Karen Campbell – Drama Director and Theatre Manager for MIHS Performing Arts Center (PAC)

Location: Mercer Island High School

Job Description: As drama director for the high school, Karen teaches students the craft of stage performance and directs all school plays. She also teaches the MIHS Actors’ Studio, Improv, and Drama 2 (Dreamstate Productions). As theatre manager, she oversees a staff that includes the theatre technician, house managers and tech assistants. She is in charge of all aspects of putting on a play, including props, designing and creating costumes, and set design and production.

Typical day: “Just as I never direct the same play twice,” Karen says, “each day here is a little different from the last.” Karen directs three main stage plays per year and works on numerous smaller performance projects. Because stage performance is about collaboration, she starts each class by having everyone stand in a circle. “Look around,” she tells students. “These are your partners. It’s not about being solo. It’s about sharing an experience.” Karen invites guest artists from the community to work with her students. This year's guest artists have included: Terence Kelley–noted choreographer, David Duvall– frequent music director for MIHS musicals, and Steffon Moody–mask and movement specialist.

Best part of the job: Karen loves to see how creativity unfolds in her students. “In my improv class, some of the kids— you wonder if they have a scriptwriter in their heads! Some are very shy, so for their parents, it’s gratifying to see this other side of their child.”

Something people may not know: As a young woman in Tennessee, Karen’s mother was known as the singing ‘Belle of Memphis.’ “When I was seven years old we went back there on a family trip. I ended up singing on a local children's TV show as “The Daughter of the Belle of Memphis!” Karen laughs. “Of course, I thought I’d be the next Mary Martin.” After young adult stints as musical performer and director of local productions, training as a classical singer and singing opera, Karen obtained her teaching certificate and a BA in theatre from the University of Portland. She later earned her MFA in Drama from the UW (with split focus between Child Drama and Directing), but had by then decided that her greatest joy came in teaching high school students to perform. “My students give from deep within their souls. Backstage, they are regular kids. On stage, they are transformed.”
Years in district: 12 years.

Outside interests: An award-winning quilter, Karen also enjoys knitting, swimming, seeing plays, reading, and writing script adaptations. Karen has been married to husband John, a counselor and poet, for almost 40 years. They have two grown children—Anny and David. Their remaining ‘children’ are Lhasa Apsos' (Rusty, Mahli, and Rufus), a Shih Tzu (Sophie), and Clifford the cat.