Camille Cettina, Class of 1997, opened a one-woman play this past November at the Ethos Music Center in Portland. Cettina portrayed her love for books ranging from child mysteries to classic romances and she credited her success to West Linn English, Barb Murray.

“I am incredibly proud of Camille and her work,” Murray said.  “She has taught theatre, has taken students to competition in Edinburg, Scotland, has performed in New York and London and in summer stock in Canada, and here in Portland.  She is living her dream and has worked very hard.”

Murray taught Cettina in Advanced Placement English. Her love for the class ripped throughout her play as she pulled inspiration from books she read in Murray’s class. Cettina wrote, acted in and directed Mr. Darcey’s Dreamboat.  Nancy Drew began the romance between Cettina and her books.  Her literature passion grew and she enveloped herself in “Pride and Prejudice.” From the well know classic written by Jane Eyre, she moves swiftly to the interwoven story of “Franny and Zooey.”

“Lots of what that show is based on was from the foundations of what the AP English class was (and still is) all about: how literature can really impact our lives, how it is one of the best ways to dig into philosophy and psychology and history and religion and what makes life meaningful to us as human beings; how it asks us the “big” questions in life,” Murray said.

Murray had the pleasure of teaching Cettina her senior year, and continued to communicate with her as she wrote and produced Mr. Darcey’s Dreamboat.

Cettina openly expresses the gratitude she has for Murray, stating that her success was sparked from that high school class.