Auburn English instructor Lindsay Walker's recent foray into theatre proves she is no "Do as I say, not as I do" professor.
Walker's play, "Six Dead Bodies Duct-Taped to a Merry-Go-Round," is currently showing in a four-week run with Full Circle Theatre Company in New York. It had its professional premier in Anchorage, Alaska, in October 2010.
Walker earned her bachelor's degree in creative writing and Spanish at Tulane University and her doctorate in creative writing at the University of Southern Mississippi.
"My main focus had always been poetry, but once I discovered playwriting, I found it's a lot more fun," Walker said. "(With plays) you have real people speaking your words to you and real characters that had only been in your head up until that point."
While at USM, Walker attended a weekend playwriting workshop led by accomplished playwright Dawson Moore. She wrote her play during this workshop, and it caught Moore's attention.
"He really loved it and asked if I wanted to collaborate with him on my script," Walker said. "We corresponded over email and worked out a final draft. He's much more established in the theatre world. He had the experience and connections to get the play out there."
Nicholas Walker Herbert, co-artistic director of the Full Circle Theater Company, discovered Walker's play during Moore's Last Frontier Theatre Conference in Alaska.
"'Six Dead Bodies' just stuck out in my brain so much," Herbert said.
Herbert's company decided to produce the play in its fall festival of short films. It is being shown in the basement of Triple Crown, an Irish sports bar in New York.
"We had a very full house last weekend," Herbert said. "It is our first play (of the set), so it kicks off our evening. People's reactions have been great. People find it very funny, and the characters bring it along."
In the past two years, the play has been performed seven times in five states and will be published in the next edition of the "Best American Short Plays" anthology.
Walker tries to inspire her students with creativity.
"I love having her as an English teacher because it's the first time someone has taught me how to write for a purpose and not just to finish a paper," said Christine Patterson, freshman in fine arts. "She's open to a lot of different writing styles and wants you to find your own style."
Walker has a passion for both writing and teaching,
"They're kind of indivisible from each other," Walker said. "I think my most creative, productive moments are always when I'm in the middle of teaching classes and grading papers. The more interactions I have with people, the more inspiration I have when I'm sitting down to create a character."
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