Myra Mae Platt
Fine Art
I opened Myra Mae Studios on South Whidbey Island in the Clinton Arts District in September 2023. Born and raised in Colorado, I learned early on to appreciate and value the beauty of the natural environment, world cultures, and the fine arts. My father, Walter Blakelock Wilson, was a professional artist who taught me to paint when I was young. I studied painting, music, literature and theater at Northwestern University earning my degree in Performance Studies and the Art of Interpretation of Literature. I spent a year in Colorado and Santa Fe, NM exploring acrylic painting before turning my full attention to theater.
photo credit: Hilary Pickles
Theater
I moved to Seattle in 1988 where I joined the Collective - a group of professional theater artists out of which Book-It Repertory Theatre was founded in 1990. As Founding Co-Artistic Director with Founder, Jane Jones, I dedicated more than three decades to developing and running the company, where we created and produced more than 150 world premiere productions. I adapted and/or directed literary works such as The Brothers K and The River Why by David James Duncan, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angleou, The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende, The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon and the musical, Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynn Jones. Soon after officially closing its doors in 2023, the board of trustees returned the 'keys' to the organization back to me and Jane. Book-It is now in the process of a reawakening so we may continue to transform great literature into great theater through simple and sensitive production and to inspire our audiences to read.
(Tech rehearsal of The House of the Spirits 2007)
Arts Education
As an artist, writer, director, performer and musician - arts education has always gone hand-in-hand with my creative output. I have taught students of all ages since 1985, beginning with the Children's Awareness Theater in Colorado Springs. I went on to found Book-It's Arts and Education program originally known as Book-It All Over! in 1997, reaching thousands of students in schools across the state of Washington and the pacific northwest region. Over the years I have been invited to teach, lecture and/or direct at in elementary, middle and high schools - such as the Bush School and Kamiak High School as well as at the university level including Cornish College of the Arts, North Seattle Community College, Pierce College, University of Arizona, University of Colorado. Since 2013, I teach Youth and Theater at University of Washington's School of Drama.