Culture Surfing - Park Krausen gets unstuck in the ’60s

Playing both sides for Georgia Shakespeare

Atlanta actress Park Krausen isn’t likely to be mistaken for a man (to say the least). She frequently sparkles in ingénue roles at Georgia Shakespeare, and for the theater’s summer repertory season, she plays two cross-dressing leading ladies, Rosalind in As You Like It (opening June 13) and Portia in The Merchant of Venice (opening June 27). As artistic director of Atlanta’s French-language theater, Theatre du Reve, Krausen has a trip to Paris coming up, but the ’60s-themed As You Like It will give her flashbacks to the Summer of Love.

Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young: “Since I am working on As You Like It, and the production is inspired by the 1960s, I’ve pulled out my Joni Mitchell, Judy Collins, Jim Croce and the Beatles music, and especially CSNY. I actually saw CSN on tour when I was in high school, and then CSN&Y when they were together for their reunion tour, post-college. My dad always had music in the house and they were it when I was a child. And yes, I am old enough to have gone through a neo-hippie phase in grade school — making skirts out of curtains between football and musicals.”

SmartBargains.com: “My No. 1 essential website is boring, but I frequently check Smart Bargains for sheets and pillows and towels. We have a guest room and ‘artist quarters’ at chez nous and both are filled frequently — hence we often need to expand our sheet and pillow collection.”

Local restaurants: “My tastes are varied, but my faves are Cowtippers for queso dip and naughty ‘ritas; Atmosphere for escargots, carpaccio and a glass of red wine; Woodfire Grill for any organic local veggies or a small plate and a glass of wine; and the Yacht Club, Black Bear or Atkins Park for wings and beer.”

The Dhammapada and Letters to a Young Poet: “I always keep pocket versions of these books on hand for daily skimming. There are so many other books on my shelves and under my bed that are half-read or that I am dying to read: The Pillars of the Earth, The Year of Yes and The Life of Pi are three amidst the half-read. I find that a play that I am working on or Theatre du Reve work often take precedent.”

Local theater websites: “I always check on the sites for Out of Hand, Georgia Shakespeare and Theatre du Reve for current events, season schedules and special events that I may need to be a part of on a given night — and the details may have slipped my mind — since I am an associate artist/core company member of all three of those companies!”