Lily Whitsitt ’06 has done a lot as an actor and a director at Wesleyan, but she might have saved the best for last, appearing as a gender-bending lothario in the faculty play, “The Deceased Woman.” How does a girl from Seattle who used to tell Thai children they had no teeth and once gave whiskey to firemen wind up strutting onstage in a white power suit? Read on.
KR: How did you wind up in the cameo role in “The Deceased Woman”? (Lily played a man who had been involved with the title character)
LW: It was supposed to be a surprise, but I was like, “Who are we surprising?” I don’t know enough people that they would be like “Oh it’s Lily Whitsitt!” When they told the cast, [director and Professor of Theater Claudia Nascimento] made me wait outside the door. She did a drumroll. They thought it was going to be Max Goldblatt [’05], but no! Gender bending!
KR: And how did you get into the character?
LW: We had just read “Don Juan” in my theater history class. I felt like I understood him psychologically.
KR: So what are you doing now that “Deceased Woman” and your thesis are over?
LW: I’ve just been sleeping and watching “Lost.” I’m almost at the end of the first season.
KR: What do you like about Lost?
LW: I was really, really skeptical. I was always into “West Wing,” I just got into “Grey’s Anatomy.” My brother was like, “You gotta watch ‘Lost.’” I think it’s interesting. Our playwriting teacher has interesting things to say about it. She thinks it’s a terrible TV show, that it’s manipulative, which it is. Everyone’s on this island for a reason, everyone has to find their purpose in being on this island. I like that.
KR: So what about life after Wesleyan?
LW: I may be doing this theater program at Skidmore for a month. Then I’m probably just going to be in New York trying to do some theater. I’m not counting on finding a full-time job in theater that allows me to live in New York. I’d like to continue with the kind of theater that’s been interesting to me. What I learned from Claudia in terms of physical actions and creating original theater. I really liked doing that for my thesis.
KR: Why do you like theater?
LW: Because I get to spend lots of time with Jess Chayes [’07], who I didn’t know before.
Jess Chayes: Because it creates something new?
LW: Michael Rau [’05] made fun of me for this. I like that it’s a transient art. I like that you make it and then it’s gone. I think it’s like a Buddhist mandala. When it’s done it’s like blown away. Michael Rau really made fun of me for that.
KR: You’ve also done some film acting here. Do you want to do more with that?
LW: I’m looking for opportunities after Wesleyan that have to do with filmmaking. I didn’t expect what a different process it was from theater. I think it’s exciting, the kind of technical control you have with film that you don’t have with theater. But what I love about theater is that it is in the flesh, and you have control as an actor.
KR: As a graduating senior, what are your feelings about Wesleyan?
LW: I feel like it’s changing a lot. Anytime seniors are graduating, you get that sense like it’s never going the same. We were the best. The freshmen class is so different. Think about the seniors when we came in—they were so involved. I’ve heard that even the administration has said that. Basically we’re letting in a different population.
KR: You’re from Washington. Do you think you’ll ever go back to the West Coast?
LW: Literally all my friends from home want to be doctors. They all moved home and all want to go to the University of Washington and they’re all living together. I was not ready for that again. I love Seattle, I am so a West Coast obsessed, grain loving, green tree hugging kind of girl. My mom is always like “So you’re going to move back, right honey?” But I have the New York bug in me.
KR: What did you do in the year you took off before coming to Wesleyan?
LW: I went to Thailand and I taught English at a school of third through sixth graders. Since [the Thai language] tonal you can really fuck up what you’re saying. A lot of times I told little girls that they had no teeth. Then I went to Italy and I tried to learn Italian. I met great people. It was the best decision I ever made, ever.
KR: So what else is exciting about you?
LW: I survived a fire. I was in London and it was Valentine’s Day. There was a fire in the apartment below the apartment I was living in. [Lily tells the long and involved story of the fire before getting to the really important part]. The firemen were hot. We invited them up for tea. Two of them ask for my number. We went up there and these guys are exhausted, it’s the middle of the night. Their lieutenant is downstairs, and my flatmate is like, “Do you want [your tea] stronger?” He brings out his whiskey. We served all the firemen whiskey and tea.
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