Crighton Players director Grace Thompson, center, assistant director and her daughter, Renee, and granddaughter, Taylor, go over a scene during a rehearsal for the Our Town production. Thompson has been directing and acting for Crighton Players performances since 1971. Photo by David HopperAs a director for Crighton Players at the Owen Theatre in Conroe, Grace Thompson works hard to get the best performance possible out of her actors.

She doesn't yell, stomp her feet and make demands.

She loves.

"You've got to love your actors to get their best performance," said Thompson, 74. "Be open with them, talk to them, give them an opportunity to make something come alive on their own. Make sure they're moving in the right path as you see it, but don't stifle them."

Thompson knows of what she speaks.

She has been with Crighton Players, as both an actress and director, since the early 1970s.

Thompson moved to Conroe with her husband Peter and their three children in 1969 and was thrilled to discover an active community theater.

"I found out that holy cow, we're not an empty, uncultured country town," Thompson said. "There were only about 15 people and they put on maybe three shows a year."

Now, they have more than 250 members, a seven-show season, and some 1,100 season ticket holders.

Thompson's daughter Renee Winberry remembers those early days in Conroe.

"I was a typical kid who went everywhere with my mom," Renee said. "She would go up there for rehearsals and I would tag along. As the years went on I became her assistant director and helped out in numerous plays that way.

"I knew that was her realm, her area of expertise, and I knew absolutely nothing – so I never had that normal teenage thing of 'I know more than you do, don't tell me what to do'. I was proud the first time she asked me to help her out."

Renee's daughter Taylor, an 18-year-old senior at Conroe High School, has followed her mother's and grandmother's footsteps to the stage.

Taylor is currently playing the character of Emily Webb in Our Town.

"It was nerve wracking," Taylor said of auditioning for her grandmother. "I've acted my entire life, just not with her before. I didn't want to let her down."

Thompson enjoys musicals and comedy but adores classical theater.

"That's why I wanted to do Our Town," Thompson said. "It's an American classic. We're beginning to find a niche for that in Montgomery County."

In addition to directing, Thompson likes to act in one or two shows a season.

She, just like anyone else, has to audition.

"That's very hard to do," Thompson said. "You're putting yourself out there and everybody wants the same thing you do. It's not the type of work for someone who can't take criticism or rejection."

And there are additional challenges for Thompson when the acting bug bites.

"When you become a woman of a certain age," Thompson said, "there aren't many roles available."

But when there are, look out.

Most recently, Thompson appeared in Arsenic and Old Lace as Aunt Abby, "a plump little darling, the instigator of putting poison in the wine so certain old gentleman wouldn't have to live a lonely life in this world."

Thompson's husband of 52 years said he loves watching his wife on stage.

"The way she can assume a completely different character is amazing," Peter said. "She is a wonderful actress and director."

From a director's standpoint, casting a play is always a challenge, Thompson said.

And since Crighton Players holds open auditions, you never know who's going to show up.

She recalls a time in the 1980's when she was completely and unexpectedly blown away by a young man who had tagged along with his little sister to audition for A Christmas Carol.

"He was a freshman in high school, he wanted to play football because he thought that was a good way to meet girls," Thompson said. "I asked him if he was going to audition, and he said 'no, that's for sissies.' Eventually he changed his mind and he blew my socks off."

The young man ended up studying dance and theater at a university in North Carolina, and now owns a dance studio with his wife in New York.

"That boy-child was outstanding and one of the most talented people I have ever seen," Thompson said.

Originally from Chicago, Thompson earned a degree in theater from Beloit College in Wisconsin.

"I have always been hungry for theater," Thompson said.

Her earliest memory of performing was when she was 3.

"I was asked to perform in a production for a club my father belonged to," Thompson said. "I don't remember everything about it, but I do know my mother said I walked around the house and practiced my song, practiced my song, practiced my song. And when it came time to perform it…I sang something entirely different."

It's apparent, then, that Thompson doesn't always like to follow the script, but while she can't necessarily stray from the lines in a play, she can wander as much as she likes when she's writing poetry.

Thompson has taken creative writing classes at Lone Star College-Montgomery and has even had some of her poetry published in a college magazine.

"I love to write sonnets," Thompson said. "You can write anything emotional in a sonnet. Love, anger, a lot of different things."

But she has yet to write a play.

"I'm not saying I wouldn't do it," Thompson said, "but I'm still having too much fun analyzing other people's characters."

Grace Thompson, 74
Community connection: Conroe resident
Community service: Director and actor for Crighton Players
Fast Fact: Thompson is currently directing "Our Town" at Owen Theatre
Quick Quote: "I have always been hungry for theater."

Want to go?
What: Our Town
When: 8 p.m. March 12, 13, 19, 20, 26 and 27; matinee at 2 p.m. March 14, 21 and 28
Where: Owen Theatre, 225 Metcalf Street, Conroe
Tickets: $10-$20
For more information: www.crightonplayers.org or call 936-539-4090