Special
Features / April 2007
Lifetimes and Lifelines
 Debra Conner
|
By Pat Lawrence
Most people find it a challenge to see the world through someone else’s eyes, with someone else’s perspective. Debra Conner embraces the challenge. One of West Virginia’s History Alive! presenters, she shares the views of five distinctly different, equally fascinating American women in live performances across the country.
As the reclusive, remarkable poet Emily Dickinson or the extravagantly flamboyant flapper Zelda Fitzgerald, Debra speaks volumes, not from a book, but in person. She assumes their manner, personality and appearance and lets them introduce themselves and tell their own story.
A poet and creative writing teacher, Debra is understandably drawn to literary women, but her character choices are based most on the complexity and depth of the women themselves. Originally from Marietta, Debra moved to Parkersburg in 1970. After her BA in English from the University of Virginia, she went to Warren Wilson College in North Carolina to complete her Master’s in poetry wring. However, as she says, “Poets are not known for the size of their paychecks!” So, for twenty two years, she was a teacher as well as a poet, teaching English and creative writing, as an adjunct teacher at WVUP and as an artist-in-residence for the Ohio Arts council. She also taught English as a second language and arranged arts series and programs for the community.
The first time she saw a portrayal of author Willa Cather, Debra says, “I was enchanted. She stayed with me for a long time and planted the idea, ‘I could do that’, in my mind.” Several years later, Debra received a letter from the NEA offering a fellowship to research and perform historical characters. “I thought, what the heck, I’ll do it!” The character she chose was Emily Dickinson. “They gave me money to travel and research her life. I went to Amherst, and visited the Dickinson homestead and museum and did extensive reading. And, I got to work with the woman I had originally seen as Willa Cather.”
Debra began performing Emily Dickinson in 1997. “The research is always ongoing. She’s an amazing woman, a character you could devote your life to. I learn something new with every performance.”
In 1998, West Virginia introduced the History Alive! program and looked for characters tied to West Virginia history. Living so close to Blennerhassett Island, Debra knew about Margaret Blennerhassett, but was interested in knowing more. Soon, Debra was dressed in Margaret’s period attire, describing life on the Ohio river at the turn of the 19th century. Although Margaret is especially popular near her hometown, Debra performs the character out of state, and her portrayal was included during national festivities of the Lewis and Clark expedition anniversary.
In 2003, the Ohio Humanities Council was looking for 20’s characters. “It was a summer program, an opportunity to work with four other performers and travel. I proposed Zelda Fitzgerald.” Zelda Fitzgerald was married to Great Gatsby author F. Scott Fitzgerald. Considered the quintessential flapper, Zelda inspired many of her husband’s famous characters and was notorious for her own exploits. “I looked at five other women as possibilities, but Zelda was outrageous, clever and unusual.”
It would be a year of intense research. Debra says, “You live with that person for a year-and for years afterward. Zelda is my most theatrical program. I literally change from flapper to schizophrenic.” Debra has taken Zelda’s program to communities far from home, typically in celebratory Great Gatsby events.
Though Debra enjoys going to the theater, she has no background in it. “I’m not an actress, I was never even in a school play.”
Last year, she added two new characters to her life. She says, “It was like having twins!”
The first was Margaret Mitchell, author of Gone with the Wind. The second was an author who, according to Debra was, “like Harriet Beecher Stow, one of the celebrated writers of her time. In 1861, her story exposed working conditions of Wheeling mill workers.”
Debra has never quit writing herself. “Poetry is still my calling; but character portrayal is my primary work now.”
Multiple portrayal possibilities help keep her in demand, but Debra says, “Schools are under so much pressure to meet standardized goals, work for artists has diminished dramatically. My artist residencies, going to a school for a week to work with students, has dropped from five a year to just two, with luck. Schools just aren’t applying for grants to bring artists in.”
Still, Debra says, “This is the most fun job! It’s the very best way to learn about history and literature. The drawback is the uncertainty of the income.” To manage the uncertainty she says, “Live modestly, don’t take on any debt and live within your means.”
With a head full of personalities and a houseful of costumes and reading material, Debra says, “I think I’m at capacity for characters.” But she could change her mind. “Margaret Mitchell died at 48. Zelda died at 47. I’m outliving my characters!”
For more information, contact Debra Conner, charyzma@suddenlink.net.
Copyright © 2007 A Woman's View. All rights reserved.
Top • Home • Subscribe • Advertise • Submit • Distribution • Contact
Support Our Advertisers • Organization Resources • Women Owned Business
Send an Email About This Article