More Stories of Engagement

Mary Elizabeth Scallen (on Claire Inie-Richards)
Artistic Associate
Claire connected with People's Light by attending Youth Summerstage in 2004. She took classes at the theatre the following fall, winter, and spring, participating in Resident Director Shannon O'Donnell's Young Women's Ensemble to explore the story of "the changeling child." She attended Youth Summerstage again in 2005 and soon after was asked to audition for an upcoming Main Stage production of The Crucible. Claire continued to attend fall and winter Theatre School classes, working with Teaching Artist Gillian McNally to explore the lives of historical American women. Then she appeared on the Main Stage for the first time in spring 2006 as Mary in The Crucible, playing alongside senior company members to adult and high school audiences. In the summer of 2006, Claire attended Teen Summerstage, led by company members Kathryn Petersen and Michael Cruz, exploring the complicated relationships among characters from Greek myths. That fall, she began a part-time internship at People's Light, assisting Resident Dramaturg Elizabeth Pool with production research. She appeared on the Main Stage for a second time in the spring of 2007 as Curio in Twelfth Night, again playing to both adult and high school audiences. Her dramaturgy internship continued unabated as she earned a lead role in Getting Near to Baby, a production for the Theatre's Family Discovery Series in the spring of 2008. That summer, Claire became a Teen Leader for the Youth Summerstage program. In the fall of 2008, she appeared as The Attendant in a Main Stage and PD High School production of The Persians.