Student combines writing, acting to pursue her dreams in theater

Faith Kearns has been in about 30 full-length and one-act plays, won two poetry awards, given five poetry readings, written six one-act plays and received highest honors for her creative thesis from the English department.

While at UCLA, the graduating sixth-year English student has juggled her interests in acting, publishing poetry and writing plays. Despite choosing the creative writing concentration at school, Kearns said she also minored in theater and plans to pursue acting in the future by working at Los Angeles-based theater group Vanguard Repertory Company.

Her creative honors thesis for the English department, Kearns said, was a 30-paged book of original poetry, titled “Character Breakdown.” The most prevalent themes in the book are feminism, identity and theater, she said.

“The (poems) all seem to be about how identity is formed – and taking that a step further – asking at what point building an identity starts to mirror building a character for a show,” Kearns said.

Distinguished professor of English and director of creative writing Stephen Yenser served as Kearns’ thesis adviser. Beginning last summer, the pair worked on Kearns’ thesis project until the end of winter quarter.

“Faith is a very candid person – she’s forthcoming,” Yenser said. “I didn’t have to work to get her to talk to me about what she wanted to do; she took everything I had to say to heart.”

On stage, Kearns has performed in “The Vagina Monologues”, “Murder in the Key of G” and Shakespeare Company’s “An Evening of Shakespeare,” “Henry IV, Part 1” and “The Tempest.”

Kearns and fourth-year English student Neda Dallal played a married couple in “Henry IV, Part 1.” Dallal said every time the two performed their scenes, Kearns made each performance different, whether it was the way she spoke a line or the way she hugged Dallal, which allowed Dallal to react naturally.

“She’s so giving and you feel like she’s raising the bar, so you feel like you have to meet her up there,” Dallal said.

Combining her passions for writing and performing, Kearns said she also dabbled in playwriting outside of UCLA. She both wrote and acted in “(M)Other,” a 40-minute one-act play based off a poem she had previously written about Adam, Eve and Lilith for the dA Center for the Arts in Pomona last summer.

While she ultimately is an aspiring actor, Kearns said she studies English at UCLA because she didn’t want to hang her entire future on a theater degree.

Using her English studies, Kearns said she writes so people can feel less alone and so she feels connected with others as well. However, she said she’s still pursuing her acting dreams by minoring in theater.

“Acting is this beautiful process for me where it’s almost meditative,” Kearns said. “I can present something to someone else and they feel a connection and a moment of human intimacy.”

Balancing her life on stage and work with pen and paper, Kearns said she decided to involve herself in different creative areas partly because she likes keeping busy.

“If I’m not actively in a show or auditioning, I don’t feel right,” Kearns said. “I’m like a shark, if I don’t keep moving I might die.”

After graduating, Kearns said she will be working as a company manager for Vanguard Repertory Company. Kearns said her role involves organizing venues, corresponding with actors and stage managing.

While theater will always be what she’s most comfortable with, Kearns said she hopes to work in the film and television industry following graduation.

“I’m ready to leave the academic garden,” Kearns said. “It’s really terrifying and exhilarating to not have any more excuses – I’m going to have my degree, just go out into the world, get a job and have a life.”