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Spotlight on the Artist: Christine Winkler Johnson

Spotlight on the Artist: Christine Winkler Johnson

For every production, we spotlight one of the hardworking artists who is helping to bring it to life. For White Rabbit Red Rabbit, we are spotlighting Christine Winkler Johnson, who is performing this surprisingly funny, deeply human Underground production on February 19th.

What drew you to say “yes” to White Rabbit Red Rabbit, knowing you wouldn’t see the script ahead of time?

Thornton Wilder said, “I regard the theater as the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being.” I believe White Rabbit Red Rabbit takes this to the next level because the actor AND the audience get to experience the story – share the story, the sense of being human - in the same moment. The discovery is real and raw. We are in this together and it’s beautiful.

When did you start performing?

When I was 10, I got to sing a solo in Really Rosie and was hooked. I wanted to be on stage all the time doing all the things. I concentrated on musical theater and opera through college and veered off into theater when I joined the Commonweal Theater Company in Lanesboro, MN in 1996. That’s when I started doing straight plays. It was a hard transition – I couldn’t figure out why anyone would want to hear me just talk. It’s been a fantastic journey of investigating why we love to hear people talk. And it comes back to storytelling. It’s not about me; it’s about the story and how as humans we are all so... human.

What’s something you’ve learned about yourself through performing?

I love performing because you have all these “ah-hah” moments on stage that translate to life and living. Things like, “LISTEN,” “SLOW DOWN,” IT’S NOT ALL ABOUT YOU,” “TRUST,” “CONNECT,” LISTEN... LISTEN...LISTEN.”

I am a talker and learning to listen is really hard. But if you don’t listen on stage, you will be lost. And if you don’t listen in life, you will also be lost.

What does being part of Duluth’s creative community mean to you?

I moved to Duluth in 2015 with no idea if there was a theater community. How lucky was I to discover that not only was there a theater community, but it was a thriving, living, growing, exciting theater community. And they took me in. Immediately. Instant Family. LOVE.

What has been one of your most memorable experiences as a performer?

In 2016 I was in Annapurna with John Pokrzywinski. We dug deep in that show. Always asking ourselves, what is the next step? where can we grow? where are we getting in our own way? what can we do to better tell this story? There was one night I was on stage thinking, “I hope the audience likes what I’m doing.”

That was the moment I realized that I had it backwards. It was not about me. (And if it is about me, I’m doing it wrong.) I am in service to the play, to the story. I am a vessel. And the best thing I can do is get out of the way and let the words flow. It’s hard, but that’s the goal!

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See Christine in White Rabbit Red Rabbit! Get tickets!

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