With a father hailing from a family of actors, Caky Winsett was exposed to the theater at a very young age. Yet she never had any interest in becoming an actor herself. The Memphis native had stage fright and, in her words, “no acting or singing ability.”
However, as Winsett grew older, she realized that she had a love for all of the other elements of theater.
That love then turned into a full-on passion at the University of Virginia.
The 2020 alumna, who majored in media studies and English and minored in drama, can’t say enough about the things she learned from a wide range of people in the UVA Department of Drama, including associate professor Doug Grissom, lecturer Cady Garey and assistant business manager Judy McPeak.
“These three really made the drama department feel like home, and pushed me to pursue playwriting in a way that I hadn’t thought possible,” Winsett said.
In Grissom’s advanced playwriting class, Winsett – inspired by the stage fright she had as a kid – wrote a short play entitled “Watch Me,” which she then expanded to full-length after taking a media studies course, “Privacy and Surveillance,” under professor Siva Vaidhyanathan.
“Once I took [the class] with Professor Vaidhyanathan, my imagination really took off,” Winsett said. “I started thinking about the potential parallels between the real world and the world I was creating, and was able to add a lot of contextualization.”
On Aug. 30, “Watch Me,” developed with the Kervigo Ensemble Theatre, debuts for a one-night showing at the Ripley-Grier Studios in Manhattan.
Vaidhyanathan, who has taught “Privacy and Surveillance” for more than 20 years – although he won’t do so again until next fall – said he couldn’t be more excited. He said Winsett was one of the most motivated and interesting students he’s ever had in the course.
