Senior Katie Wall has been acting in plays at Stanton College Preparatory since freshman year. In Salvation Road she plays Jill, one of the main roles in the show. Wall made her debut in freshman year with the play One Oaks as a major role, which was a big step for her, as in middle school she only had ensemble roles. Salvation Road marks Wall’s sixth show at Stanton, which has given her experience that she conveyed into her role as Jill. Throughout her years of acting, Wall has honed her craft and gained friends and important experiences. Although she enjoys acting, she does not plan on pursuing it into college.

Kathleen Kelleher, Yearbook Photography Editor

Devil’s Advocate: How long have you been acting

Katie Wall: The first time that I acted was in 7th grade. I did a summer camp called Camp Broadway for four years. But the first time I had a speaking role and wasn’t just in the ensemble was freshman year.

DA: How many shows have you acted in at Stanton?

KW: Salvation Road is my sixth show.

DA: What role do you play in Salvation Road?

KW: I play Jill, the sister of the girl who left and joined the cult and the sister of the brother who went and looked for her. So basically, I stayed at home and I kept our parents from finding out. Also, I helped my brother set up meetings with the nuns.

DA: Was this the role you wanted?

KW: I either wanted the role that I got or Denise which was the girl that went and joined the cult, but I’m glad that I got the part that I got.

DA: What does acting mean to you?

KW: It’s a fun way to express yourself and be able to try out different roles and backgrounds. All the characters I’ve played had different backgrounds than me and they approached life differently so its fun to try and put yourself in their shoes and see what it would be like.

DA: How did you make the role unique to your own personality?

KW: I decided to make her really proud in what she was doing. Even though the brother Cliff and his best friend Duffey go on the adventure and didn’t necessarily enjoy her trying to help, she had a lot of pride in it and I thought that was important and gave her another layer. People thought of her as annoying, but she was still happy with what she was doing.

DA: How has it been acting with the other actors?

KW: All of the other cast members in this show and basically in any other show have been my friends so its fun because we get to hang out at school until 6 0’clock every day. It’s never bad, I like everyone, I don’t think there's ever been people we don’t like. We all get along really nicely.

DA: If you could change one thing about how they put together the show, what would you change?

KW: I would maybe add more scenery. Grove likes really simplistic plays, but I like plays that have bold scenery and cool backgrounds. My siblings went to Fletcher and their plays always had cool sets that their art students painted, and we never really had that, except for Seussical.

DA: Do you plan on continuing acting into college?

KW: I don’t think so. I’m going to focus on school; I’m not majoring in it. Acting is fun, but I could never see myself doing it for a living.

DA: What was your favorite part of the show?

KW: There’s a scene where I come in and Cliff is watching the video of our sister and I kind of stop and look at him and feel bad for him. Obviously, it’s hitting deep that we have this video of her, but we don’t know exactly what she’s doing. I like that scene because the rest of the play I’m hyper but for that scene, you get to see me take a step back and control myself. We get to have a fight scene where we yell at each other, which is always fun.

DA: How does the audience play into helping you be confident?

KW: It’s always nice to have an audience. The first show we had a small audience, so it wasn’t as

exciting. The last night we had a good audience though. They laughed at things they were supposed to laugh at, they laughed at things that we thought were weird, and so I think just knowing that there’s an audience there helps. Also, when my friends come I really enjoy that because they get to see me.

DA: What do you want other people to gain from watching the show?

KW: I think that this show is important in opening a conversation about how easy it can be for people to

fall into the wrong crowd and instead of parents shutting down and not discussing it, they should talk to

Q & A: Salvation Road: Katie Wall