleaders, drama people, choir people, people who aren’t involved in anything. (I wanted) to portray to other people that not everything is what it seems.”

Rickerd wrote her script in June after school let out for the summer, revised and edited it, and held auditions. She has been in charge of all elements of the production, including the set and costumes. Luckily, she already has a great deal of experience in the theater, including the first production she directed, “Males Order Brides,” with the Nutz-n-Boltz Theater Company last October.

Kelly Lazenby, one of the co-founders of Nutz-n-Boltz, has worked with Rickerd on numerous occasions and now serves as a mentor for her senior project. Lazenby served in a similar role for “Males Order Brides” but notes that she doesn’t need to help the student as much this time around.

“I definitely see growth,” said Lazenby. “As she grows older, she makes her own discoveries, and you find you have to say less and less.”

All of the stories told in the play are based on real people, and Rickerd hopes that the message behind the stories resonates with the audience as much as it has with herself.

“I hope that when they come see this, they will get as much out of it as I am,” Rickerd said. “My cast has worked so hard, they’re not just doing it for me, they’re doing it for the people who are coming to see them.”

“Behind the Crowd” will be performed at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 12, and 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 13, at the Boring Grange Hall, 27861 Grange St. in Boring. Admission is free, but there is a suggested donation of $3, and there will be improv games following the show. For more information, call 503-442-6349.