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Justina Price plays a 60-year-old stroke victim in "Fuddy Mears," which runs tonight through Saturday night beginning at 8 at Schwarz Theatre. (Observer photos/LAURA MACKIE-HANCOCK).

By Jeff Petersen

Staff Writer

Theater is about overcoming phobias and stereotypes, about walking a mile or three in other people's sometimes holey shoes.

Justina Price knows that well. The 22-year-old theater performance major from Hillsboro plays a 60-year-old stroke victim in "Fuddy Mears," which opens tonight.

It's a challenge. Besides playing someone a couple of generations older, Price has to learn not only what Gertie says, which sometimes is gibberish, but what she means. And, in particular, Price has to be sure the audience understands what Gertie means. Sometimes Gertie switches words — instead of saying "home," for example, she says "gnome."

The tough part is, "you start concentrating so much on the language you lose what you're doing with your body," Price said.

For both Price and director Rebekka Handschke the show is a senior project. They're pushing each other to do their best, to succeed. Thus, after each practice, Price gets another round of director's notes. They'll focus on enunciation one night, breaking out of character the next.

"You have to keep everything going at once," she said, "and that's a challenge."

Then there's the matter of playing a character who's 40 years older than you are.

No problem, Price said.

"You sink down a little more. Living with age your back starts to hurt — and Gertie does a lot of crawling around."

Price's real-life experiences make her a better actress, she said. Jobs ranging from cashier and tour guide to working in a nursing home have broadened her outlook on life.

"They're not things I'd want to repeat, but I have a lot of respect for the people who do those jobs."

Overcoming phobias is another matter. One benefit of theater training is the ability to take on one's fears and either overcome them or learn to live with them, comfortably. Roles in "Charlotte's Web," ironically, helped Price. She made her acting debut as a fifth-grader in the show. Then as an EOU freshman as part of Team T she performed as Charlotte. A 10-foot-in-diameter "spider web" was brought to area elementary school, and crawling on that "web" helped her overcome, or at least get more comfortable with, her fear of heights.

Going into theater also helped her overcome some of society's stereotypes. She considered following in the footsteps of her father, Mike, a science teacher and coach. She instead chose theater. Some people ask why, since theater people obviously are on a rocky path to frequent unemployment and certain financial ruin.

Her EOU alumnus dad, however, was fully supportive of her choice.

"He spent all his time at Quinn and Badgeley. I spend all my time trying to stay away from there," Price said, laughing.

So what's next, after "Fuddy"? Price plans to teach in a summer youth theater at Oak Harbor, Wash., on Whidbey Island in Puget Sound, near Seattle.

After she graduates with a bachelor's degree in December, Price wants to see more of the world. Two trips with the Chamber Choir to Ecuador and other travels have whetted her appetite for adventure, and she hopes to enter a leadership program in New Zealand for a semester — our winter, their summer.

It's a chance to walk a mile or three in another culture.