Shweta Saraswat
Seated under dimmed lights, while the woody smell of props fresh from the shop floats up from the stage, is Valorie Grear. She whispers directions to lighting and sound technicians, her eyes never leaving the actors rehearsing before her – it becomes obvious that the theater is where she belongs.Grear, 59, began teaching at Pierce College “to survive,” but has now grown to love her job as an instructor and director.”I was excited to see that all the passion I have for acting was equally exciting in terms of teaching and directing,” Grear said. “It was a wonderful discovery that (teaching) was just another outlet for my passion for acting. Born and raised in Memphis, Tenn., Grear lost her father at age 5.”I think my mother put all her grief over the loss of her young husband into writing,” Grear said. “Even though she wasn’t well-educated, she went back to school…and took creative writing courses, and she became a recognized author.”Grear appreciates her parents for their support of the arts, and feels that this may have influenced her upbringing.”Their friends were writers, poets, artists, so even though I grew up in the South, there was this rich cultural environment,” she said. “My mother and my stepfather were very open and I never got the message that I was supposed to pick my career by how much money I would make.”Grear’s first acting experience came while in high school, when she tagged along with a friend to an audition at the local theater. She ended up getting picked and hasn’t looked back since.After receiving her bachelor’s degree in theater from the University of Memphis, Grear received an acting scholarship to attend Cornell University, where she completed her master’s degree in theater arts.”After graduating, I went into New York City like every eager actor, looking for my first job,” she said.Having acted in several plays, television shows and films over the span of 20 years, Grear found herself at Pierce, where she eventually decided to teach full time.Grear’s life changed forever in 1995, when a car accident left half her body paralyzed.”There was a long rehabilitation period,” Grear said, “but eventually I got back to a full schedule and all the things I did before, but with the added challenge of not only being in the chair but neurological pain.”However, Grear had the full support of the college. Ramps were added to the theater building, as were button-operated doors and special cabinets.”These things cost money to do…and I feel that Pierce has been very accommodating. It’s been like a real home,” Grear said. “Faculty members donated sick days…which not only helped me financially during that time but really boosted my spirits.”Over the years, Grear has done her part for Pierce as well, investing huge amounts of time in producing a variety of shows. Her latest production of the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Anna in the Tropics” opened Friday.”I was drawn to the beauty of the language and the complexity of the plot structure,” Grear said, explaining why she chose this particular play to end the theater department’s 50th anniversary season. She was similarly drawn to the literary virtuosity of “Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet),” which she produced last semester.The play revolves around a group of factory workers in Florida who spend their days rolling Cuban cigars in the time just before America is struck by the Great Depression. Enter the “lector,” who reads the workers “Anna Karenina” to pass the time. As the plot of the book unfolds, the characters in the play begin to face similar emotions and situations.”She is drawn to plays about social issues,” said Gene Putnam, chair of the theater department at Pierce. “She likes character development.”Grear calls producing the play “unfamiliar territory, but an artistic risk that ultimately proved enormously rewarding,” in her director’s notes.As a director, Grear also found it important to “make an effort to draw in a more ethnic, racial and cultural diversity.””We had never done a play that that has an all-Hispanic cast (of characters),” she said, “so I felt it would provide opportunity for students to find something a role that expressed their identity.”Cast members, with whom Putnam said Grear has a “very close relationship”, found Grear’s directing style to be detailed and open.”She gives the actors the freedom to express where (they) think the character should go,” said Armando Rey, 36, who plays a factory worker named Cheche. “She is on top of everything, from what light is used to what color hanky we use.”Elizabeth Crabb, 20, who plays another factory worker, agrees that Grear finds the little things important.”She is very thorough, very talented and very patient. She’s a fabulous director.”Grear doesn’t have any immediate plans for the future, but hopes to remain at Pierce to direct many more productions. Whatever happens down the road, she will hold on to her belief that theater is a necessary part of our culture.”Teaching ourselves as human beings to express ourselves through art,” Grear said, “is the deepest connection to our own human spirit and our purpose on this planet.”