Brett Billings to act in Shakespeare production

Marion High School graduate Brett Billings will have his first two paid, professional acting roles this year with Theatre Unmasked in Dover, N.H.

He will play Lysander in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” a comedy by William Shakespeare. He also has a role in “The Last Five Years,” a two-person musical production.

He recently directed productions of “Little Women” and “Frankenstein the Radio Play” for Winnipesaukee Playhouse in Meredith, N.H.

While home between semesters of college, he directed radio plays in 2009 and one-act plays in 2010 in Marion.

Billings is a community outreach worker with the Mayhew Program, a program for at-risk boys in New Hampshire. He visits boys in the program at school and home and leads them in activities.

Billings said he got involved in theater in New Hampshire because his schedule was flexible, he liked being busy, and he had a passion for theater.

“If I’m not visiting with the boys, I tend to be doing something with the theater,” he said.

He is currently applying for master’s degree programs in education and hopes to continue writing and directing.