From the Audience…to the Stage

ETSU’s Kailey Kyle recalls many summers when her mother would take her and her brother and sister to see one of the Barter Players shows at Barter Theatre.

“We would always do this before school started, and it became a tradition,” said Kailey, who hails from Coeburn, Virginia.

Kailey remembers the magic the actors created on stage. She could see the relationships and was impressed by the work of the performers. And she dreamed that one day she could be on that same stage.

This summer, Kailey’s journey came full circle as she returned to The Barter Players, but this time as a performer. She was selected for an internship with The Barter Players, a group of professional artists at Barter Theatre who perform shows for younger audiences.

As an intern, she performed in two shows for The Barter Players – “My Imaginary Pirate” and “Sleeping Beauty” – and worked crew for productions at Barter Theatre while also understudying for some of the resident actors performing at Barter.

Kailey says that if there was one word to describe her summer experience at Barter, it would be “learning.”

“One of the foundations of The Barter Players is to be a lifelong learner and to never ‘arrive,’” Kailey said. “So I think that has to become my new mantra over the summer, and I hope to carry that throughout the rest of my life – just to never arrive and to continue to learn and to continue to grow.”

“It’s been truly a joy having Kailey here,” said Barret Guyton, artistic director for The Barter Players. “She came in on day one ready to work with a great attitude and great tools in her toolbox. Every single time I see Kailey on stage, she's taking another step forward.”

This fall, Kailey returns to ETSU to begin her senior year.

“I was excited to get to apply to the ETSU theater program, and I later added psychology because I am very interested in the inner workings of psychology and theater and the effect the arts and theater have on people,” Kailey said. “The theater department has always been very good with their students double-majoring and involving them in so many different aspects of theater.

“For example, I have friends in the theater department who want to be an intimacy coordinator or who want to be an educator. You can be a performer, or a choreographer, or so on. There are so many different stems of theater, and ETSU lets students be creative and expand their skills in whatever way they want to.”

At ETSU, Kailey recently appeared in the musical “Bright Star” and was involved with the productions of “Men on Boats” and “Straight White Men.”

“Kailey has a wonderful future ahead of her,” Barrett added. “Whatever she wants to do, she’s going to set her heart and her mind to go get it. She has such a great passion for what she does and a great attentiveness to getting better every day that’s going to serve her for the rest of her life.”

Photos from "Sleeping Beauty" by The Barter Players courtesy of Barter Theatre.