Washington was recently nominated for a Lucille Lortel award for her role in "Wild with Happy," an off-Broadway production currently playing at the Public Theater. New York Times theater critic Charles Isherwood praised Washington for a "sensational performance," and advised audience members to pack sunscreen for the show because Washington "blazes so brightly."
Ashley Ulrich: What was your theater experience like at Dartmouth?
Sharon Washington: I was a government major at Dartmouth, but I would always go and see what they were casting for in the theater department and Hopkins Center. Most people thought I was a theater major for the time I spent there. One production I remember was "Hiroshima Maidens," which was very dramatic, very controversial at the time. I was in a number of productions on the main stage, including an Errol Hill play. I also remember a play that English professor Bill Cook directed, which was his own translation of a Greek comedy. It was really wacky.
AU: How did you decide to take up acting as a profession?
SW: After I graduated, I thought that before I went off to register for the Foreign Service exam and work at the embassy, I'd use the Dartmouth network to see if there was anything available in theater. I called Barry Grove '73, who was and still is the executive producer at the Manhattan Theater Club, a powerhouse for Off Broadway producing. I figured, he's in theater, but on the management side that would be a way for me to get a steady paycheck but dip my toe in the water. He told me a job had opened up in the box office, so I worked there for a year, then as his assistant for two years. I got to learn everything about how an Off Broadway theater works, but I still wanted to be on the stage. Being in the theater, seeing all the shows, all the actors coming in and out, I realized that's what I wanted to do. I was close to it, but management wasn't it. I applied to graduate school at the Yale School of Drama, because if I was going to do it, I wanted to stack the deck and get the tools. That was the turning point.
AU: What have been your favorite productions?
SW: My association with the Public Theater and particularly the Shakespeare Festival has been huge. For me, it's very personal thing, having been born and raised in New York City. Joseph Papp, founder of the Public Theater, really was a believer in theater for the people. He'd direct plays in Central Park, on the back of a flatbed truck, in the Bronx. To come full circle, come out of drama school and have him cast me in my first job at the Public Theater, was huge. On top of that, being able to perform Shakespeare at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, specifically the female lead to Denzel Washington, was not a bad start. I also had a great time performing the part of the Lady in "The Scottsboro Boys" two years ago after 20 years in the industry, that was my Broadway debut. The creative team for the play included John Kander and Fred Ebb for music in lyrics, who worked on "Chicago" and "Cabaret," and Susan Stroman for director and choreographer. That was really a kind of dream team.
AU: Can you tell me about your current role in "Wild with Happy"?
SW: The play was written by Colman Domingo, a castmate of mine in "Scottsboro Boys." A bunch of the cast was all living in the same house in Minneapolis while we worked on the play at the Guthrie Theater, and on off-days, Domingo would have us read monologues from a script he was working on. I was part of the creative process from the beginning. Domingo started writing my speech and intonations into a part he was creating he said he wrote it "on me." After we finished up the "Scottsboro Boys," Domingo kept working on his script at the Sundance Theater Lab and the New York Theater Workshop at Dartmouth. We did a public performance of the work at the Bentley in summer 2011, which was part of getting the play finished, reading the parts, taking feedback and changing it.
AU: What's a role that you hope you get to play in your lifetime?
SW: I always go back to the theater, which is what I know the best, although I'd love to do an interesting, small film, probably an independent film or ensemble arrangement where the actors are involved in the creative process. I've always wanted to play Lacy Macbeth. That would be just fantastic. Some of the other queens in Shakespeare's historic plays would be wonderful as well. I really enjoyed playing Goneril, the eldest daughter of the king in King Lear, at the Denver Center. Traditionally she's known as the bad sister who's just greedy for power, but what I thought and what I said to the director, is that she's just acting as the oldest. If she were a boy, it wouldn't have been a problem her father's kingdom would rightfully be hers. I'd love to play more women like that: Cleopatra in "Anthony and Cleopatra," Beatrice in "Much Ado About Nothing."
AU: Have you thought about dabbling in anything else, maybe writing or directing?
SW: I don't think I'd like to be a director I think it's a very specific skill. You have to be able to see the big picture, be responsible for a lot of different things. But I am starting to write more. I've actually been writing a children's book based on my childhood that I'm working with a literary agent to put together. It's been a cool new discovery in the last year or two. It will be exciting to see what happens.
