Johanna McKay is a highly trained and experienced actor, director, and playwright as well as a theater teaching artist in the Lawndale Elementary School District. Her enthusiasm for her work and love for her students is overwhelmingly clear through their energy and excitement in each class and their incredible performances. We had an opportunity to sit down with her and talk about her own artistic practice and why passing her passion for theater on to her students is so important.
If my students have one main takeaway from my class, I hope it is a love and respect for theater and confidence in doing it…
Tell us about your personal work and how it affects your teaching.
My work with P.S. ARTS is very fulfilling because of my love for theater. I have been an actor since I was the age of the students I’m teaching now. My parents are classical musicians and I was raised in a household where the arts were not only highly valued, they were how we made a living. I was trained in Chicago and have worked as an actor professionally in theaters all over the country. Here in L.A. I am a member of several theater companies and act in plays, help develop new scripts, adapt and direct Shakespeare and musicals, attend and support plays, and engage in lively discussion about them with other working actors, technicians, and directors. My teaching is directly affected by the excitement I feel about this art form.
What are some consistent sources of inspiration for you/your artwork?
Any innovative concepts that come up in new productions invigorate me to try to include, adapt, and shape those ideas into current, teachable lessons that will give the students a fabulous experience. I am inspired by the theater I see; actors, teachers and directors who are brilliant; visual artists who constantly amaze me; books; music; a funny comment made by someone; a prop sitting on a shelf; an action or improvisation done by a student; an idea a classroom teacher has…who knows WHAT is going to inspire ideas that go into a performance! It all goes into creating theater that is relatable, humorous, and empathetic to the human condition.
I am inspired by the theater I see; actors, teachers and directors who are brilliant; visual artists who constantly amaze me; books; music; a funny comment made by someone; a prop sitting on a shelf; an action or improvisation done by a student; an idea a classroom teacher has…who knows WHAT is going to inspire ideas that go into a performance!
If your students have one main takeaway from your class, what would you like it to be?
If my students have one main takeaway from my class, I hope it is a love and respect for theater and confidence in doing it—within that, support of each other, creating a safe space to be brave, laughing a lot, working as an ensemble, and leaving the experience feeling uplifted.
Tell us about a memorable class/student/lesson.
Some students I have who have autism learned our play and performed it earlier this week. Each young actor had successes and moments where they seemed engaged and excited. However, I worried that Sam*, in particular, was not very engaged by the play and struggled to stay on task. Sam is a nice kid but it just seemed that this wasn’t their “thing.” Just now, Sam and their classmates came in to watch another fifth-grade class perform the same play. As Sam watched from the audience of parents and school staff, the excitement in recognizing the play grew and grew! Sam began singing the songs, doing the movements, and ended up standing up in the middle of the audience and jumping up and down applauding and laughing during the show! Sam especially loved the girl who played the frog—which was originally Sam’s part.
Sam’s teachers and I were quite surprised and delighted—and the class performing LOVED Sam’s reactions! It made THEM become more engaged. They began performing for SAM! It turned into a joyous experience for the audience and the cast – and especially for Sam! What a thrill to see them connect so personally as Sam recognized their show being performed by others.
What famous person, either dead or alive, would you choose to take out for coffee?
I would love to have a full course MEAL with William Shakespeare and his cast of actors. I have many questions for him and I bet his sense of humor would be awesome!
Thank you, Johanna! Teaching Artists like Johanna are a vital part of what makes P.S. ARTS programs succeed. By making a gift this year, you are helping us provide a salary, benefits, supplies, professional development, and a robust network of support for Johanna and more than 50 other teaching artists. Support our teaching artists here.
Bonus! Check out this Meet the TA we did with Johanna a few years ago.
*This student’s name has been changed to protect their privacy.
