Seattleplays.com profile:
R. Hamilton Wright
Where would Seattle theater be, without R. Hamilton -- "Bob," to his friends -- Wright? It's a frightening thought, as Wright's deceptively easy acting style, his impeccable comic touch and bold choices, have anchored more than 100 local shows in the last 25 years.
A modest sort, he shared his wisdom in a phone interview from the Crown Hill home he shares with his wife, actor-playwright Katie  Forgette.
Q: If the Bush administration declared theater illegal, what would you do?
A: Well, I have almost no marketable skills . . .
I would probably end up doing some sort carpentry.
Q: If you could only act in one play, over and over again for the rest of your life, what play would that be?
A: Oh, God. (sighs) One play. Well, that's not a fair question.. . . I can't think of any play, I've ever done have to do over and over again. Let me think. God. Oh, I'll just say Red Noses -- a Peter Barnes play we did at ACT in 1989. That was one of the few plays I closed and desperately wanted to keep doing.
Q: Has a director ever bullied you into a good performance?
A: . . .I've been pushed into making a performance better; but I wouldn't use the word bullying  . . . I've been lucky, haven't worked with many bullies -- a few. It's an open question whether that particular method is more effective than the other . . . But when I was younger, I  had a tendency to keep pretty reserved. (Directors would say) "No you have to be twice that big, twice that  big, keep going." Ultimately, it was effective.
Q: Do you ever think you've done everything you can possibly do in Seattle theater?
A: Oh, yeah. Yeah. . .. Sometimes I get really conscious that I've been here really long, and people get sick of me. Times when I'm feeling vulnerable, it's time to move on . . . .at times feel like I'm overstaying my wlecome. But I was born here - if I want to die here, that's my business.
Q: What's the most challenging thing about being an actor?
A:  . . trying to come to every project take a deep breath and come at it as fresh as you can. . . .the two words I use as a mantra are "pay attention."
Q: What's the most rewarding?
A: Working with other actors and the other people that work in the theater. My favorite thing about theater is the collegial atmosphere.
Q: What's been your worst audition, ever?
A: (laughs) God. My worst audition ever . . . the one I remember is when I auditioned for a man named John Hirsch, the artistic director at the Seattle Rep just before Dan Sullivan became artistic director, and (Hirsch) was a bully. It was for a play with music and singing, and I sang a silly song from a park show, it was really a dumb song. He never looked at me. And Dan Sullivan sat behind John with this big smile on his face, cause he knew I was making a fool of myself . .. one of things that's nice about getting older, you have to audition less. It's almost never fun.
Q: What do you like to do, after: 1) a night where everything goes perfectly; and 2) a night that's a disaster?
A: They're very similar. Both would be going home. And um, I might have a big bowl of ice cream when it's a disaster. The one thing about theater even when it's a disaster, you kind of get over it. You have a shot the next day.