Hannah Victoria Franklin is a new drama instructor this year at Blanchet. She directed the fall play this year, and is still a working actor. She has had an exciting and full career in drama, traveling to many countries to share her talents.

What first drew you to theatre and drama and made you passionate about it?

“When I was in high school I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do, and when I went to college I thought ‘hey, I’ll just take a bunch of fun classes, see if any of them strike me’. I took a drama class and the bug bit me as they say. From that point on it was pretty clear. I knew that’s what I wanted to do, and so I’ve spent all my time since then, for the past 14 years maybe, doing drama and everything related to drama.”

Can you describe your career in drama?

“I’ve had kind of a really cool career. It’s been interesting, the twists and turns that it’s had and the opportunities I’ve had. When I was younger, I was a singer, so I performed a lot. I went to Japan and performed at the Japan-America Grassroots Summit and sang at Carnegie Hall. I had a lot of performance experience doing that.

I started to get interested in Russian literature and Chekhov, so I spent some time in Russia touring and performing. Last year I went with my company to Uzbekistan. We were part of the festival for American culture sponsored by the US Embassy. We performed in Tashkent in Uzbekistan, and it was totally fascinating, really really interesting.”

What type of plays and musicals have you been involved in?

“I had actually never done a Chekhov play myself until a couple of years ago when I got into this company, even though I always loved his work. Everything I’ve done has just been all over the map. I’ve done everything from classic English to Shakespeare to ridiculous campy musicals, all of it. I’m an interesting type as an actor, so I’ve had a really cool career as far as the roles that I’ve gotten to play. I’ve always really loved my type, some actors really hate theirs, but I love it.”

Why did you choose the Vaudevilles for the fall play?

“I really like them. I just really like them. I was thinking ‘wow, there’s so many good roles in there. I can get so many lead roles for so many kids’. And I of course love that material, and it felt like a logical selection for me for my first time here. Mo thought so as well. But I really felt like they are so much fun for actors to work on because Chekhov’s writing is so human. Everyone on stage, whether they are playing a huge role or a really small role has so much humanity to tap into. There is no one extraneous in his plays. Each one is a full life. That’s what I love about this stuff.”

How did it feel to see the students take on the life of all those characters?

“I was so proud. And not just with the actors, but with everyone involved, all the crews, everyone. I was really impressed. I thought ‘man, there is so much talent here at this school’. It just was mind blowing to me, and really rewarding to be around.”

Do you have a favorite story from acting?

“Oh! Before I went to grad school, I had this horrible reputation as the actor who would always hurt herself on stage. I was so enthusiastic, that pre-Suzuki training and pre grad school training I would throw myself into these roles. When I’d walk off stage, I’d always be bleeding or I’d have broken something, or smashed my hand on the table too hard and broken it or the furniture. One time I was supposed to exit down this ladder in a hole in the stage and drop. But I was running too fast leading up to it and I just disappeared into the hole, and the whole audience were like ‘woah, it’s a magic trick!’. And I could hear the applause of the audience during my exit as I fell 15 feet down onto this concrete floor. That’s the actress I used to be, and I feel very much more in control of my world now. I was accustomed to getting up on stage a little bit bandaged.”