A Stickler for punishment?

WHO: Jane Bowman Jenkins, a veteran performer/director for Watertown Little Theater who recently won acclaim for her portrayal of Lucy Stickler in a comic monologue. She is a retired Jefferson County treasurer.

WHAT: Mrs. Jenkins has been selected to represent the United States at the Festival International de Theatre de Mont Laurier in Mont Laurier, Quebec, Sept. 9 to 15. The festival will feature 27 troupes from 24 countries with theater in all its forms, such as traditional, non-verbal and lyrical.

Mrs. Jenkins, town of Hounsfield, was selected for the festival for her performance as Lucy Stickler in the comedy/drama, "Murderers: Margaret Faydel Comes to Town" by Jeffrey Hatcher. It was presented by Little Theater last summer at the Clayton Opera House. It consists of three comic monologues from the "killers" who live at a Florida nursing home

A roving adjudicator for theTheatre Association of New York State honored Mrs. Jenkins with an outstanding acting award for the Clayton performance. In November, Mrs. Jenkins reprised her role as Lucy at the Theatre Association of New York State Festival in Batavia, where she received the Outstanding Performance Award.

WHEN YOU AGREED TO THE ROLE OF LUCY IN "MURDERERS," DID YOU EVER HEAR OF IT BEFORE? "No. I knew the author co-wrote the stage version of 'Tuesdays With Morrie.' But I never heard of this one before."

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE DIFFICULTIES OF THE ROLE? "It's 50 minutes of non-stop talking. But I was blessed with excellent memorization skills. The adjudicator for the New York State Theater Association said you had to put in all of the clues. If you leave one out, it spoils the whole thing."

WERE YOU NERVOUS WHEN YOU DID THE ACT IN BATAVIA DURING THE ASSOCIATION'S THEATER FESTIVAL? "It was a real challenge. I went on at 9 a.m. You don't associate that time with theater. I thought people would still be oversleeping because they went to parties the night before. But they laughed from the first line. They laughed at places which kind of surprised me. The adjudicator even commented that getting into character at 9 a.m. is not easy."

TELL US ABOUT THE FESTIVAL IN QUEBEC. "There will be acts from several countries. I'm the only American. I'll also represent Watertown Little Theater and the Theatre Association of New York State.

"It's like the Olympics. We have to carry an American flag. They said to dress in 'native dress.' I'm thinking, native dress? Like Indian? We joked about dressing as the Statue of Liberty or Uncle Sam.

"They're even providing us with a guide. We're also expected to go into area schools to speak. I'm scheduled to perform two times: at 6:30 and 9:30 p.m. at different venues.

SO YOU WON'T BE GOING ALONE? I'll be going with Sarah Hovey (Little Theater president) and her husband Peter, who is on the festival's stage crew.

DO YOU THINK YOU'LL BE NERVOUS? "I've had a lot of time to fret over it and I'll have three more months to fret more. But I'll be going in for outpatient surgery for carpal tunnel on my hands. I never dreamed anything could be as painful.

ANY CHANCE OF REPRISING YOUR ROLE OF LUCY STICKLER LOCALLY? "I don't think so. Maybe if there's demand because of international acclaim (she laughs heartily). But anything's possible. It happened when I played Daisy in 'Driving Miss Daisy.'"

If you would like to suggest an interesting arts or entertainment person in the north country for a future Q&A feature, contact Times staff writer Chris Brock at cbrock@wdt.net. or write to him at the Watertown Daily Times, 260 Washington St., Watertown, N.Y., 13601.