Spotlight on the Artist: Performer Kristen Hylenski

How have you approached bringing your character Linda to life?

I watched shows and videos about mediums to try to get a sense of what they experience when they are hearing from spirits. That preparation also gave me insight into the power mediums have to influence the people they do readings for, and the ways that doing readings affect the mediums physically and mentally. I feel like bringing Linda to life was a real group effort - talking about her with the cast and our director and watching her change as we read together was exciting.

‍The Thin Place is being performed in The Lab to an audience of 43 people. How do you imagine the intimate setting will affect the audience’s experience of this play?

I feel like the physical closeness removes the feeling of a barrier between the seats and the stage area. There is so much storytelling in this play, and I imagine folks all leaning in together to hear these stories and holding their breath as they wait for what comes next. In a space like this, you can really lean into those quiet moments.

‍What do you hope audiences take away from The Thin Place?

The Thin Place has me thinking a lot about the ways we are longing for connection - both with the living and the dead. What do we need to hear and want to hear, and where do we go looking for that? It also asks us to spend time in these liminal spaces - what sits between the real and the unreal, whether that be the line between the living and the dead, or between theater and reality.

When did you start performing, and what inspired you to pursue it?

As a young person, I was in dance recitals and school plays, and then I just stopped performing for about 20 years. Here in Duluth, I started dancing again in Dances on the Lakewalk. In 2017, the Underground was doing a production of Cabaret, a play that I love, and I felt like it was the right play at the right time. I had been feeling stuck and feeling like a lot of things scared me, so I decided to try to face my fears by doing something new and exciting. I was cast as a Kit Kat Girl, and got hooked on theater again.

What excites you about performing at Duluth Playhouse?

I’m really excited by the quality of the productions and the level of professionalism. As a community actor, it gives me the opportunity to learn and grow by working with people from Duluth and visiting artists, who bring different experiences, expertise, and perspectives.

What has been one of your most memorable experiences at Duluth Playhouse?

That’s a tough one...Playing Edna Krabappel in Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play might have been my most memorable experience. It was intense and exciting to help create a post-apocalyptic world, and I can still see images from the play in my mind, like when all the characters enter in their makeshift Simpsons costumes in the third act. There isn’t a month that goes by that I don’t think of that play.

What do you enjoy most about being on stage?

I think I most enjoy how collaborative theater is. At least once in every production I have this moment where I just stop in awe of how many people and how many moving parts it takes to make a play work, and how you have to trust everybody to do their job. That, and the fact that you learn so much about yourself and the world through both the plays and through the process of making the work.