First time’s a charm

It came as quite a surprise to David Steen when Golden West College Theater Director Tom Amen asked him to audition for the title role in his next play. Although he would portray a ridiculed young cripple in a small Irish town, Steen could not have been happier, having performed only twice before onstage in bit parts.

The Garden Grove resident had taken a number of Amen’s theater classes and remained involved with the program for some time, but had never really been given a “shot to prove himself as an actor,” having only had two bit parts in other Golden West productions, Amen said.

Friday, Steen leads the cast in “The Cripple of Inishmaan” at the Golden West College Mainstage Theater. The comic drama set in 1934 Ireland follows Cripple Billy, a young man who dreams of traveling to Hollywood and becoming a star.

The character hears about a movie being shot on a nearby island and tricks an unwitting fisherman to take him to the audition in his boat. Billy makes it all the way to Hollywood, only to realize he would rather be back home.

Aside from a bum arm and leg, Steen found that he had a great deal in common with Billy, having moved from his own little town of Apple Valley just a few years ago to attend college in Orange County.

“It’s a vicious play,” Amen said. “I needed an actor to understand that he could be quiet and suffer.” Steen was able to sit there and silently portray this dreaming kid, Amen added.

Sunday, the 23-year-old Steen displayed the comfort of a seasoned actor onstage amid the distractions of technical rehearsals. Newer actors usually get thrown off with all the lights and sound the first time around, Amen said.

“[Steen] came through it all unfazed,” he said.

Much of his ease may have come from spending time with veteran community actor Michael Bielitz, who plays the part of Johnnypateenmike, the town’s elderly gossipmonger, with news “so boring it’d bore the head off a dead bee.”

In the combination of Steen and Bielitz, the Golden West director saw the perfect match and a small remembrance of his own past. Bielitz had, in fact, mentored Amen in his acting days at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo nearly 20 years earlier.

Amen thought, “This old guy’s going to pull something out of David [Steen].”

All the pieces seemed to be falling into place for Amen. He had the availability of a number of older community players, including Bielitz, for the show.

“It’s a play that I’ve wanted to do for a number of years and just didn’t feel it was the right time before now,” he said.

“It’s a risk, casting an actor with that limited experience to play the title role … but it’s fun,” Amen said “That’s why we’re here, to take those kind of risks.”

“He’s been the reason I feel confident,” Steen said of Amen. Steen is so self-assured in his acting abilities that last month he switched majors from English to theater studies.

“I still consider myself a writer, but this is what I want to pursue,” Steen said. “I’ve always been a film guy. Theater’s a whole different world.”

The Golden West production, which opens Friday for two weekends, includes performances by Bruce Alexander, Courtney Marie Barr, Kimberly Brown, Kathleen Fabry, Robert Ferraras, Emma Ryan and Tony Zellar.