When I walked into the Kingston High School Drama Club room at 3:30 p.m. to interview FAB’s (Fine Arts Boosters) featured artist for June, the whole crew for a “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” was there. They were jazzed over their recent three-day run.

When I said, “Wow the whole play’s cast is here,” Lysander’s retort was “Play?  There was a play?” The cast cracked up. After months of speaking Shakespearean and being in the stage’s spotlights, the 24 actors cheered when Alison Roberts, drama teacher, announced Demetrius (senior Michael Smith) was in the FAB spotlight.

Michael said he found it hard to be Demetrius. “I had to learn to be a mean person. I am not usually mean,” he said.

Moving from North Kitsap High School midway into his junior year, this actor has been in every play since. His favorite role was King Sextimis in “Once Upon a Mattress,” where he had no spoken lines but a lot of fun.

Doing nothing but Shakespeare for a month was much different. Acting gives Michael “something fun to do and a place to hang out with great friends.” Living in Kingston, Michael has two sisters. He spends his summers in Texas working on the family ranch. The contrast in climate and scenery must be stark, as one of his favorite things to do is hang out at the beach.

“In Texas, I drink lots of water,” he said, but he won’t be heading there after graduation. Michael is going in the Navy and plans to make it his career as his father has. “I’ll follow in his footsteps.”

Cryptology — decoding messages — interests him. I asked him about acting in his future and Michael said, “I won’t go looking for opportunities to act, but if they find me, good.”

“The arts and artists are doing something good for this community and give folks an opportunity to be  with new people,” Michael said. The booster club couldn’t agree more with him. This year will have the inaugural Shakespeare Festival in the Port Gamble Theater June 2, 8:45 a.m. to 4 p.m. Working with the Roving Players, Roberts designed this event for middle and high school actors. Contact her at (360) 394-1257 for information. Co-sponsors are the Drama Club and the booster club.

“She is a wonderful director,” Michael said of his drama teacher. “It’s amazing how she puts all these shows together and even with her quiet demeanor everyone listens.”

Roberts also thinks highly of Michael and picked him as our last artist in the spotlight for this school year. His powerful handshake in leaving reminded me this 18-year-old young man was soon off for a new role.

There is praise for the booster club too. The NKSD arts teachers selected the booster club for the annual award for the Advancement of Arts Education. We will be receiving this at the Arts Festival, so more about that next time. Our annual membership drive is about to happen for the next school year and you surely must want to be involved with such an essential group!