Shawn Batsel

--Story by Deepa Bharath, photo by Sean Hiller

The theater is like family for Shawn Batsel.

After all, the 21-year-old has spent more than five years

volunteering his time with the Costa Mesa Civic Playhouse.

While Batsel is majoring in communications at Cal State Fullerton,

his first love is the theater.

“I first came to the Civic Playhouse with my sister because she

was in one of their productions,” he said.

Then he got a part in a play and started coming in to help with

the children’s productions and building sets.

“I’m very much involved in the youth program during the summer,”

Batsel said. “I help teach the kids their lines, keep them quiet when

they’re backstage.”

He also started playing bass and guitar when the Playhouse began

featuring live music. Batsel says he also enjoys interacting with the

audience after plays.

“Here in Costa Mesa, we have something called ‘meet and greet,’

where you talk with the audience,” he said. “When they tell you how

much they enjoyed the play, you feel really good. It means a lot to

me and it makes it all worthwhile.”

There is not one specific area of the theater that he likes to

work in, Batsel said.

“I love all of it; anything is great,” he said. Batsel

particularly enjoyed building a set for “Bye Bye Birdie” about three

years ago.

“I’m most proud of the sets we made then,” he said. “It was quite

a challenge to paint all of the stage in a checkered manner. Two of

us did the whole thing between midnight and 8 in the morning.”

Batsel said that in volunteering at the Playhouse, he learned a

lot, especially about being disciplined, he said.

“No matter what you do, there are 30 people counting on you,” he

said. “It’s a team effort.”

Batsel says he has also enjoys the camaraderie that comes with it.

“That makes it real special,” he said. “People there know me since

I was 15. It’s a special bond. No matter how hard the work is, it’s

great because you know you’re always with friends and the whole place

is like one big family.”