Margaret Baker
Though Rachel Camacho and Maggie Abbott are newcomers to the Pocahontas County Drama Workshop, they are hardly new to the world of theater. Both women have immersed themselves in some aspect of the dramatic arts for decades. They will both be keeping their skills sharp in Ned Dougherty’s play Deera’s Country Funeral to be presented at the Opera House Friday and Saturday, September 12 and 13, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, at 3 p.m.
Rachel Camacho will play Mary, a small-town hairdresser, seance instigator and listening ear for her burdened patrons. Camacho began her theater experience in Hot Springs, Virginia, performing with the Missoula Children’s Theater. She enjoyed acting so much she doubled her experience by also attending Missoula’s Covington camp and even traveled to Missoula Montana for further enrichment. As an adult, Camacho who is “related to half of Bath County,” helped start the Mountain Valley Players, a community theater group in Hot Springs.
Hungry for a total immersion in acting Camacho traveled to Washington D.C. for small roles in television and movies. Her résumé includes parts in Veep, the Handmaiden’s Tale, and Captain America. Eventually she came to miss the “energy of a live audience, the instant gratification of applause and laughter. There’s something about live entertainment – a feeling you can’t beat.”
She describes her character in Deera’s Country Funeral as “witty and funny with a sarcastic undertone.”
Mary will be a central force in one of the play’s most outrageous and comical scenes.
“You can’t be afraid to get into it. Can’t hold back and be shy,” she says with confidence.
Camacho thinks the audience will appreciate the “small town charm” of the play, “seeing themselves in some aspect of it.”
After 30 years as a costumer, Maggie Abbott is applying her experience in theater and film to performing the role of Carolina, a storyteller trying to travel her way out of despair. Abbott’s own story is filled with adventure, starting with the making of wedding gowns and battle flags, then apprenticing with the esteemed costumer Rosemary Pardee at Maryland’s Olney Theater Center. This led to more work in theater with the likes of Kelly McGillis and David Selby as well as in film with the talents of Kris Kristofferson, Patricia Clarkson and Chris Cooper. Abbott sees costumes as a “nest the characters spring from,” playing a part in helping the actor disappear into a different persona.
Never shying away from learning new things, Abbott attended college at age 57 in the field of occupational therapy. And now she is stepping from backstage to front for another challenge.
Her character in Deera’s Country Funeral travels around in a huge RV as she works her way through a personal tragedy. Abbott feels the RV is a “symbol of Carolina’s anger and grief.” In the play, Carolina stumbles upon a story too interesting to resist, a man who wants to hold a burial service for his beloved tractor. Abbott feels that in our current divisive culture this play is a reminder to “stay the course, peel the potatoes, grab grace when you can. There is still so much good.”
Deera’s Country Funeral will be presented with assistance from Dramas, Fairs and Festivals and the Opera House Foundation.
