Johanna Pounds
Editorial Assissant
Northeast News

The way Martin Buchanan talks about the Northeast is like hearing someone talk about their first love. He discusses the beautiful homes, scenery, and the wonderful food the Northeast has to provide, and said he suggests anyone to consider moving to the Northeast.

“I’m at home here,” notes Buchanan.

The beautiful scenery and homes of the Northeast is what Buchanan said drew him and his wife here 11 years ago. He fell in love with Concourse Park, and the family  that came along with living in the Northeast.

Now, he has a nine-year-old son, two cats, and a large theatre community to support him. He has been acting since he was very young, and was in his first Shakespeare play in fifth grade. In his fifth grade rendition of Julius Caesar, they used chocolate syrup as blood.

This year, he will be playing Sir Robert DeLesseps and Lambert in the Heart Of America Shakespeare Festival’s rendition of “Shakespeare in Love.”

Although this is the first time in years he has performed in a Shakespeare play, Buchanan said he is happy to be involved in such a wonderful production.

“I will confess…I am not a Shakespeare expert by any means, but, there is nothing like being involved in his work and being involved in this play. It is absolutely beautiful.”

The first professional Shakespeare play Buchanan was a part of was a version of Hamlet. Here, he was a lighting technician, and he said although the play was not very good, it gave him the opportunity to listen to Hamlet every night and fall even more in love with the theatre, and Shakespeare himself.

When not working for the various acting companies, like Quality Hill Playhouse and Coterie Theatre, he makes sure any job he does is somehow involved in the theatre. Whether it’s at the box office or doing technical production, he makes sure he never leaves his theatre life.

Buchanan has done commercial work here and there, like producing a rap song for an auto parts company and some small projects for Hallmark. He loves that work as well, and said it helps carry out his passion for acting. With the support of his theatre family, he has learned to love all the work he does.

The Northeast has fostered a home for Buchanan and he said he has always felt safe here. He is comfortable in his neighborhood and feels the acting community here is incredibly supportive of each other. He and his wife are both involved in the theatre life; his wife is a resident costume designer at the Coterie Theatre.

“The theatre community is here,” he said. “It’s right here in the Northeast and there is really nothing like it.”

Heart Of America Shakespeare Festival will have free shows in Southmoreland Park from June 11th through July 7th except on the Fourth of July. It will be a live outdoor production. To learn more on Martin Buchanan, visit moxietalentgroup.com, or thecoterie.org.