By Jay Panandiker.

Few Seven Hills students can say that they have embraced the arts more than senior Katherine King. King has been involved in acting, music, and writing from a young age, and she continues to take a leadership role in all of these programs, today.

Katherine King (12) as Armande in The Learned Ladies, the 2012 fall play.

King is probably best known for her participation in the Seven Hills Theater Program. She has been interested in acting from elementary school, first introduced to the art form by her father who is a theater professor. King began her acting career by participating in several theater camps. It was not until seventh grade that King took on her first official acting role. She played Orphana, the orphan, in the spring production of The Beggar and the Wolf. Since then she has acted in every Seven Hills production.

Her favorite experience in theater comes from the Fall 2011 production of Get Out of my Hair!  King played the lead role, a diva singer who took the audience on a journey through her misadventures of wealth, popularity, and romance. King said that portraying Lucette was both difficult and rewarding. Lucette was a feisty and demanding club singer, a stark contrast to King’s more cerebral and less audacious demeanor. King had to go to incredible lengths to accurately capture the essence of her character. One such way she did this was through utilizing “Inner Monologue.” Essentially, she did line by line analysis of her character’s personality. Then, she recapped each scene by writing a description of her character’s emotional state. This helped King translate words on a page to actions on stage. In addition, King conducted extensive research on femmes fatales. The French term describes a woman who traps her lovers into a trance of irresistible desire, often leading them to dangerous and deadly situations. King recalls learning about the archetype: “My dad was walking around my room pretending to be a femmes fatales.” [King demonstrates gesturing wildly during the interview].

King in The Learned Ladies.

King says that she likes theater because it “provides an outlet to express myself.” She also appreciates the team-like elements of the theater program, which “is about everyone being together and trusting each other.” Several directors and theater teachers including current theater teacher, Kate Riley, have lauded King’s acting abilities. Riley said, “She brings a certain freshness to the room.”

In addition to being an actress, King is also an avid writer. She has been writing for most of her life, inspired by her appreciation for the English language. Usually King likes to write fiction and creative nonfiction. King’s fiction usually focuses on the family dynamic, often exploring the experiences of single mothers. In 2010, King attended the Sewanee Young Writers Conference at the University of the South. The seminar included a three-hour morning class on writing. The class consisted of reading literature and writing from prompts. King particularly liked reading Hemingway’s Hills Like White Elephants. The conference included independent time for King to work on and perfect her own writing.

In her junior year, King did an independent study with English teacher Erich Schweikher. They met twice a week to discuss poetry and fiction. As part of the study, King read modern poetry by poets such as Lisa Fishman. While King usually doesn’t write poetry, Schweikher did have her write erasures: “found poetry” created by erasing words from an existing text. King also read and wrote fiction. She is currently erasing Richard Russo’s Empire Falls. Schweikher taught King to use unconventional tactics in her own writing. King said, “At one point he made me stand outside in the woods outside my house for forty-five minutes to observe,” and compose her observations.

King is also spreading her love of the English language through WordPlay, a non-profit organization that helps improve literacy and foster a love of literature through creative expression, particularly writing. At WordPlay, King is assisting with a book club for fourth graders. The club will read primarily  modern fiction voted on by the members. Most recently the club read Out of my Mind, a story about cerebral palsy.

King at the piano.

King has also been playing piano since she was four-years-old. Since 2002, she has been taking lessons from Inna Terekhov. King plays mostly classical music, and particularly appreciates Romantic and Impressionist works by Chopin and Debussy. She claims that while Terekhov pushes her students to their limits, it is a rewarding experience. King’s love of music has expanded to a charity called Share the Music. Originally founded several years ago by a group of Terekhov’s students, the organization plays music at local retirement homes. King, who currently serves as program director of the organization said, “The organization was started as a way to add another element to learning piano. It shows how music can be used to improve the lives of others.”

King hopes to continue her artistic endeavors when she graduates in the spring. She plans to continue acting and pursue an English major.