Tuesday, June 15, 2010

ENDSTATION PROFILES: Susan Myburgh


SPONSOR THIS CHILD
FROM CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA
First Name: Susan.
Middle Name: "It's not proper for little South African Girls to have middle names." -Susan
Surname: Myburgh.
Location: Cape Town, South Africa
Birthdate: September 29, 1986
Chores: Making her bed.
Favorite School Subject: Books.
Favorite Playtime Subject: Burning earthworms.
Monthly Sponsorship Amount: $10.

"I [have] always wanted to visit America. My Uncle was a podiatrist and when he visited America, he came back and gave me a brush with Minnie Mouse on it and a clock watch shaped like Aladdin. I think it all [will look] like Disney World.

Plus, [as soon as I get there] the first thing I [will do] is get braces. It's the cool thing to get for girls in America." -Susan


It is my absolute pleasure to introduce Susan (middle name unknown) Myburgh. As our guest director for the production of Alice In Wonderland, she is invaluable to this year's summer festival and I am personally thrilled she is with the team this summer at Sweet Briar College.
As a graduate of (yes, you guessed it) Florida State University's School of Theatre, Susan and I go way back. Having transplanted to the United States from Cape Town, South Africa in 1995 (TRUE), I personally helped her assimilate into the culture of the 'American University System' through the Multicultural Society on campus (FALSE). She adapted quickly, and within a year, she was a tour d'force at the School of Theatre (TRUE). From the outset, I always viewed Susan as an artist endowed with an immense set of talents. She was a woman who only needed the opportunity in which to use them and sought every event presented to her at the School. (ALL TRUE).
Within four years, she was no longer a woman waiting for an opportunity. She was an artist creating her own opportunities on the road that seemed to roll out in front of her. I never quite liked the word 'role model' but Susan embodies the very definition of it. She set out for Chicago with her then (and current) boyfriend (lover), Daniel Caffrey. They founded the Tympanic Theatre Company, a fringe theatre group within the Chicago urban center and since that time, are now an artistic pillar in the thriving professional theatre community of the city. Previous work in Chicago includes: ACTING - Pretty Penny (The Right Brain Project) and The Ride Down Mount Morgan (Red Twist Theatre). DIRECTING - Gregory and the Squonk (Tympanic Theatre) and And Then It Burst (Curious Theatre Branch for The Rhinoceros Festival).

Susan Myburgh with her biblical companion, Daniel Caffrey.

Constantly learning, constantly discovering, and constantly asking questions, Susan is an obvious choice to take the helm of the imaginative classic, Alice in Wonderland. She truly embodies the mission statement here at Endstation. "Exploring and defining the unique relationship between the live theatrical form and its audience." Susan, as a friend and colleague, is a genuine story teller. But in always seeking new forms in which to tell her story, she is an artist of the highest caliber.

We welcome her to the third annual Blue Ridge Summer Theatre Festival with open arms and are looking forward to the arrival of her partner (lover), Daniel Caffrey (established Chicago playwright), this July with the commencement of the 2010 Playwrights' Initiative.

m.

--
Michael Stablein, Jr.
Head of Playwrights' Initiative

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