A WALK THROUGH WILLIAMSTOWN WITH STEPHEN KAUS
A Walk Through Williamstown is our weekly series celebrating the town that supports WTF every summer, and the artists who return year after year. Every Sunday, join one of our artists as they chat with us at their favorite local spot.

STEPHEN M. KAUS [14^th WTF Season] Favorite Williamstown Spot: A secret watering hole
Current WTF Role: Producer

 1. Why are we in this spot? What does it mean to you?
It’s one of my favorite spots because nobody knows about it. Nobody can find you and it sort of reminds me where we are. It’s not like being in the theatre, it’s not like being on the lawn outside the theatre…it’s super tucked away. You could be anywhere except work. So it’s just a cool place to go for a little while, to get away and relax.

2. What keeps you coming back to WTF?
The balance between taking it seriously and not. This place allows you the ability to have a lot of fun while you are working really hard. And I think that’s important. So I have come back year after year because I can be myself, and be goofy, and have fun but still be a professional and get the job done. I think that’s key.

3. Describe WTF, as a whole, in 5 words or less.
Absolutely insane but worth it.

4. Can you describe your worst sunburn?
It actually happened up here! We used to rent boats up on the Pontoosuc Lake at the end of the summer – we would get 10 or 12 of us together. We would fill coolers with beer and then cover the beer with ice, and then put a couple cokes on top. So we did four hours on the boat, and I fell asleep for four hours with no suntan lotion on the lake. It was really bad. I had a fever for the next four days. It was my first ever, and hopefully my last, sun poisoning. But I took really good care of it because I knew it would look like I had fallen into a fire.

5. If you weren’t doing your current job at WTF, what other job at the festival would you want to do?
Artistic Director.