I was able to talk with the lovely Audrey Johnson this week about life and all things theatre. Originally from Chicago, Illinois, Audrey is a junior at Augie double majoring in English and Theatre Arts. She is a big fan of bread and can be spotted in any number of local coffee shops, finishing entire seasons of shows on Netflix. Her favorite holiday is Purim, her favorite food is bagels, and she’s really proud to be Jewish. Audrey loves dancing to songs from the eighth grade, guinea pigs, conspiracy theories, and her cat William. She also never takes a photo without the Snapchat dog filter.
Where’s your favorite hangout spot on campus?
The Teaching Museum is a really good place to spend time! It has really amazing, inspirational art in it and a really fun atmosphere. They’re not on campus, but Rozz Tox and Theo’s in the District are two places I think everyone should go to at some point. They have great coffee and student discounts and a lot of events every week. Pop the Augie bubble!
Aside from Netflix and coffee shop-hopping, what do you like to do in your free time?
I write, too: Screenplays, plays, poems, short stories, stuff like that. I’ve been getting into music as a medium, as well. I want to blend music and theatre together in a way that’s different from the standard musical. But mostly, I just spend time with my friends and watch “The Office” and “Gilmore Girls.”
What are you involved with on campus?
I’m currently the president of Electric Theatre Unplugged (ETU), a small theatre troupe that writes, directs, and performs 30-ish plays in 60-ish minutes. It’s focused really heavily on social activism and awareness through the lenses of the experiences of the people on the cast. I also work on the theatre productions here and I work in the library too, which is pretty great!
What job do you want to have once you graduate?
I want to be a librarian and am going to grad school for library sciences. I think libraries can be really strong centers for the community and provide a lot of social services in addition to being a place to read, watch movies, do research, or just hang out. I want to use libraries as ways to connect the community and to provide essential resources such as community activism, tutoring, literacy and ESL classes, even daycare and general hygiene. Often libraries are sort of sanctuaries for lower-income households, a place where children can be watched for free, centers for self-education, and regular entertainment space that doesn’t cost anything. Libraries can be seen as stuffy places full of angry old ladies telling you to be quiet, but I want to change that perception into a more positive one. I just think libraries are really amazing and can do so much for people in so many different ways.
You’re working on a theatre production yourself, “Stop Kiss,” aren’t you? Can you tell me a bit about that?
I am lucky enough to have the opportunity to direct in Augie’s studio season this year, thanks to the donations made by the Honkamp and Brunner families as well as many other donors. The Honkamp Black Box was built to showcase student work, and I was chosen by the department to direct Diana Son’s “Stop Kiss.” I applied to the season personally with a few different shows that I picked myself, and I have control over the entire production, from casting to staging to my creative concepts, which is absolutely amazing. Dr. Jennifer Popple in the Theatre/WSG department is serving as a sort of mentor during the process, helping me along with logistics and giving me the resources I need and she has just been great. I’m working with a team of other students to design the set, lights, costume, makeup, and do historical research on the play and on my interpretation of the script.
How have you interpreted the show and what makes your interpretation unique?
Originally, the show is about two young women in NYC who go through a gay-bashing, and the story is told in an episodic structure through flashbacks. It was written in 1999, so I wanted to update it a little to be more relevant today. I chose to change one of the main characters to be a trans woman, played by myself. The past few years have seen a major rise in violent hate crimes against trans women and I really wanted to give a platform for those experiences to be heard and, in the case of the play, seen. The show goes up in April, from the 6th through the 9th, and I am really excited to have so many talented people working on it and helping me share my own experiences and the collective experiences of the trans community in such a way. We are going to be using a totally different lighting concept than previous shows this year have had, as well as different staging and live music, so the show is going to definitely stand out. I hope that it can help promote more conversation here at Augustana and that it can help foster understanding, especially in this tense political climate.
You’re in the upcoming production of “The Vagina Monologues” here on campus. Why did you want to be involved in that? Additionally, how has “Vag Mons” become important in your life?
As a trans woman, it’s been a very healing process for me to participate in feminist conversations and events. There has been an increase in transphobia in a lot of communities, feminist and activist circles not excluded, so finding a space where I am able to talk about my life and experiences has been amazing. Being in a community of other women who accept me and appreciate me has made me feel a lot safer at Augustana and knowing that I’m able to provide for the community means a lot to me, as well.
I hear ETU is doing a companion show to “The Vagina Monologues.” Where did the idea for that show come from?
It’s a sort of reaction to the long tradition of V-Day from the perspective of women who were left out from Ensler’s original work, and focusing on personal experiences and narratives rather than monologues that were written by someone else. Not that “Vag Mons” is exclusive per se, but there’s always room for improvement. For instance, there is only one monologue for trans women. That means that as a trans woman performing in the monologues, I don’t have any options. I find that a little uncomfortable, as trans women have a vast sea of different experiences and persuasions in terms of femininity. There’s also no monologue for trans men, or for non-binary people, which is sad because those are also very important and valid stories that should be told, and would be fantastic representation at such an event. I want to give a voice to those people in my community who often don’t get one.
Has your involvement in theatre helped “The Vagina Monologues” have more meaning for you?
I wanted to do “Vagina Monologues” because I want to create more spaces for discussion and conversation and that’s also why I do theatre. The process of sharing not just your words, but also your body on a stage can do so much, can mean so much to people. As a trans woman, my presence on the stage is radical, as trans bodies are often censored or policed and offering representation to other trans women, in or out of the closet, is such a life-affecting thing. I had never seen trans women on TV or in plays until I was in college and when I did, it gave me a lot of hope, a lot of courage. It made me feel less alone, less scared, and if that’s something I can offer to someone else, I feel like it’s absolutely my responsibility to do that.
Thanks so much, Audrey! It was a pleasure interviewing you.