Whatever the odds may be of getting cast in a play the first time you audition, that's what happened recently when Frances Enos auditioned for Hawaii Pacific University's production of "Dark of the Moon." Actress debuts in
a bewitching fantasyFrances Enos takes to the stage
By John Berger
in HPU's tale of mountain magic
Star-BulletinEnos makes her stage debut tonight -- ever.
"I'd been interested in acting but I thought what I'd do was take an acting class," Enos said. "I knew that the audition was going on for three days so my intention was to go on the first day and observe and see if I had any business being there. I did a little reading and I felt immediately, 'This, this is fine!' I can't explain it but the feeling was there."
The play was a Broadway and London hit of the 1940s. This fantasy, set in the Smoky Mountains of Appalachia, tells the story of a witch boy who falls in love with a mountain girl named Barbara Allen (a name and story already immortalized in a well-known folk ballad).
Claire Fallon and Noah Johnson star as Barbara Allen and the witch boy, respectively. Other prominent cast members include veteran actor Lew Lappert as the Conjure Man, and director Joyce Maltby's daughters, Melinda Maltby and Becky Maltby-Graue, as the witches. The characters are hill folk for whom the existence of witches and the like is part of everyday life.
"I read the play before I went and loved it, so when Joyce said that she didn't want to burlesque the characters or their accents, but find the truth and tell the story, I knew I was in the right place," Enos said.
She also said that the more experienced cast members have been helping her get used to the various technical terms and stage jargon of the theater.
"For the most part they're professional actors and they've all been very helpful. I'm having the time of my life."
Enos retired last year as head librarian at the legislature. She wanted to use some of her free time for personal growth and to try something that would be both fun and challenging.
"I knew I could read (aloud) just from reading poems and stories to the kids when they were small, and I'm a lecturer at my church as well, but I knew I didn't know all the other things that go with acting.
"I'm finding that it is all a real challenge. But Joyce is amazing -- she knows when to press you and when to let you think about it. Sometimes it's a struggle but it's all been wonderful!," she said.
On stage: 7:30 p.m. Thursdays to Saturdays, 4 p.m. Sundays, through May 6 Dark of the Moon
Place: Hawaii Pacific University Theatre, Hawai'i Loa campus
Call: 375-6415
Cost: $14 general; $10 for seniors, military, students, HPU faculty and staff; $5 HPU students
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