Did either of you appear in school plays, and if so, what was your favourite memory of them?
Dori: Oh, I was practically a theatre major at university - I took classes, I did shows every semester, but I never did declare a drama major. I think my favorite memory is playing the wife in To Be Continued... She doesn't even appear until the third act, but by the time she comes on, she's been built up so much that I got lots of gasps from the audience.
I was always much better at acting than doing tech work, but I did costumes and props and lights, a little of everything.
Ashley: I did a couple of plays in high school, and my freshman year at university I practically lived in the theatre, painting flats, making paper flowers for props, anything anybody needed. But then I declared an anthropology major, and spent less time behind the stage.
I was very very lucky, though, to have a terrific teacher, Dr. Tom Erhard, who was at that time in the English Department. I took Modern American Drama, Modern European Drama, Restoration and Eighteenth Century Drama, and Early European Drama classes from Tom. He was the first teacher who would let me write exactly what I thought and actually enjoyed reading it. I owe Tom any success I've ever had as a writer, because he let me fly.
Years after I graduated, I discovered that he was leading theatre tours to London. So I've gone on four three-and-a-half-week theatre tours. On one trip I think I saw something like eighteen plays. I love London theatre. I want to go back!