Meet the Cast of The Tempest: Kaija

Pigeon Creek is excited to welcome Kaija von Websky! In her first production with Pigeon Creek, Kaija plays the roles of Stephano and Juno.

1)Where are you from originally? How did you end up here in MI (or why did you stay)?

I was born in Grand Rapids but moved to Holland when I was one year old and have lived there until November 2015; I’ve finally made the move back to Grand Rapids!

2) Where did you study acting?

I studied Theatre Performance at Hope College for my bachelor’s and participated in the Summer Professional Training Program at The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey

3) What other theaters have you worked with? Describe a favorite role/production:

I’ve worked with Hope Summer Repertory Theatre, Holland Civic Theatre, Double Edge Theatre in Massachusetts, and The Stark Turn Players. A favorite role of mine was when I interned at HSRT and got to play Junie B. Jones. The Junie B. Jones book series was one of my favorites growing up, and I always imagined living Junie’s life. It was a literal dream come true to actually get to live in her life for a summer.

4) What do you do in your free time?

In my free time I run, clean, and travel as much as possible.

5) Share three “fun facts” about yourself:

“Kaija” means “seagull” in Latvian, of which my parents were aware, so I was named after Chekhov’s play, The Seagull.

When I was younger, under 9 years old probably, I got déjà vu a lot. I didn’t know what it was, was too scared to ask anyone about it, and thought I had a terminal disease. Each time it happened (multiple times a day), I was reminded how little time I had left to live.\

In middle school I sometimes brought sauerkraut to school in my pack-lunch. Luckily for those around me, that trend didn’t continue in high school.