PIERCE COLLEGE : Theater Major, 21, Takes Charge

Paula Cimo, director of the student production of Tennessee Williams’ “27 Wagons Full of Cotton” opening Thursday at Pierce College, could be described as “a wealth of surprises.”

Despite her soft voice and a youthful appearance that allows her to play parts five years her junior, her ability to be direct and to-the-point is somewhat surprising.

“There’s a song in ‘A Chorus Line’ that says ‘give me a job and the rest of the crap will get solved,’ ” said Cimo. “So, I’m saying give me a job and I’ll do it better than anyone else.”

Also, the 21-year-old theater major’s willingness to be the final authority seems in conflict with her amiable personality.

“There are times when we will fool around and talk about stuff and then I’ll say, ‘OK, guys, we’ve really got to get to work,’ ” she said.

Cimo says balance is the key to directing. “There needs to be an equal balance,” she said. “I can be your friend or I can be a frigid witch.”

She said she chose the Tennessee Williams play, which she describes as the story of a “brutal seduction of a childlike woman,” after seeing a production of it on television last spring.

What impressed her most was Williams’ “mastery of dialogue,” she said.

Cimo’s theater career at Pierce began in the spring of 1988 when she played Bianca, the younger sister of “Katharina” in Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew.”

She then played the somewhat sexually loose Sisi in “Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean.” Her last role--and her favorite--was Jennie Mae in “The Diviners.”

She said she had a lot in common with the character. “Her mother died when she was very young and my mother died when I was about 6. She had to be the woman in the house.”

Cimo, the youngest of six children, lives with her brother and father.

Ten to 15 years from now, Cimo hopes to become involved in film--either as an actor or director. Until then, she plans to do as much theater as possible.

“I’ve still got a lot to learn,” she said.

“I’m looking to prove myself, not only as a woman, but as a human being,” she added.