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Shawn Girdham

(Director, "Androcles and the Lion")
 

I was raised by wolves, no, by cows, no, I was raised in Michigan, land of wolves and cows. The wolves live far to the north and the cows are locked away safely in their own respective cow farms, so none of them were around when I was born. I lived near a cow farm but I've never seen a wolf, save in a zoo. I fled to Chapel Hill during the great Michigan fire of '93, where my homeland and people were devastated. It was terrible, but I think that it never happened, I think that it was a dream I had a while back after smoking a whole pack of cigarettes in one sitting and then collapsing from pure exhaustion. The real story is that I am a big fan of theater and I really shouldn't do anything else.

The somnambulist project was a huge life changing experience that split my soft skull and pulled out all of my creative mojo, in one fell swoop. I will never be the same. After getting an associate's degree in drama, I moved to chapel hill and began work on the first Chapel Hill Anti-Shakespeare Festival (CHASF). I was a rabbit. Three more CHASF's and countless Somnambulist shows later I realized one thing: I wasn't smart enough. I had to go back to school and be some super theater guy.

I went to Boone, NC, home of Appalachian State University: the mountains. "Head for the Mountains" was the vision I had after one of my many bush beer experiences (anything is possible with bush beer) so I went to Boone after I sobered up. I studied theater, I studied dance, I studied alchohol and young college women, uhm, well anyway, I graduated and was immediately pulled back into the family, CHASF. That's my story and I'm not changing it.

June 12, 1999