Interview with Ernie Johnson, mailman

By Mark McKenna

Ernie Johnson: My name is Ernie Johnson and I am a mailman here in Blue Lake.

Mark McKenna: How long have you been in this community?

EJ: I have been in this community for 20 years. I have been in this post office for 16 years in March.

MM: Over the 16 years you’ve seen, has it changed a lot?

EJ: Dell’Arte has just about doubled in size. It used to be just the one large building over there. The stage was completely different, the inside of the building is different. All these buildings here have been remodeled.

MM: How have people in the community perceived them? Way back 20 years ago say?

EJ: The business people all welcome them because they bring in revenue.

MM: Do they really?

EJ: Well, sure. They got to shop at the store, they go to the bar, they do their laundry at the laundromat. They buy their postage from me. People that own apartments around here, some of them sublet sections of their apartment so that they actually have a certain amount of lodging that they set aside for Dell’Arte. Dell’Arte manages it.

MM: So, there is a constant flow of people.

EJ: Um-hmm. All the time. A lot of people that come here, once they come here they don’t want to leave. Some of the Dell’Arte students stay on. They may go away, but they come back. It has spun a lot of good friendships. People just come back and become citizens of this town.

MM: So, pretty much everybody from Blue Lake comes here?

EJ: Everybody comes here if they want mail. We have no street delivery.

MM: Do people talk about the shows or stuff that they do?

EJ: Yeah. Oh, sure. As a matter of fact my old boss, Ron Brunson, was the one who originally got me to go to one of the productions. We still go to shows together. We go pick him up. We have a pretty good deal over there. Most of the time they let us in for free, but, you know, I give them a donation. We do things for them at the Grange and we have them help us at the Grange.

MM: So tell about – you said you go to see shows...

EJ: Yeah. I went to see "Pirates," that was probably my last one. I missed the last student show. It was supposedly pretty good, but I missed it cause my hours just didn’t work out.

MM: Have they ever gotten you on stage?

EJ: Oh yeah. I did Ann and Mary Days and we’ve done a couple of cabarets. This is me on Ann and Mary day with the school. I’m not really an actor, I do it more for the community involvement. People seem to like it. Of course, I clam up when I get on stage, I’m not a born actor. This kind of situation is fine, but when you get up there with 50 sets of eyes on you it’s a little different. It takes a special person. And I am not trained at all. I go just for fun. My own wife asks, "Why do you do this? You know it is going to get to ya." But I gotta do it.

MM: How do they make a difference here?

EJ: They bring income and revenue to the local business, as I said earlier. Culturally they exemplify how someone from foreign land can come over here and share their culture with us and still get along as a unit, be a viable part of the community. They do a lot of community work around here for the school, going to the school districts and performing. It’s pretty good. Most of the students are really polite and are willing to participate in whatever you ask them to do. I’ve gotten lasting friends from students that have come here.

MM: And you get a sense that they are able to share their culture here too?

EJ: Um-hmm. You can tell when they come in dressed in their traditional dress, or they come in with their pink or purple hair, you know they are from Denmark. You can basically just about tell. They are just basically good people. So far, it hasn’t let me down. I have never had a real bad relationship with a student that I can think of. I’ve had a few that were kind of snooty. But they seem to participate in the community. That is a great thing. A whole bunch of projects around the town.

MM: Do most people in Blue Lake go to see the shows?

EJ: A lot of people do. Some don’t. Some are still stuck in the ’40’s: "Those guys are weird. I’m not going to go see them, bunch of damn hippies." I don’t look at it that way. I look at it like just entertainment.

MM: I guess slowly a lot of people have changed their mind about it?

EJ: Yeah, a lot of people have changed their mind about it. The shows are pretty much booked up. Especially a free show. Student shows get booked up weeks in advance. If you don’t make your reservation in advance you are not getting in.

MM: How do you find out about a student show usually?

EJ: They come in and ask if I am going to the show. My dad goes with me. He’s 71 and he goes, and his buddy, who is a retired college professor, goes. There’s a varied audience . Some shows aren’t suitable for children and they will put that in the ad. Most of the time it is for everybody. I like it. I’ve watched it grow over there from basically nothing to what it is now. Every year it seems like they get a little something more. They improve a little something here and there. I’m all for it. I would like to see it larger.

MM: Oh yeah? Tell me more about what might happen, or what could potentially happen with Blue Lake or how Dell’Arte might mix into that.

EJ: I don’t know if it is going to make Blue Lake any larger. I had an idea that if they could get that piece of land … I drew up a plan one time for them to construct like a cable up over the top so that they could have an all-weather – like a tent. When the weather was good they could pull it back. That way, even in the summer when the weather is crummy, they would be able to have shows outside. When they have the shows outside people come from all over the community to go see the shows. They’ll say, what is that noise? And the next thing you know they are parked out in the lawn. During the month of July they have the Mad River Festival. They bring people in from all over and have different shows. It is pretty cool.

MM: Does a family come and hang out longer than the show?

EJ: It depends. They will hang out at Dell’Arte, yeah. They’ll have coffee, cookies, fruit and sell t-shirts.

MM: Do you think Dell’Arte might get any bigger?

EJ: It is world renowned and every year it seems like there are more students. That is a good thing. If they can keep getting grant monies to make it bigger and better, and we have enough affordable housing in the area for them, then yeah. I can see it getting bigger. It is good for this community, for sure.

Mark McKenna is artistic director and an ensemble member of Touchstone Theatre, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He is a graduate of the Lecoq International School of Theatre in Paris. He has taught theater classes at Lehigh University and the University of Pennsylvania, and the MFA Theatre Program at Towson State University. McKenna is active in the growth of the Network of Ensemble Theatres. He is a board member of Alliance for Building Communities, a regional community-development corporation.

PERFORMING COMMUNITIES
Carpetbag | Cornerstone | Dell'Arte | Jump-Start
LAPD | Pregones | Roadside | WagonBurner
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