Stage Q&A: Vanessa Severo just keeps moving

Vanessa Severo has become a familiar name and face in theaters around the metro, making memorable appearances and lasting impressions. To name just a few: the Unicorn’s Clean House, The Motherf**ker With the Hat and Venus in Fur; the Living Room’s Blackbird and Burn This; KC Rep’s Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. And this spring, she wrote and starred in her own work about Frida Kahlo, at the Living Room. The actress and writer and dancer appears this month in Master of the Universe, Kyle Hatley’s original play at the Living Room. Between caring for a 2-year-old and appearing in the show, Severo found time to answer our Stage questionnaire.

The Pitch: Where’s home?

Severo: My entire family is from Brazil, but home is Kansas City for me.

What brought you to KC or kept you here?

I decided to finish my degree at UMKC, and while I was doing that, I fell in love with this city and the new developments happening in all artistic avenues. I found it to be a small-town city with big-city ideas.

What lit the theater spark, and when?

I lived in Germany from ages 9 to 16. I would take public transportation to and from school, and the train would pass by a small British theater that had its current productions displayed on the marquee. I remember always being curious about what happened in that space and what the shows were about, and just had an initial pull toward that building. At age 12, I got off the train two stops before my own and went in and asked about auditions. I ended up being cast in HMS Pina­fore in a minor chorus role, with no lines and probably a total of 10 minutes’ stage time, but I remember the distinct feeling that hit me after curtain call, something about the entire experience rang true to me, and I knew I wanted to do it again.

What made you decide on a life in theater?

I was terrible at math. I was always told to do what you love for a living. I loved theater — as impossible and ridiculous as it seemed to make it my career, it just fit.

Where did you train?

I trained for my undergraduate at Missouri State University, in Springfield, Missouri; the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco; and UMKC.

You act, write and dance. Do you identify more as one than another?

I started out in dance. My mother was a professional ballerina in Brazil, and I was walking on my toes by age 4. Dance is just another expression of acting. You are telling a story through movement, and I feel that the two are closely intertwined. How you move creates the character you will embody. To me, they are one and the same. As for writing … it’s something that comes in ebbs and flows. I can go years without writing a thing, but when the spark hits, it comes out fast.

What drew you to Frida Kahlo?

I have always been drawn toward Frida Kahlo, from the moment I learned about her in high school. Frida was a woman ahead of her time: rebellious, openly bisexual, brave, angry, bold, unapologetic and honest about it. I wanted to bring Frida into today, and I wanted women to walk away knowing that today is a good day for your voice to be heard.

Now you’re appearing in another original show at the Living Room, this one an adaptation of George Büchner’s expressionist Woyzeck by Kyle Hatley (Master of the Universe). How is it different to be directed in another person’s vision rather than creating your own work?

After finishing Frida, I contacted Kyle and said, “Whatever you need — I’m here for you.” I understood the fear and pressure of putting up your own work. You are putting yourself out there, and you may sink or swim. When you are creating your own work, it’s a roller coaster of doubt and purge and rebuilding — so you need all involved to help you form it.

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How much input did you have in creating your roles in Master of the Universe?

I received my script the first day of rehearsal and new scenes daily, so the process on this production was unconventional. It went from script to stage every day, so in defining my two characters, I wanted them to be the same voice on opposite sides of the spectrum. With that in mind, I wanted Ani to be alluring, seductive and larger than life. When [the character] Victor rejects that voice in his head, then the fortune teller emerges — just another personification of his id but harsher, metallic in voice, hideous and matter-of-fact.

How did choreography and movement influence their development?

I placed Ani’s movement as continuous: fluid, snakelike. I wanted the opposite for the fortune teller, making her small, twisted and abrupt.

The women in the play represent familiar archetypes, including those you’ve come across in other works. How do you avoid or transcend stereotype?

Stereotypes are needed in theater because it is how the audience can relate immediately within the first few moments of the play. I believe all characters are a stereotype — it is the actors who place themselves in those bizarre circumstances of the play that transcend the stereotype. There is no way a person can “become a character.” What brings humanity and life into a character is being yourself in those circumstances. It’s like the old saying: “No one can play this part the way you will play it.” This is true because we are all unique with our own approach.

The play is tough on its women. How have women you know who have seen the play received it?

I would say this play is hard on all its characters, men and women alike. The response has been glowing from audience members.

What’s the best part about what you do?

I love my job. I get to share a story with a group of people, and we get to leave our daily lives briefly and experience the story together.

What’s the hardest part?

The schedule. After having my daughter, it’s been a delicate balance. I’ve found it, with the help of my amazing husband, but a 2-year-old doesn’t stop and neither does the job, so sleep seems like a distant promise.

Do you also have a day job?

I choreograph from time to time, and do the occasional voice-over.

How are you affected by your audience?

The audience is everything. It’s a relationship from the moment I step onstage. Without the audience, there would be no reason to do what I do.

What’s the best thing that has happened during a performance?

Feeling the connection with the audience and the story.

What’s the worst thing?

Doubting the piece you are in.

What’s one of your all-time favorite shows?

Cloud Nine by Caryl Churchill

What’s the hardest thing you’ve worked on?

Blackbird by David Harrower. It’s written beautifully. It’s written the way we truly speak in life — with unfinished thoughts and interruptions, mulling through a sentence trying to get the right words across. It’s fascinating to hear, and an audience member would never even think twice about it, but to memorize it … was a bitch!

Who’s your inspiration?

My mother. Hands down, the toughest woman I know. I know anything is possible through her.

What’s next?

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead at Kansas City Actors Theatre.