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by Catherine Byrd
I've been acting forever. I started directing when I was working with
a new company that needed more directors, and I was nominated. It quickly
became clear that many of the people who auditioned for our shows didn't
know much about acting, so I conferred with my acting teacher, Mary Harris,
and created my first Drama Workshop.
That was more than 30 years ago, and the workshop has been evolving ever since, with some students preferring private coaching, either for audition monologs or for comprehensive acting skills. I have loved seeing people discover that they can do more than they believed they could.
Meanwhile, I have been a free-lance actor and director, working mostly in the Bay Area. I did a lot of community theatre when my children were small, and joined the unions later. I am proud of my membership in AEA, SAG and AFTRA.
When I had been teaching acting for only a few months, I began getting calls from people in other professions, asking if I could help them communicate better. That led to the parallel career of communication coaching, both privately and in workshops. It has been gratifying to show people that theatre skills are pragmatic and learnable.
I love my work.