Jaynie Roberts is Founder and Artistic Director of Magenta Theater, a community theater company located at 606 Main Street in downtown Vancouver. She grew up in St. Helens, England, near Liverpool and came to the U.S. to attend Chapman College in Orange, California, where she earned her degree in theater. We spoke off-stage at Magenta Theater.

ZEST: What brought you to SW Washington?

Jaynie: I am British and came to the US to go to university in California. I moved to Texas because I heard it was “the place to go” in the 1970s . I was living in Houston, Texas and hated it and met a man named Bill Roberts, who I ended up marrying. I said we will be leaving Texas and he said, “Ma’am, Texans live and die in Texas” and I thought, “That’s what you think, buddy.” We landed here in 1993 and have never regretted the move, not even once.

ZEST: What do you love about SW Washington?

Jaynie: I love the weather. I don’t mind the rain at all. I love the fact that we have actual seasons. I DO love the summers. I love the opportunities to go to the beach and the mountains if we want to. Having access to a beautiful beach is really important to me. I love the fact that my children have been raised in a pretty place. That is so important to me that we live in beautiful surroundings.

ZEST: What is the best-kept secret about SW Washington?

Jaynie: Magenta Theater! This is the end of our seventh season coming up. We have been around quite awhile and you would be amazed at how many people say “I didn’t know this existed.”

ZEST: What is your favorite place to relax or play in SW Washington?

Jaynie:  On our boat on the Columbia River, not necessarily doing anything except drifting and my husband fishing if he wishes and me reading a book and not having to do anything.

ZEST: If you didn’t live here, where would you live?

Jaynie: I have no absolutely desire to live anywhere else. There is nowhere else in the world that I love as much as here. If I was forced to, I would say Cannon Beach, Oregon, IF I was forced.

ZEST: What’s coming up that you are excited about?

(Poster by Bryant/Johnsen Media Design)

Jaynie: We have Wait Until Dark opening on October 1. This is a slightly different direction than Magenta has taken in the past. It’s a thriller. It’s more adult than anything we have done. We have a couple of things happening very soon. We have a MIT (Magenta Improv Theater) improv show on October 24. Then we have Mystery on Main on October 30 and 31. It’s an interactive piece where the audience members are teamed up and move through the building solving clues. On November 13, we have a reader’s theater presentation of 12 Angry Jurors, the same as 12 Angry Men but it includes women. For Christmas we are doing Every Christmas Story Ever Told and Then Some – scripted improv with three male characters playing every character from every story.

ZEST: What would surprise people to know about you?

Jaynie: I bet some of my friends would be surprised to know that I’m going to be taking a beading class at a little place in Hazel Dell called Main Street Bead Shop. I used to do beading and it was very relaxing so I thought it would be a very good time to take up a relaxing sport again. I’m always out with people doing things and arranging things. So for people to know that I am going to do something as sedate as beading, they might be a little puzzled.