Evelyn McCollum, a Diablo Valley College alumni and the director of DVC’s new theater production, Passage, always hoped the stage was where they would end up. Their time at Diablo Valley College made this dream possible, and put them on the path to pursuing the performing arts and putting a label on their identity.
“It took me a while to figure out who I was, but deep down I always knew my own desires and wants, and that is what helped me find my way,” said McCollum.
In DVC’s production of Passage, which McCollum was selected in July to direct, the story follows the lives of people from two opposing countries: X and Y. While Country Y citizens come from a land of privilege and opportunity, Country X citizens live in poverty and oppression at the hands of Country Y.
“The show has the themes of colonization and the nuances and relationships between characters,” McCollum told The Inquirer. “The most important parts of the show are the characters and their relationships, because our relationships with each other as humans are ever-changing.”
Passage runs every weekend from Nov. 15 to Dec. 1, and tickets are available at dvcdrama.net or at the box office an hour before each performance. Students can also call the box office at 925-969-2358.
McCollum’s own story begins in Yokosuka, Japan, where they were born in 1998 while their father was stationed there with the U.S. Navy.
Not long after, the family moved back to Antioch, where McCollum grew up. Their first acting role was in a commercial, which their mother signed them up for at the age of 3.
When McCollum was 4 years old, their maternal grandmother fell ill. Too young to attend school, and with their father working too much to take care of them, McCollum moved with their mother to the Philippines.
During McCollum’s time in that country, their mother always tried to get them auditions for acting roles. Their first memory of performing was in the first grade, when they did a monologue at school and won first place.
While in the Philippines, their mother restarted a relationship with her past girlfriend, so McCollum at age 7 moved back to America to live with their father.
“My dad’s my anchor. No matter what I decided to do, he was going to support it,” said McCollum. So, they figured, “I might as well just go after what I love doing.”
McCollum decided to pursue their passions with their father’s support. Although they sang in church choirs after moving to Concord in 2006, they didn’t get serious about the performing arts until their junior year at Northgate High School.
McCollum said they participated in all the drama classes Northgate had to offer, but the school’s selection was minimal. So they decided to go into independent study their senior year and take the “Basic Principles of Acting” class at DVC, taught by drama professor Lisa Drummond.
“Coming to DVC was just financially more responsible for me personally, and also mentally and emotionally,” said McCollum.
After graduating from independent study, McCollum came to DVC determined to make the most of their two years before transferring to a four-year university. They took many performing arts classes, as well as a variety of technical theater classes that taught them what goes on behind the scenes of productions.
“We see acting, that’s all people ever really look at, but there’s so much more that’s happening behind the scenes that supports all of it,” said McCollum.
“It was a great place to build the foundation of my craft.”
McCollum originally planned to transfer to San Francisco State University, since commuting to the city would cost less than moving away to college. But after telling Ken Hein, their technical theater professor at DVC, as well as Scott Heiden, a technical director and production manager for the drama productions, both instructors strongly encouraged McCollum to pursue schools with more extensive performing arts programs.
So, with the help of the Transfer Acceptance Guaranteed (TAG) program, McCollum transferred to UC Irvine in 2018 and pursued a bachelor’s degree in drama.
During their time at the university, they worked in a variety of areas in the theater, from performing on stage to being part of the stage crew.
Most notably, McCollum was co-captain of the Brick Theater Company, a queer theater company they founded with fellow students and graduate students.
“It was another type of life-changing moment for me, where I came to terms with putting a label on my queerness,” they said about their time in the theater company. “It propelled me into a community I had never been in before, and propelled me to discover more about myself.”
McCollum identifies as queer, a blanket statement they use for their gender and sexuality. But specifically they are demisexual, meaning bisexual and non-binary.
“I don’t think there’s any defining line between femininity and masculinity that defines it for me,” McCollum said. “Some days I feel more masculine, some days I feel more feminine.”
During their last quarter at Irvine, the Covid-19 pandemic swept the nation. Although they graduated, McCollum never got to walk in the ceremony. With their plans to pursue music production and acting in Los Angeles halted due to the virus, they instead moved back home to Concord and worked as a barista at Starbucks.
All the while, McCollum was looking for a way to get back to their passion and make use of their degree. Last year, after their best friend told them their former DVC drama professor, Lisa Drummond, was teaching a directing class, McCollum signed up and returned to campus once again.
“It’s actually very full circle for me,” McCollum said. “My mom left when I was 12, so I don’t really have a strong female presence in my life. And Lisa Drummond is that for me. She truly is my biggest inspiration.”
During their time in the class, Drummond suggested they apply for the student director position to direct the second show of the season, Passage. The show tackles the deeply-rooted xenophobia that Country Y citizens feel toward Country X citizens. It also explores the prejudice that Country X residents wield against Country Y citizens.
“I’m very grateful for everybody who’s been involved in the show,” McCollum said. “I have wonderful actors, I have a wonderful designing team, technical crew. Kathleen Normingtom, my advisor, was a great support for me.”
“But it’s not just my show, it’s our show,” they added. “Just like in the show itself: it’s not their story, it’s our story.”