Kevin William Meyer is a veteran stage actor with a flair for comedy.
His first dip into performing in a Shakespeare production fell flat in his mind, and he didn’t think much about attempting it again until Stephen James Anderson showed up at the Whidbey Playhouse.
Meyer was inspired again, and is acting in a Shakespeare play that Anderson is directing at the Whidbey Playhouse this month.
“Stephen has a very long career of doing theater and film work,” Meyer said, “and I looked forward to doing this production just to get someone who could really push me in that direction. Learning from Stephen was quite an experience and something I value.”
Anderson has been welcomed with open arms by the Oak Harbor theater community since his arrival on Whidbey Island less than two years ago.
Yet, it wasn’t the local theater that was his calling to the island.
It was the Navy.
After nearly 20 years of working in theater, Anderson opted for a dramatic life change.
“I joined the Navy because I truly want to be of service,” said Anderson, who is an aviation maintenance administration man at Whidbey Island Naval Air Station. “That was the sole reason. Now that I’ve joined, I understand so many things that I didn’t before. I understand the sacrifice that military families make, which is huge to me. I can’t believe what my wife goes through.”
Anderson, 34, started acting when he was in the seventh grade and got into professional theater in high school.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in drama from the University of New Hampshire and later got a master’s degree in directing from DePaul University.
That led to a 10-year career in professional theater with a focus on Shakespeare productions, and later a job as a fight choreographer for the Society of American Fight Directors. He likened that to being a stunt coordinator.
It was while he was earning his master’s degree in Chicago when he thought about a new path.
At 32, he enlisted in the Navy, got married and eventually left Chicago to an island he had never heard of before.
He said his dreams now include becoming a public affairs officer as well as continuing to share his passion for theater.
The play he’s currently directing, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” runs through May 19 at the Whidbey Playhouse in Oak Harbor.
“I feel truly proud to tell people what I do for a living, which was something I struggled with before,” Anderson said. “Not that I wasn’t proud, but I truly feel proud and now it allows me to take my skills and donate them and hopefully try to give back to the community. And the reason why I find theater like this valuable is because it helps people find a sense of themselves, a sense of their voice that they might have had before. A sense of grounding. Just the ability to express themselves in front of other people. The ability to stand up in front of others and be seen by others, but also to see others. I think that’s extraordinary.”
Although he has two degrees, Anderson said he wanted to come into the Navy as enlisted.
“I wanted to come in enlisted because it was such a new thing and I’m a true believer in you sort of have to — to draw a metaphor — you have to start in the mailroom and work your way up. I found that the best leaders do that. I was in a situation in my life where I wanted to be led again. I needed to learn how to be led again.”
Anderson’s wife, Aurora, gave up her acting career in Chicago to join her husband at Whidbey Island. They settled in Coupeville.
The Andersons weren’t married at the time he broke the news to her about joining the Navy.
“I told her I was sort of making some life changes and was leaving Chicago and things like that,” he said. “She told me she wanted to keep our relationship moving forward so I said, ‘Here’s some news for you.’”
After the initial shock wore off, plans didn’t change. In fact, they progressed.
“She ended up asking me to marry her,” Anderson said. “So we got married shortly after boot camp ended. She gave up her acting career to sort of take this journey with me. So, we’ve been really blessed in ways I would have never imagined.”
