High Life A WEEKLY FORUM FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS : Young Troupe to Go International : Laguna Playhouse Children’s Group to Perform at West German Festival

“As an actor you have to be highly responsible. A lot of research is involved. It’s a lot of hard work on and offstage.”

Words of wisdom from a veteran of stage and screen?

No, just some advice from 12-year-old Craig Hammill, who is one of eight young actors and actresses who will represent the United States at the First International Children’s Theater Festival in Lingen, West Germany, April 13 through 21.

“I’m really excited because I’ve never been on tour with a play,” said 11-year-old Jillian Longnecker, the youngest member of the Laguna Playhouse Youth Theatre troupe that will be heading to West Germany. “I think it will be exciting--the festival, the people, just being there.”

At least 18 troupes from Eastern and Western Europe, the Soviet Union and the Middle East are also expected at the festival.

The Youth Theatre troupe will give several performances of “Troubled Waters,” a play that focuses on moral choices raised by environmental issues and threats to animal species. But when they’re not on stage, the young thespians will take classes from drama coaches from various countries, tour West Germany and squeeze in some shopping.

“Troubled Waters,” by prize-winning playwright Brian Kral, takes place in and around the Florida Everglades in 1982. There is a large population of deer that are starving because of their numbers. The central character, 13-year-old J.D., has to make a decision regarding his beliefs in mercy killing.

“Out of the plays I’ve done, this is a more challenging role because J.D. forms an opinion by the end of the play,” said Hammill, who portrays the central character.

“You have to act this slow process naturally--and that’s what is hard,” said Hammill, who is a seventh-grader at Thurston Middle School in Laguna Beach.

Hammill began acting at age 4, when he was in a film done by his uncle for a college class. Though he has been involved with acting ever since, he said he hopes to become “a cardiologist who writes books and acts on the side.”

Kari Geller, 17, plays the part of J.D.’s Seminole Indian friend. A senior at San Clemente High School, Geller devotes much of her spare time to the Youth Theatre’s rehearsals and classes.

In fact, she recently wrote and directed her first play, “Children of Belfast,” as a result of taking a class in direction.

“Now that I look back on it, there are a lot of things I would have changed,” she said about her initial writing effort. “At the time (of its performance) I felt nervous. I was shaking the whole time. As an actor, you never know how nervous a director gets.”

Geller, who also enjoys surfing and horseback riding, hopes to pursue a career in acting by attending Juilliard School in New York City.

Youth Theatre has made training classes a major component of its program. Scott Davidson, director of the Youth Theatre for the past four years, and associate director Joe Lauderdale teach classes to students ranging from 7 to 17 years old.

Danielle McDermott, 15, and a junior at Capistrano Valley High School, is also in “Troubled Waters.” She portrays Sandra, who is a college student who protests the killing of the deer.

McDermott, who has been in other Youth Theatre productions, started acting after trying out at one of the Youth Theatre’s open auditions two years ago. She said she had grown tired of dancing classes.

“Through the Youth Theatre I’ve learned that a lot of television roles are cast through (physical) looks, and you can’t take rejection personally,” she said. “You kind of have to go on with life.”

McDermott, who enjoys swimming, going to the beach, movies and reading mysteries, said she would like to sign with a talent agent when she turns 18.

Raymond Scott, the only adult in the production, portrays a Florida Everglades ranger who is in favor of the killings.

The deer in “Troubled Waters” are portrayed by Brigitte Paulicivic, Sabrina Harper and Longnecker.

Harper and Longnecker, both sixth-grade students at Thurston Elementary, play Seminoles who are transformed into deer during a tribal ritual. Portraying deer wasn’t an easy task for either girl.

“We researched the deer and the Indians in the Everglades,” Longnecker said. “We watched ‘Bambi’ and other movies on deer. That’s how we got to see how they move.”

Paulicivic, who is the play’s lead deer, is a junior varsity cheerleader at Capistrano Valley High School.

“I think it (her role) is really interesting because I’ve played a lot of other animals--a goose in ‘Charlotte’s Web’ and a nightingale in ‘Nightingale,’ ” she said. “It’s more about saying things through movement rather than words. You have to show emotions through movement.”

Paulicivic keeps busy during the school year with two honors classes and during the summer is a lifeguard at Wild Rivers in Irvine.

She plans to attend UCLA, where she will major in acting and minor in psychology.

Behind the scenes of “Troubled Waters” are Andy Kiehl, 14, and Jennifer Buck, 12, who serve as the play’s stage managers.

“A stage manager writes down all the blocking, and basically he’s kind of in charge during the performance,” Kiehl said. “They call all light and sound cues.”

Kiehl, an eighth-grader at Abiding Savior Lutheran School in El Toro, has participated in several Youth Theatre productions, but this is his first as stage manager.

Buck, as assistant stage manager, is a sixth-grader at Harbor View Elementary School in Corona del Mar.

All eight of the youngsters re part of the select number of 30 students who make up the Ensemble, a group within the Youth Theatre. As members of the Ensemble, they meet weekly and are trained in all aspects of the theater, including acting, directing, stage, lobby and box office managing and working with the lights, costumes, sounds and props.

“I learn a lot from it (the Ensemble),” Kiehl said. “They give you classes. It’s free of charge. You’re with people you like. The Ensemble is like my family because we’re so close.”

The Youth Theatre was named outstanding new children’s theater in the United States last summer by the American Alliance of Theater and Education, a national organization for amateur children’s troupes.

Performances of “Troubled Waters” at the Moulton Theatre are Saturday at 1 and 4 p.m. and Sunday at 6 p.m. The theater is at 606 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach. Tickets: $6 adults, $3 children. Information: (714) 494-0743 or 494-8021.