Keith Dahlgren has been a part of the Seattle theatre community since 1978. When he’s not on stage, he’s Managing Director at Seattle Public Theatre. It turns out the acting bug didn’t really fully bite until he was studying at Whitman College in Walla Walla when he walked into their theatre facility for the first time. “I just felt really comfortable. I thought, wow, this is a place I’d like to stay.” Keith plays Duke Senior in Seattle Shakespeare Company’s production of As You Like It.
Reading
I just finished a couple of days ago, Peter Ackroyd’s Shakespeare: The Biography, which is a great book, and I’d recommend it to anyone. Right now I’m reading a book by Stanley Elkin called The Living End. It was published about 20-25 years ago. I just started it. It’s a comic take on heaven and hell.
Listening
I listen to a lot of NPR. One of my favorite shows is Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me. I always end up listening to that once a week. If I don’t listen to it on Saturdays when it’s locally broadcast, then I listen to the podcast.
Watching
I’m waiting to see The Avengers. I just watched BBC’s Sherlock with Benedict Cumberbatch. A great, great, great take on Sherlock Holmes. I’m on season two and looking forward to the third one.
Which Three Shakespeare Characters Would You Invite to a Dinner Party?
Definitely Lear. I have three daughters and in a lot of ways, structurally, it’s a lot like Regan, Goneril, and Cordelia. I wouldn’t mind chatting with him. I’d be interested in Hamlet, I’d like to know more about him. Maybe, oddly enough, Timon from Timon of Athens. Just because I like that play and Timon went through a lot of crap. I’d be interested in hearing what he thought of it all.