Dillon Kane, a literature major in his senior year, landed the role of Doc Porter in the PLNU production “Crimes of the Heart,” which explores the troubles of three young women as they return home to Mississippi.
Four weeks into production, the person originally casted to play Doc had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts. A replacement needed to be found immediately. Elizabeth Lambert, a senior at PLNU who plays the lead role of Babe in “Crimes of the Heart,” decided to ask Kane.
“Elizabeth approached me in our Postcolonial Lit class to consider doing the play,” said Kane via email. “She was addressing me and another male colleague of ours. She said that one of the two guys who were acting in the show dropped out, and that one of us could replace him, and be a huge help in doing so. Elizabeth said we wouldn’t even need to audition.”
Though pardoned from any formal auditioning, the process of selecting Kane was not random or forced. Lambert saw that the personalities of the role of Doc and Kane’s were similar enough to work together.
“I just had this feeling that Dillon should be Doc, so I just asked him if he would be interested in doing theatre and he kind of showed some interest,” said Lambert. “I just kept pushing and I said [he] would be great at it. He has a really good voice and he has the right look for it and presence, so it kind of was a happy coincidence I guess.
This feeling of natural fittingness was not Lambert’s alone, but was a mindset also shared by Walter Williams, PLNU professor of Theater and director for “Crimes of the Heart.”
“He [Kane] seemed like he would be nice for the role,” said Williams. “It was too late in the process to do a formal audition; we were already four weeks into rehearsal. He got up on stage and read the role and started moving around in it and he was fine for it. I very much like what he is doing.”
Kane was excited about the possibility of acting in “Crimes of the Heart” though he had no previous experience acting on stage.
“I wanted to give it a real shot,” said Kane. “I told Elizabeth on a Friday that I could and would love to do it. I met with Wally, the director, the following Monday morning, and started rehearsing with the cast that afternoon.”
Now that Kane has played his role of Doc Porter every night in the play’s five day running in Solomon Theatre, he shares how fun he finds acting to be.
“For the actors, we memorize our lines, we get our blocking down, we work on how to deal with each other on stage, in character, and after that, [the character] becomes you,” said Kane. “It’s been a lot of fun the whole time, but now that the shows are underway, I think it’s more fun because I get to live the character and experience what I wanted to experience when I agreed to [filling in].”
Such an experience has made a lasting impression with Kane who says that if he could go back, he would consider double majoring in literature and theatre. Looking ahead in life, though, Kane has plans to continue his thespian career.
“I think I’m actually going to audition for the show that is going on in January called ‘Dark Matter,’” he said. “I think I’m going to audition because it was fun.”
For those who missed “Crimes of the Heart,” two special showings will happen on November 23, at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. for Homecoming festivities.
Steve Anderson 
superadmin