Actress-Wife-Mom Fills Many Roles -- For Barbara Dirickson, Combining A Family And The Stage Is The Best Of Both Worlds

"I'm back!" said Barbara Dirickson at the Seattle Repertory Theatre. "And it's exciting!"

By returning to the stage - she will play Olivia in the Rep's season-opening production of Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" - Dirickson again is completing her life circle which encompasses marriage, motherhood and acting.

"This is a happy time in my life," she said. "I have my babies, I work for a good theater, I have a wonderful husband who supports my working in the theater, I have wonderful directors who help me find my way. I don't know what more I could ask for - except the lottery!"

A leading lady at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco for 15 years, Dirickson moved to Seattle in 1985 when her husband, Benjamin Moore, became producing director of the Rep. She gave birth to their first child, Lily, in September 1986, and made her Rep debut the following spring, doing brilliant work in the challenging role of Josie in O'Neill's "Moon for the Misbegotten."

After that at the Rep, she had principal roles in nine shows, including "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," "Les Liaisons Dangereuses," "Tartuffe" and "Playboy of the Western World."

"I haven't acted since we finished the tour of `Playboy' in June 1990," said Dirickson. "I was popping out of my vest before the tour was over."

She gave birth to her first son, Brady, two days after Christmas last year. While Mommy is working at the theater, Brady is being cared for at home by a young Brazilian-born woman named Rosie. Lily's nanny was Ethiopia, a woman from, yes, Ethiopia.

"Each child has been blessed with the kind of care they needed - completely different care for each," said Dirickson. "Lily is so complicated, and Ethiopia's very cool and smoothed out all the complications. Brady is Mr. Mellow, and Rosie is very lively and spirited.

"Lily is doing really well in kindergarten in John Hay Elementary, a public school on Queen Anne. She was not really sure about my going back to work, but Brady is so in love with Rosie that he couldn't care if I fell off the planet.

"Our house must look like a beehive with its constant activity. But it works!"

Dirickson is such a natural for the role of Olivia in "Twelfth Night" that it's surprising she's never played the role. It's also surprising that such an accomplished actress has performed only rarely in Shakespeare plays.

"In my 15 years at A.C.T., I did only one Shakespeare, `Much Ado'," said Dirickson. "I was always put in the naturalistic plays. I guess because I can swear better."

The new "Twelfth Night" production, with which the Rep will open its 29th season Wednesday evening at the Bagley Wright Theatre, is directed by Douglas Hughes, associate artistic director of the Rep, a director Dirickson admires and has worked with often.

She commented: "A friend once said, `Treat a classic like a new play and a new play like a classic.' That's what's Doug is doing, taking a new, fresh approach to `Twelfth Night.' He wants not an `accepted' version, but a show that is exciting and fun. I'm really tickled by the show. It's fun to be in."

During this season at the Rep, Dirickson also will play the stage manager in the premiere production of "Inspecting Carol" and the title role in Ibsen's "Hedda Gabler."