Howdy, I'm Zane McSheehy
​I am from Umatilla, Florida. A rural town that had very limited opportunities to engage in performance art. Midway through high school, my family moved to Pella, Iowa. After making some friends, I (on a whim, encouraged by my mother) decided to perform in a couple of shows with my high school and community theatre. In the fall of 2022 I began attending Iowa State University as a Journalism Major, but as I spent more time there, I discovered my love for theatre, eventually changing my major to Performing Arts, and the rest is history. Outside of performing, I like playing video games, sewing, leather-working, Magic: The Gathering, and spending time with my partner and friends.
Artist Statement
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I am an actor who views himself as a powerful instrument of storytelling. These stories can be powerful for a multitude of reasons, but the primary reason for me, in particular, is that they resonate with at least one member of the audience, whose story they believe has been shared and seen by the surrounding world, at least for that runtime. When I accept a role, I accept the responsibility that comes with it to bring that role to life and portray it to the best of my ability.
I find the attributes directors discover to be most useful about me are the ability to alter my natural forms of movement and speech, and use my commanding stage presence and voice to draw the audience’s focus wherever it may be needed to achieve specific moments, whether they call for jovial movements and big energy or composed and precise moments of a dramatic monologue. With roles like Carter Smith in John Proctor is The Villain, which I performed in 2024, that line was an important one to tread lightly upon. Too energetic and jovial, and the audience may side with Smith, his charm overwhelming his disgusting deeds; but become too serious, and the audience won’t feel the same amount of shock that a community may feel when a member who is tightly knitted in the folds is exposed as a predator. Acknowledging and understanding that line is what makes me an effective performer.
Acting gives me a purpose; it allows me to explore myself as a human being and what I’m capable of. I enjoy being in the rehearsal space and working under directors to construct a performance because it gives me a clear purpose while giving me the freedom to explore my own range of emotions through the ones I must convey to portray the character as envisioned. I’m not really one to shy away from the unconventional, and certainly never one to shy away from having a few laughs along the way. I create because I love to share and experience emotions; it keeps me together.