ATWT FLASHBACK

Eileen Fulton (Lisa), Don Hastings (Bob) and Kathryn Hays (Kim) recall the beginnings of their characters in All My Afternoons by Annie Gilbert:



Eileen Fulton - When the part of Lisa was offered to me, I was told she was to be a temporary character, a mere foil for the young Bob Hughes, who had just entered college. The Lisa the writers had created was made of sugar and spice and everything nice. I wanted the part. It would be a good break for me, but inwardly I was repelled by the character. She was me and I was sick of her. Sweetness and goodness had been shoved down my throat all my life and, at that time, I was rebelling against everything I had been taught. So at every opportunity to make her just a least bit conniving, I played it to the hilt.





Don Hastings - When I came in Irna Phillips wanted to make Bob a doctor. So I went to medical school in September, and in October I was at work in a hospital. It was a quick education. No wonder I lose so many patients. Actually, there's a lot of Bob in me and a lot of me in Bob. You have to do it that way. You take what the writer creates and you round it out. Bob Hughes has become a person to many people. I have a friend who is a doctor and he tells me that I'm a better doctor than he is. He has great respect for me because he could not communicate with one of his patients, and one day when he walked in she was watching the show I was on and she told him, "Now there's a real doctor."



Kathryn Hays - Kim tends to show her strength more in moral courage than in animal courage. Sometimes the audience finds that annoying. They want her to stand up for herself and not let her own feelings go by the wayside in order to protect other people. I wish she could be stronger myself sometimes too.



All My Afternoons by Annie Gilbert is currently out of print.