Aileen Targett ’05 When Aileen Targett ’05 joined CSG in Form IV, she was ready for a change. Teased at her last school for singing in the hallways and being a young academic, Targett found CSG to be a welcome adjustment. She took strength from CSG’s motto, “Forte et Gratum”, and held her head high as she navigated the often confusing roads of Lower and Middle School. In Upper School, she met theater teacher, Janetta Davis, and things would never be the same. “Ms. Davis was and is the most influential person I have ever met in my life. She not only taught me the ins and outs of theater, but also how to be a woman. She is the epitome of a strong CSG woman: passionate, independent, empathetic, and fierce about her convictions. Aileen Targett ’05
In her, I saw the artistic woman I wanted to try and be,” said Targett. In the fall of 2005, Targett joined the very competitive Bachelor of Fine Arts program at West Virginia University. The program’s structure featured a rigorous curriculum that made a very large cut at the end of sophomore year. Targett was among the only eight to 10 students that were allowed to complete the program.
IF YOU ARE SCARED
During the summer between her sophomore and junior year, Targett participated in her
OF EVERYTHING,
first regional summer stock show in Palo Duro Canyon, Texas. This form of theater features
YOU MAY AS WELL TRY
productions that are only done in the summer and uses “stock” costumes and sets. Targett
anything.
was cast in the outdoor show Texas: The Musical where she learned to dance, deal with tornado warnings, rattlesnakes and tarantulas, and most importantly, to be fearless. “The most important thing I took away from that summer was to try everything, even if I was scared. I am a naturally timid person and am scared of everything from heights to the dark. When I was approached with the opportunity to learn a stunt by being set on fire, my first reaction was to run screaming all the way back to my bed in Pickerington, Ohio. After some thought, I came to a conclusion that dictated how I chose to continue on with my life: If you are scared of everything, you may as well try anything,” said Targett. In 2010, Targett took on her next big adventure: up-state New York’s summer stock theater. Moving to New York City, New York with no idea on how things would pan out, Targett met comedic genius and improv master Gary Izzo and began working with his fair, The Sterling Renaissance Festival. During her time at the festival, Targett joined a group called By The Mummers and began writing Blood. The work was a dark comedy musical that combined Twilight, MacBeth and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and was accepted in The New York Musical Festival (NYMF). It was performed on an off-Broadway theater in Times Square until the end of the NYMF season. Following that, Targett landed a national tour with Chamber Theater, where she was cast as Sarah in the play Eureka. “I was paid to tour around the United States and do theater. It was a dream job, if not terribly tiring. A new hotel every night, driving long hours, and putting up sets is no easy task,” described Targett. Targett met now beau Trenton Weaver during her third tour and they both made the decision to move back home to Ohio in 2013. Currently, Targett is working on completing her teaching license in intervention and theater. She also teaches public speaking to CSG’s incoming Form X girls during the summer. “It is very odd roaming the familiar halls without my plaid skirt. I keep waiting for someone to tell me to tuck in my shirt. I have loved getting to know the incoming Form X class. They are intelligent, well spoken and encapsulate ’Forte et Gratum’. CSG is such a marvelous
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FORTE ET GRATUM • AUTUMN 2014